Special Bulletin: Nine Natural Perfumers take on creating fragrances from a list of over 200 I.F.R.A regulated raw materials. Witness protection program not offered. Look for our reviews November 17-21.
In my personal story with perfume, an encounter marked a turning point in my life. Until I was 15 years old, I never thought that perfume and femininity were linked. Dans mon histoire personnelle avec le parfum, une rencontre a marqué un tournant dans ma vie. Jusqu’à ce que j’aie 15 ans, je n’ai jamais pensé que le parfum et la féminité sont liées.
“I collect prints and have a mental picture of irises in the ‘floating world’ (the ukiyoé in Japanese) in the works of Hokusai or Hiroshige. They inspired me when I was writing this divertimento based on floral iris. I felt like foiling the classic approach to iris by working on the flower’s fragrances which are virtually unknown- Jean Claude Ellena
Anne McClain of MCMC Fragrances wants her fragrances to tell a story and while each successfully evokes the place she wants, when taken as a whole, they also tell the ongoing story of a perfumer honing and perfecting her craft, in Brooklyn.
During the recent Sniffapalooza Fall Ball 2010, on Sunday, we spent some time downtown strolling through the smaller boutiques. When we got to MiN Apothecary I got a real treat as I was introduced to a new fragrance line I had never tried. Just prior to Sniffapalooza they had been traveling in Europe and the line they brought back and were introducing to us on that Fall Sunday was from Madrid, Alvarez Gomez. Known for their Colonia it was the soliflores that made the lasting impression.
“I come from a background of naturals, of natural medicine and natural living & conditioned to think that ‘synthetics’ were ’bad’. In Grasse we studied 150 man-made materials and I was amazed to discover that many of them are beautiful! Reglisse was born from a desire to find a connection between these opposites.
