D.I.Y. - Do It Yourself

Do-It-Yourself is one of my favorite concepts. What it means to me is that when you want something in particular and you don't have it or can't get it, you take the option of making it for yourself. Many new artisan-perfumers are of this frame of mind, and have made perfumes which they imagined and wanted for themselves and others but which did not yet exist. Through experimentation, inspired by self knowledge and also paying attention to everyday ordinary life going on, a number have hand-made very distinctive versions of scent ideas ranging from the sweetness of violets and moss hidden in ferns growing in loamy earth, to strong tea with thinly sliced lemon, to black coffee with chocolate and unfiltered cigarettes, to metallic objects with sharp edges and corners and silver coins wrapped up in bruised flower petals, to all the other possibilities scent accords will allow.

I am thinking of Liz Zorn (Oolong, Sanctuary, Writing Lyrical Poetry) , Neil Morris (Dark Earth, Cafe and Spectral Violet) , Ava Luxe (Midnight Violet, Madame X), and many others. Playing around with the raw materials just as in any other materially based art like sculpture or painting can lead the direction. Sometimes thinking of the powerful plain poetry of single words (which are themselves huge concepts) such as tree, sun, leaf, rice, milk, grass, rain, tar, flame, stone, can act like a tiny bomb setting off a cascade of olfactory associations which are then combined and distilled. There is more than one road that may lead to the development and capture an accord that may viscerally demonstrate the essence of a meaningful encounter. These bursts of perfume creativity are coming from so many directions these days. It can make you feel like there's not time enough or skin, though still eager to try them all.

There must be some connection between this burst of creativity in perfume and the revival of other creative forms of embellishment of daily life, such as the new craft movement and so many people now making jewelry, wine, bread, or hand-restoring old gardens and houses, or making new ones from parts of old ones. Even the expansion of the pod-casting and blogging phenomenon documenting the experience of so many individuals brings something very singular to the public, not available otherwise. Just as now you can try to build and share your own life in a way that is comparable to an artistic creation, these new expressions in individual perfume making are shareable and accessible because of the ability to offer them directly to the public through the reach of the internet.

Herb Trek.com has clear directions for making your own tinctures and extracts from fresh herbal materials, which is one way to get started with the Do It Yourself scent making. Etsy is turning out to be a great way to get them out to the public, if you so desire.

Above photo of Liz Zorn's Tobacco and Tulle from Nathan Branch's site, where you may find a detailed review of same. It sounds delicious, and what a great inspiration -- tobacco and gauzey silk....

Beauty Loves Us

"This has happened not because we have loved beauty but because it has loved us.'" (Gioia Timpanelli, Sometimes the Soul, NY: W.W. Norton, 1998)

What happened in that story, a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, was requited love, which arose from comprehending an immense beauty within an unassuming disguise.

During the first really warm day of the year, about 60 + degrees, I went to CB I Hate Perfume in Williamsburg with a perfumista friend. There are many small designer owned shops for everything from perfume to cheese and chocolate in Williamsburg, still making a real go of it, even in these times. Something I really miss in Manhattan anymore. Long may they live. I encourage everyone to support these endeavors, they give you something of creativity and value for your hard earned money. At CB, which is a showcase and venue for one person's sensibility, there was a large and organized array of unusual compositions, based on the beauties of the ordinary. They are divided into categories such as air, wood, smoke, food, greens, water, experiences. The one I fell in love with that day was To See a Flower, from the Experience line,which is made with:

"Delicate spring flowers (hyacinth, daffodils, jonquils & crocuses), green shoots, wet dirt & a bit of moss " and the back-story is this:

"In a way, nobody sees a flower really, it is so small, we haven't time and to see takes time like to have a friend takes time."
Georgia O'Keefe

So, taking my time, I waited til I got home, to a different part of Brooklyn, and doused myself thoroughly in this gentle "water" perfume. Somehow, near my place the Park with its big, brooding, somewhat beleagured Victorian-age trees, and grasses and weeds exuding oxygen is always a strong presence, whether you are in it or not or thinking about it or not. So I must always consider my context, when trying something new.

What I got immediately and the most was the wet dirt/earth and moss, a smell I adore, then the green shoots and last the hyacinths and jonquils. Daffodils and crocus, I don't know. Whenever I have smelled daffodils or crocus they had no smell except for the smell of warm sun through a petals and leaves, being fresh live things all caught up in photosynthesis, but I get it. It's about all the small green surprising things of beauty that spring up from the infinitely modest wet dirt, that you experience coming up towards you from the ground you stand on. Their presence is so subtle it's almost like you hear this composition rather than smell it. However, while in the presence of the first few minutes of top notes evaporating from the skin you feel you've become the wet earth from which the flowers will eventually spring. Then those small subtle flowers do begin to make themselves known. This scent lasted overnight, mellowed by the space around it, without being too strong or too weak. Altogether I made the right choice for the change of season and turning the clocks forward for the next few months of daylight savings time.


Above, Blue and Green Music by Georgia O'Keefe