If Shelley Waddington, the perfumer and founder of En Voyage Perfumes is unfamiliar to you, chances are you have not been following the multitude of bloggers and perfumistas around the world who have been touting her evocative perfumes over the past two years
Probably the hoariest pick-up line of all time is “What’s your sign?” It truly takes someone of phenomenal talent to rehabilitate that corny come-on. Alexandra Balahoutis of Strange Invisible Perfumes has that level of talent. Ms. Balahoutis is easily one of the top botanical perfumers working and all of her compositions are examples of the complexity that natural perfume can reach.
The heart of Blue Jasmine from Belly flowers is a subtle swirling of two kinds of lotus and three kinds of jasmine with a warm ylang ylang that adds just a touch of sensuality to the mix.
Hindu Honeysuckle is a beautiful example of the complexity natural perfumers can achieve by using the best natural components. As far as Ms. Ethier is concerned Hindu Honeysuckle continues her ascension begun last year. One can only wonder how high she can reach before the end of this year.
The Tarot is an ancient form of divination (a system of trying to understand one’s place and relation to cosmic forces beyond one’s control). There are many types of tarot decks and this line is based on the Gaian Tarot. It is the Major Arcana that Amanda Feeley of Escentual Alchemy has focused on, for her perfumes. If you tried the mass market line of Tarot perfumes (Anthology) and found them wanting and rather generic, I urge you to give these perfumes a try!
As an American Perfumer my perfumes are all-American jazz- improv and impressionist riffs that are based on my study and solid understanding of European classical methods. I stand in solidarity with our collaborative international perfume community -Shelley Waddington
