In it's place though I've been going sick on perfumery. Not creating it, just buying it. Which is much, much more fun for me. I have for the past year since I've been creating body creme's wishing for someone, skilled in perfumery, to make scents I could put in them. I've been getting by with mixing my own little stash of essential oils but have not succeeded in creating anything I'd call a "scent". More just vague hints of pleasantness. I'm a big believer in paying for the skill of someone who can do it better than you in some things. Perfume definately falls into that category for me. So on my wishlist was a large array of masterfully blended oils I could put into my cremes and enjoy. They had to be natural, they must be beautiful and they must be elegant.
Luckily Isis came along and dropped a little crumb on the Historical Costuming Board. The Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab link. Not only do they fit the bill for my cremes (I do not sell my cremes, they are for me alone) but they might also have something I could enjoy wearing as an actual perfume. It's been a year since my gifted bottle of Jadore went sour and I haven't been inspired to buy anything else since.
So I've spent countless hours reading their fan forum and getting a feel for scents I might enjoy and at length ordered seven samples from my family of favourite scents. But I also wanted something a little 18th C or at least my imaginings of 18th C perfumes. Something that evoked formal rose gardens, herbal drawer sachets, floral toilette waters and just a hint of exotic spices.
Here are my choices....
Rapture - a classic floral oriental perfume. Light soft florals combine with musk. Similar to my floral choices in commercial perfumes.
The Caterpillar - this appeals to my sense of humour. I kind of like the idea of a perfume named after an opium smoking grub. Besides it's supposedly a greener version of rapture. So still very much a floral scent with a hint of earthiness. If I smell hippy though, this one will hit the bin.
The Marquis De Merteuil - well honestly I'd be an idiot not to order a perfume created on an 18th century, fictional, aristocrat now wouldn't I? One has to at least try on that shoe to see if it fits. Apparently peaches and flowers with a sting in the tail. A femme fatale scent.
Queen Mab - I truly believe that no perfume experience can be complete without a touch of faery. A dark floral and otherwordly undertones. Nothing to do with 18th C but then I'm hoping for a scentual trip to the summer country with this one.
Kubla Khan - despite never having found a pure oriental scent I can wear I couldn't resist the opportunity to at least try. I always love the way they smell on other people. This one is apparently warm with floral overtones so here goes nothing.
Lyonesse - having already ordered up enough flower gardens to drown all of europe I decided to take a trip somwhere else with this one. A hint of sea salt, warm summery glow and about a hundred other things I can't describe. This is a favourite scent on that site which means I will either love it too or completely hate it.
Death On A Pale Horse - I can't even imagine a magazine ad for this one. Despite it's name though, the notes in it are decidedly less ominous. More of a mossy aquatic which people either love or hate. Since I love aquatics I had to try it and part of me really wants to love it to pieces. I mean can you imagine anything more cool than telling people your lovely perfume is the Grim Reaper...?
Now the hard part. I have to wait about a month for them to arrive. Apparently this perfumery is a make to order kind of place and that slows things down a bit. Sigh...but I look forward to testing them out though.
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