Link to video presentation by Andy Tauer

Now Smell This just posted a link to a video presentation by Andy Tauer about his pentachords project. He always comes across as such a nice, genuine person. The video is fun to watch and quite informative. I could relate to many things he said.

I had wondered about Andy’s motivation for the pentachord project because it would be so hard to create a fragrance with much development or complexity using just five ingredients, all synthetic. That challenge was part of his motivation, of course. He also spoke about highlighting some of the most beautiful and expensive synthetics. With all the talk about the beauty of naturals (which is very true, as naturals can be gorgeous), sometimes people don’t realize that there are synthetics that also cost many thousands of dollars per kilo and are also gorgeous. Many of my synthetic ingredients are extremely expensive and I find them very beautiful, so I could really relate to how Andy spoke of trying to combine the best of both worlds.

I could also relate to his sense of never being totally satisfied and wanting to keep growing and learning and improving. That must be something we all feel in life. It’s fun to watch Andy grow his business and easy to wish him much success. I’ve enjoyed my Zeta sample this spring and look forward to trying the pentachords.

Happy Father’s Day!

Sending out best wishes for a happy Father’s Day with family. My brother and his family are up for the weekend, so that’s nice.

Getting very close on the box project now, but it will be a few weeks to have them printed once we turn in the files. Can’t wait to get them done.

I’ve added another checkout option online for those who occasionally have trouble with credit card checkout. You can now call in a credit card number after submitting an order online. It’s faster and easier to do the whole thing online, but this is a good backup option every now and then for those who need it.

I may have finally diagnosed and solved the internet connection problems I’ve been having, but I’m still crossing my fingers. My mifi 3G hotspot needed replacing (under warranty, thankfully) and the new one so far has worked great. That’s been such a relief the last two days not to have the connection drop every 30 minutes.

Happy weekend!

Interview On Sabbath of Senses

The Polish blog Sabbath of Senses has just published an interview with me in part one and part two. The author of the blog kindly provided an English translation too so that my blog readers can also read it. Thank you Klaudia! Wish I could speak/read more languages! I’m always amazed by people who can handle many languages so well. When you can actually think in another language that must be especially satisfying.

After the interview, I realized what I should have said when asked what other work I might have wanted to do if I hadn’t gone into perfumery — garden design! That would have been another dream job, though it wasn’t practical for me for numerous reasons. The interview posts a number of photos from the garden here and also a photo I’ve not posted before that shows the large cabinet in the work room where most of the ingredients are stored.

And here’s a link to a helpful article if you have wondered about the differences between edp, edt, edc, and some of the more obscure terms like espirit de parfum.

Baby Donkey

My niece takes riding lessons on some weekends at a barn nearby, and one of the donkeys there just had a baby. We visited today and snapped a few pictures. She’s really cute and very friendly, wanting constant attention. Her name is Stevie Nicks (her Dad is Steve and her Mom is Sage). They have a shepherd dog that was the first to notice the new baby donkey and he stood guard over her until humans arrived.

It was a beautiful sunny day today that really hit the spot. I’m testing the summer scent, and now that I increased the floral notes it has gone a tad sweeter. I decreased both vanilla absolute and benzoin, which helped, but I may need to do something further. It’s getting so close though. I’m also working on the other summer scent and that’s close to having the next tester as well.

Another Rainy Weekend Update

It’s June but still raining, pouring actually, in northern California. By Tuesday it is supposed to clear up and I’m so looking forward to the sun!

I’m still having computer issues, and that has been taking way too much time. I went ahead and ordered the new machine (can’t wait!) but it won’t come until about the 20th so I have to hang in there until then. I think I need do a clean reinstall on this machine but am trying to wait until the new one comes before tackling that chore.

I’m collecting feedback from testers so far on the summer scent. Overall it’s going well. Some have found it strongly floral while others want more floral, but I think the latter reaction is from the amber being a bit strong; if I soften the amber the florals will read better. I’d then need to nudge up the sandalwood for longevity, but I don’t think that will block people’s perception of the florals as much as the synth ambers. Several people would like to see a bit more oomph; increasing concentration will help, but I’ll see what else I can do. It’s already heading in the warm floral oriental direction because of the amber and woods in the base, and I want to keep it from going so far that direction that it’s not summery. On the other hand I don’t want to boost longevity with anything that smells too synthetic. I have some ideas to try. This version did work well for quite a few people, so I want to keep the good aspects and just try a few tweaks. That’s the way I like to do this, to keep experimenting with the basic formula to optimize it if I can.

My graphics artist had to leave town for a month and the box project isn’t done yet, so I found a local graphics artist to work with. Can’t wait to finish.

I thought this was the cutest photo and have to share this link to an article about a critter called hyrax. Natural perfumers are always looking for cruelty free animalic notes so they invented the use of Africa stone, which is explained in this article. The hyrax seems to be smiling; maybe he thinks we’re funny. I hope the collections don’t annoy them by disrupting their housekeeping. I’ve not used Africa stone before, but I’ve smelled it and it has animalic and leather notes to me.