Berkeley, November 19th, 2010
Dear Andy,
Thank you so much for sending me your Linden Blossom trial from October 11th. Since we’d been sharing our thoughts as we worked on the same theme of a linden perfume, I opened the box with great anticipation and more than a little fear that, following some of the same threads from thousands of miles apart, we had woven them into the same perfume!
Not to worry –- in pursuit of our oft-repeated goal of holding onto the elusive linden essence, we found different interpretations and you have indeed done a beautiful job of holding onto the delicious sheer facet of the linden blossom. Bravo! It’s gorgeous.
It’s like looking at something from a slightly different angle, yet recognizing a family resemblance to mine. Your direction feels grassier, and lighter as well –- the more diluted Eau De Parfum (EDP) strength and spray bottle give a different veil of sensuality than my more intense perfume. I hope you soon get to try the sample of mine that I sent to you.
A photo of Andy’s Linden perfume trial that he sent to Mandy Aftel
Meanwhile, I’ve been thinking a lot about the fire tree essence that we’re using next. It is truly so extraordinary –- I took it with me to New York to use as one of the examples in my talk about creating with aromas. It provides a stellar illustration of the process of evolution: I had the audience compare a freshly-dipped scent strip to one that had been dipped 24 hours earlier – what a difference! The drydown note is so deeply floral compared to the initial note. It’s actually quite thrilling to follow this remarkable floral element –- tracking the movement over the first 5-6 hours as it sustains itself through a number of incredibly rich floral transitions.
The actual plant’s narrative always forms a part of my inspiration when creating a perfume and fire tree is a rockstar in this department. According to the supplier, “In Aboriginal dreamtime stories, the grasstree (Xanthorrhoeapreissii) is a magical tree that gave Aboriginals light and fire. Hundreds of years old, grasstrees have lived through the urbanization of modern cities and bushfires that sweep over the Australian landscape. For grasstrees, fire represents rebirth, the tree rising from the ashes with new shoots and flowers. The long shoots above the tree are flowers. While the firetree can sometimes flower spontaneously, flowering is common after fires.”
Mandy’s samples of her own Linden perfume, titled “Honey Blossom”
So this one thing struck me about the fire tree, as I perused my perfume organ for other essences to combine with it. My favorite rose essence is one that I get directly from the grower in Istanbul. I had used my previous Moroccan favorite throughout my perfume line, so when I fell in love with this new Turkish rose, I had to reformulate everything to accommodate this more full-bodied, intense, rich absolute. Rose has such a smoothing power; I rely on it a lot.
What I just discovered is that my rose and the fire tree overlap in many areas. Just on scent strips — without trying any blending yet — even though fire tree is a base note and rose is a middle note, they spend a LOT of time playing together, forming what I call a lock, when elements add up to something new together. I don’t know where I’ll go next, but I strongly suspect that the perfume formula will come from following the dance that this pair has started together in my studio. I would love to know what you think,
Warmly,
Mandy
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Zurich, November 21, 2010
Dearest Mandy,
It’s with great joy that I write you this short letter. I’m so happy that you like my trial version of the linden blossom that I sent a while ago, and now I am, of course, impatiently waiting for the sample that you shipped to me in your lovely flacon.
I cannot wait anymore! Patience is definitely not my top virtue.
I went jogging again today — my usual 20 km — but I did my routine the “other way round”, starting at a point that’s traditionally the end. I did so because I had to deliver a data stick to my friend Pascal, who lives close to where I usually finish jogging (Pascal is the owner of the book shop that sells my fragrances in Zurich).
The data stick contained the invitation for the “scent apéro” that we’re doing in December. We invite about 50 clients and friends for a get-together with food, drinks and scents, all very non-commercial and free of charge. We do this every year, and every year I pick a theme and we get somebody who reads stories and poems on the theme. This year it’s citrus. I will dilute essential oils of petit grain, Clementine, orange, neroli oil, orange absolue . . . and we’ll enjoy the moment.
Every year, I’m amazed once again over the reaction to these natural essences. Folks at the scent gathering usually go “OH, AH, HMMM”. For many it’s a revelation, as they’ve never smelled real neroli, for instance. Even a “simple” bergamot essential oil has so many facets and is worth exploring for hours.
One of the reasons why I have my blog is because I want to share this fascination for natural delights, and I want perfume lovers to understand how important it is that we continue to use them — that there are companies that produce them with a high quality standard, and that there are companies out there that make sure that what we buy is the real thing and not adulterated.
I feel it’s important that folks understand the difference between a fragrance that features rose only as a note (or has just a tenth of a tenth of a drop of rose in it), and a fragrance that is built with — for instance — rose absolute in “real” amounts and not fantasia compositions.
Anyhow, I was jogging the other way round and I thought about what you wrote in your last letter about the rose and the fire tree, and how it needs fire to bloom, which brought to mind a tour I made in Southern California with a local ranger who explained to us about fires and how some trees depend on wildfires for their seeds to germinate.
Photographic evidence from Andy’s trip to Joshua Tree National Park
We visited an area that had seen a disastrous wildfire, however; this fire was so bad it basically sanitized the earth very deeply down, and hence they needed to plant trees and collect seeds from other parts of the park to start life again. It was a sad tour, but I guess this is part of nature, too.
Nature sometimes comes with a zero fun factor.
Back to the roses: I was evaluating a few roses for my Linden blossom trial, too. Originally, I thought I’d take the rose Carbon dioxide extract from Ecomaat. It’s a lovely, lovely, lovely Rose damascene extract, very rich and long lasting, and a bit like a mixture of a rose absolute and rose oil, but in the end, I decided against it. It wasn’t honeyed enough, and a touch too spicy-floral.
Isn’t it wonderful to have all these choices? This is what creates a big part of my fun in perfumery: we’re still small enough to actually use these materials. Great! (These days I am experimenting with the rose Carbon dioxide extract for soaps; I guess these will the most expensive soaps you can imagine. Somewhat crazy . . .)
To be honest, I haven’t made my up mind for the first take on the fire tree. I’m still waiting for my last trial of the linden blossom (with some hope). I have a few ideas for the fire tree based on scent strip comparisons, but I’m not certain. I’m also waiting for a few special Carbon dioxide extracts that might work with it — Cacao among them. Rose for sure will work with the fire tree. I might use a bit, but not as a leading note, I think.
Real roses rich in phenylethanol
When jogging from the other way around, I said to myself: ”This is going to be the final line in my letter to Mandy. Sometimes one has to think the other way, like “PINK”!
Ok, I’m not being 100% serious here, but then I started thinking about green lines to go with this leathery, earthy flower of the fire tree — a fresh green, like a fresh sprout unfolding its soft olive-green leaves after a brush fire . . . and then it got hilly and I needed to jog upwards and so stopped thinking altogether.
I send you fragrant hugs and look so much forward to smelling your Honey Blossom creation.
Yours,
Andy
***This is a continuation of a series. You can find more letters between Mandy and Andy at the following links:
#1): Letters to a Fellow Perfumer (ep. 1)
#2): Letters to a Fellow Perfumer (ep. 2)
#3): Letters to a Fellow Perfumer (ep. 3)
#4): Letters to a Fellow Perfumer (ep. 4)
#5): Letters to a Fellow Perfumer (ep. 5)
#6): Letters to a Fellow Perfumer (ep. 6)
#8): Letters to a Fellow Perfumer (ep. #8)
#9): Letters to a Fellow Perfumer (ep. 9)
#10): Letters to a Fellow Perfumer (ep. 10)
#11): Letters to a Fellow Perfumer (ep. 11)
***Photos included above are by Mandy Aftel and Andy Tauer
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