eye of the storm

[permetaform]

Took a zen break today and broke out the Sea of Glass from my current BPAL pile to sniff, and I started trying to write an extended review for the BPAL scents and then realized that I have an absolute lack of
1) vocabulary
2) scent sense
I have no clue what I'm smelling half the time. huh. 'cause I know what I like but damned if I'm able to figure out what it is or why I do.

...I think it's like some people complain about when trying to review vids. huh.

In any case I find it funny that both my memory and my sense of smell is shot to hell because of the connections to scent and memory ::wry grin:: it's like that side of the brain has been pruned so that I can parse single frames. XD

On a side note, it seems that my skin totally eats up scent. Don't know if it's the amount I'm using, if it's my body chemistry, or if it's just 'cause *I* can't smell it. Any advice?

Comments

[rydra_wong]

...I think it's like some people complain about when trying to review vids. huh.

Interesting - I think I learned to analyse scents in the same way I'm currently trying to learn to analyse vids.

As with vids, having examples of analysis and commentary is really helpful.

You could try finding a few scents you like where you can find a breakdown of the main ingredients online - preferably divided into head, heart and base notes. Different perfume notes are more or less volatile, so the "head" notes are the stuff you smell first off (often the lighter, fresher stuff), the "base" notes are the stuff it dries down to after several hours (often heavier, wood or musk-type stuff), and the "heart" is everything in the middle.

Then practice. If it says it's got rose in, see if you can smell the rose. If you can't recall what a particular element smells like (which will inevitably happen - labelling smells verbally is not something most cultures develop), then sneak off to a local health shop (or friend who cooks or uses aromatherapy) and sniff their spices & essential oils.

[permetaform]

That makes tons of sense, thank you! And also gives me an excuse to goof off and make excel spread sheets...::mad scientist cackle::

[rydra_wong]

Btw, I have quite a few scent references books, so happy to share info at any point - I admit I'm a perfumery geek.

[permetaform]

OOO! Neat! Do they say anything specific about buttery/foody scents or how best to store them?

[rydra_wong]

Scents that smell buttery/foody, not ones actually containing butter/food, right? :)

Generally, most scents will store fine somewhere away from sources of heat and light. It's a good idea to keep them in the original box (or another box) to keep light out - bright light can make them go "off" (otherwise they should last for several years, although all scents tend to degenerate eventually). So, cupboard good, sunny windowsill bad.

For most scents, the actual perfume oils make up a pretty small percentage of the total - it's the base (alcohol-and-water or oil) which might affect how you store them, not the scent notes. Are BPAL scents oils?

Foody scents in general are increasingly being classed as a group unto themselves (sometimes called "gourmand" scents). Most scents contain at least some ingredients from food sources (like spices, fruit, citrus, etc.) but it's in the last few decades that people have started making scents that really push the food angle, e.g. with notes like coffee, rum, caramel, chocolate, etc.. I can list some if you're interested.

[permetaform]

ooo, thank you!

BPAL's website says that it's 80~100% oils, and yeah, I really adore the gourmand scents, please do list them? ::bounces::

[rydra_wong]

BPAL's website says that it's 80~100% oils,

Then I'd guess just store them like you would essential oils - somewhere cool and dark. Some people actually store alcohol-and-water-based scents in the fridge, but that could solidify an oil base.

Gourmand scents ... there are so many! I don't know the BPAL scents, so don't know which of them would fall into this category. But off the top of my head, first thing in the morning, before I've had enough cups of coffee, a totally skewed and personal list:

Okay, the first really famous gourmand scent was Thierry Mugler's "Angel", chocolate and caramel and candy-floss. Some people love it, some people find it way too sweet.

Yohji Yamamoto's "Yohji Homme" has gorgeous coffee and rum notes, and a bit of licorice (N.B. scents for men and women actually draw on exactly the same range of ingredients; the gender distinction is just stereotyping and marketing - e.g. a heavily floral scent probably won't be marketed to men. So ignore the rules and buy what you like - you can engage in olfactory cross-dressing without anyone noticing!).

L'Artisan Parfumeur's "Dzing!" is incredibly interesting; it's got a real caramel note in there, but overall isn't sweet. And most people seem to think the top notes smell like cardboard, but mostly "in a good way". Seems to react very differently on different people - some people say it just smells like burnt rubber on them.

I think some of their other scents are also pretty foody - "Mechant Loup" has a hazelnut note, for example.

Givenchy's "Pi" isn't strictly a gourmand, but has the most wonderful benzoin core - like vanilla, but more complex. "Le Feu d'Issey" - again, not strictly a gourmand, but it's got this milky note in with pepper and spices.

Comme des Garcons have a whole new range called "Sweet", with scents like "Burnt Sugar", "Spicy Cocoa" and "Sticky Cake". All very sweet, obviously.

Demeter do lots of single-note scents, some of which are very foody.

(Are you interested in tea-based scents, by the way?)

[permetaform]

ooooooo, nice, and yes I would love some tea-based scents (me = tea freak), my favorite would be the savoryness of oolong translated into a scent, but is that even possible??

[rydra_wong]

Oh, there are some gorgeous tea-centred scents out there - Bulgari has a nice scent with a really sharp green tea note (Eau Parfumee au The Verte), and apparently they now have a white tea-based scent (Eau Parfumee au The Blanc, logically enough). Thé Pour un Été by L'Artisan Parfumeur has jasmine tea, I think.

Tea notes have actually become relatively frequent lately - IIRC, there's a green tea note in in CKOne, for example - but mostly in things which are green, floral or oceanic, generally relatively light and fresh. But "Comme Des Garcons 2" has a green mate tea note in with sumi ink and cedar and all sorts of dark things.

One I really love is Comme Des Garcons "Tea" scent (in the "Leaves" series) - it's not quite a single note, but has this amazing smoky black tea note with hints of bergamot and rose and cedar.

Apparently there's actually a scent called Eau D'Oolong, but I don't know what it's like. And I've read some raves about Crabtree and Evelyn Song de Chine, which has oolong in - it's discontinued, but it's often possible to find discontinued scents online. We Live Like This does an "Oolong & Mulberry" range, but again, I can't vouch for it.

[permetaform]

ooo, sorry for the late reply, but thank you so so much for giving me these tips! awesome, truly! =D