I've only seen one of these in my life, ever — in a tiny, absolutely to-be-forgotten gas station on I-5 North somewhere between Portland and Tacoma. I had gone down to Portland for an art class with Jill Bliss and to see some cousins one weekend when, upon stumbling home, I came across one of these in the dingiest no-good gas station bathroom ever (and I would know, but that's another story).

This particular quarter-prompted whiffer machine was supposedly dispensing Chanel no. 5 or CK One, depending on your choice of pull-lever. I popped in a quarter and chose CK One. I can't verify the efficacy of the fragrance because frankly, I couldn't smell much other than gas-station-bathroom after leaving. The above image, as seen on aromastiches' blog last week (I have mine translated into English by Google Reader, FYI), is much, much nicer than the I-5 North one.

Another reason we've been so quiet on the blogging front: our joint-label effort (called Eos) with local energy company Blue Marble Energy was released this week. Blue Marble Energy is the first biorefinery in the world to create petrol-free aroma chemicals, and we were on the scene to turn that into a carbon neutral fragrance.

Check out King 5's report here! Eos for Her contains neroli, sandalwood, green tea, and banana; while Eos for Him contains cognac, honeysuckle, white ginger, apricot, and candied fruits. The Eos line is presented in elegant, square glass bottles with silver metallic caps with roll-on applicators, and the silver-stamped tags were handmade by local jeweler Carolyn Buss.

You can buy a 1/2 ounce bottle of this limited edition fragrances directly at Blue Marble for just $30. Local folks can pick it up in time for the holidays — contact BME for details.

Last but not least, Eos was voted #2 on the top 5 bio-based gifts for the holidays at Bio Fuels Digest.

In antiquity, perfumes impregnated everything. In a few years we may witness the same frenzy. There is therefore no occasion for anxiety in connection with the perfumery industry as such or for worrying over the future of the "odour merchants". However, perfume itself is threatened; it is more than threatened, it is attacked. Thus, instead of asking whether perfumery is still an art, it would be better to give it every chance of showing that it can still be one. — Edmound Roudnitska, Where are we going?, S.P.C. Yearbook 1969

I was briefly distracted today by the impending release of quite a few English writings of Edmound Roudnitska from the 60's. Anya McCoy will be publishing them in PDF format here at her Web site, but is just now under way with the scans. These will likely prove invaluable; I myself have said many times how I wish I would have stuck with my French in college simply in order to read vintage perfumery texts. And I can imagine many more Nose Words installments to come.

Yet again, blogging has come to a standstill over here while I am in pre-holiday frenzy mode. I have been busy busy busy between retail, wholesale, show prep, and moving! My studio is now in a new location (in my apartment) and still somewhat in disarray. But I'm still getting as much done as I possibly can. I have a lot of stuff to post, but sadly, it will have to wait. *sigh* More soon!

De Gunzburg naturally fell head over heals for the one-of-a-kind Fleur d'Oranger that Kurkdjian crafted specifically for her, and before he knew it le tout Paris was buzzing about his original olfactory works of art. It didn't take long before overseas beauties sniffed him out and he was back on those red eyes following his clients around the globe with his "labomobile," a Pinel et Pinel custom steamer truck filled with over 200 scent samples.

This installment of Nose Words is from the following article about Francis Kurkdjian, Big Boy Perfumer-turned Globetrotting Bespoke Designer in Paris. This seems is so modern, what he's doing: the somewhat kitschy rock star lifestyle matched with a traditionally loner-profession like perfumery. (And check out his nifty travel organ.) Quote & photo from Parisbao.

Oh me, oh my. Those of you that know me from "back in the day," know that I have a deep-seeded love of manga (and probably question my taste at times). At one time I even pretended to be a manga illustrator. But manga and beauty products combined? Hold me back. Not a new concept, to be sure, but this line from Moyoco Anno and cosmetics giant shu uemura hits the design and conceptual mark that Harajuku Lovers misses, for me. This may warrant a trip to Vancouver (where it's available exclusively at Holt Renfrew, apparently) in the next few months.

Head over to Comics 212 for more amazing photos from the press kit and line. (From Drawn!.)

I had this long, angry post about the IFRA (International Fragrances Association) Amendment #43 and its destruction of natural beauty products, the political misguidance and the bad science it seems to be representing, the consumer fear mongering it so feverishly supports and promotes, and the seemingly "meh" response among my perfumer friends, even those bent on using only natural ingredients. I had this long semi-witty diatribe about what it's doing to the niche perfumery world, how one of my friends is having to close her shop to reformulate, etc ad nauseum.

And then I came across Magickal Realism's Trashion perfume series, an experiment at using only synthetics in creating perfumes, an attempt to realize the world that IFRA seems to want so badly for consumers.

In the perfumer's words:

The protest of this formulation is in its syntheticism; IFRA wants to create a world of nothing but synthetic perfumes, and this is an example of what you'd get - a smell with little substance beyond the first hit. Think of it as hands on education about what an all-synthetic world could get you.

Brilliant and said much better than I could have at expressing my anger at all of this (if they're regulating oakmoss, why not polycyclic musks containing galaxolides? why not parabens? you can't regulate one with a modicum of moral superiority and not the others on the transparent agenda of "known to cause allergic reactions"). This is the kind of action I've been seeking from fellow perfumers. I don't want to just roll over and take it, despite how much or how little pull I think IFRA would have over some of us in the end as it stands. Regardless, kudos, Diana, for you are sheer genius.

As for me, I won't be reformulating anything. Caroline uses such little oakmoss in the end that it's no point, and while I use an essential oil of jasmine in quite a few of my perfumes, it is not sambac. I'll simply continue to strive for transparency as I always have. I actually plan to open a synthetic-related shop at some point, mostly because of my interest in chemisty & science, but, like I said, I will always tell you what's what. Till then, go support Diana, and say no to IFRA.

I plan to post a follow-up entry at some point with more informative links for those outside of the industry going "bzuh?". Watch for that soon!