
So far all testers have liked the final mod of Forest Walk, and I’m converting the formula to batch size. I’ll launch it in a couple weeks. Can’t wait! (Aside: I snapped the photo above several years ago in nearby Armstrong Redwood State Reserve.)
Compared to mod 25b (which was the last mod discussed on Nathan’s blog), I reduced the dirt/earth accord, removed one floral ingredient, added a little bit of frankincense, removed one woodsy ingredient, increased the fir absolute, added a trace of galbanum resin, removed the blue hemlock, and increased the black hemlock. The changes eliminated the murkiness that read as seaweed to a few people. Testers have been very enthusiastic about the current mod, and I’m excited to start batching it.
It took about 40 mods, which is fairly good for me (Nostalgie was well over 100 mods). I picked this theme for Nathan’s blog project partly because I knew I could finish something woodsy more quickly than something floral. I also chose the forest theme because I’ve been wanting to work with my hemlock absolute. The final formula has about the same number of ingredients as the first trial formula (32), but I’ve swapped some in and out and adjusted percentages since I began. The original trial formula was probably over 85% the same, but the success is in the details.
I also made a slight tweak to Vintage Rose. I’m batching it early next week and will put it back on the site. The only two scents that still had the old labdanum were Champagne and Vintage Rose. I switched the Vintage Rose formula to the new labdanum last weekend and made a few other minor tweaks while I was at it. I think it’s smoother now with less scratch to the woods. The plumy rose accord is the same.
I’m continuing to work on the floral Champagne variant. I want to amp up the jasmine just a little more. I’ll also get back to original Champagne formula this weekend so that I can return it to the site soon; I need to test the version with the new labdanum more before calling it done.
I’m also working on display items for the July 8 show in SF. Lots to do!

We’ve had glorious weather here, and the roses have produced armloads of flowers daily. The first spring bloom is always the best. The sweet peas are blooming too, which is an annual treat. Photo above shows one of the climbing roses on the fence around my front garden (this one is climbing Pinkie).