I asked Ambrosia Jones of Perfume by Nature to give us a  peek into her creative process as she developed Craving for the Natural Perfumer's Guild  Mystery of Musk Project. Its amazing how much hairpulling and thought went "behind the bottle".

 

 

"Musk to me has always been about craving…it is about longing and animal passion….real, animal, natural….which is why "Craving" had to contain real scents, notes that reminded me of things I loved and craved myself…It's about smells I love, smells that make me feel happy, sexy, satiated….

 

 

I didn't want to create a clever perfume, I wanted to create a scent that made people feel passionate…maybe like they were curled up naked on a furry rug in front of the fire feeding their lover chocolate cake and roasted hazelnuts, grin…..

 

"Craving" grew from another Gourmand perfume I made: "Death by Chocolate"….Craving takes the concept a step further, because I've two extra layers to the mix, one extravagantly elegant and mysterious, one wild and raw, giving it a wildness and pheromone depth to it that is no longer just yummy and elegant, but a tad depraved…..(that was the idea anyway…)

I had so much fun developing this one (along with a lot of hair pulling frustration).
It was incredibly difficult working to such a short time limit, and the materials kept on changing and turning as the blends matured….
Hyraceum and Oud in particular are really difficult to work with, as they change and dominate blends….I have a number of different Oud's, and each behaved differently when combined with the other ingredients…..
And finding the balance between sweet and luscious, elegant and mysterious and raw animal musk was….challenging.

The musk project was a real adventure…and a huge learning experience and inspiration….it's given me ideas for another perfume, this time aimed solely at men. Working title: "Lord of the Forest" -Ambrosia  Jones, Perfume by Nature

– Michelyn Camen, Editor-in Chief

For Skye Miller's review of Craving, a poem *rememebering* https://cafleurebon.com//the-mystery-of-musk-remembering-craving-by-ambrosia-jones-of-perfumes-by-nature/

Even though this isn’t a formal Mystery Of Musk entry any comments will be entered into the draw for the bottle of Strange Invisible Perfumes Temple Of Musk we are giving away in conjunction with the project