Impromptu Reviews

This is the official landing page for reviews of Impromptu botanical perfume as a constant in the line. First up is a paragraph from Sam and review Tom write for Perfume Posse, where he picks up on carnation as the primary note.

"Impromptu is a morpher; a changeling. A fragrance with layers upon layers. A beginning of herbs, wood, and a lemony and astringent quality that eventually warms and morphs into something astounding. Worn leather, sweet balsamic notes, woods and resin mingle together and create this beautiful antique quality and feeling. This isn't a perfume to become weak and subtle with wear, but instead, Impromptu only gets better the longer it is worn - and it lasts an impressively long time."
    ~ Sam, in reference to the liquid perfume extract

Tom at Perfume Posse

Dance of the Spirits

Aurora in her liquid form has returned! The formula is the same thus there should be no to very little shifts in the fragrance of this botanical perfume. Unlike many of my other perfumes, Aurora is quite simple in her composition, with only seventeen individual essences and no accords/chords. One of the precious ingredients is a carnation absolute from France that is absolutely stunning and I am happy to say was instrumental in getting me to start making botanical perfumes. I adore the spicy floral scent of carnations.

On Saturday I asked Greg to pick me up some fresh carnation flowers for new photos. He brought back a bouquet of deliciously scented red blossoms which I used for multiple shots including the solid. I still have more to do. If you feel inspired please let me know which photos you like the best.

Since people are becoming more and more visual and less into reading specifics about a purchase, I took some photos with a ruler to indicate size of the vial containing 1 gram of fragrance. I used my Women Rulers of Science for the shots.

Almost all varieties of Aurora are now in the shop, including a bottle from the 2012 edition and in the new honey bee cases. The round flat tin will be added shortly.

The name Aurora was chosen for the sparkle quality of the fragrance which reminded me of the phenomena that occurs in the sky at the magnetic poles of the Earth, both in the north and south. The Cree refer to the aurora borealis as Dance of the Spirits, which works rather nicely with Greg's image and a botanical perfume created with grape spirits.

The illumination that accompanies this fragrance is a detail of an image by Greg titled Snow Faerie, featured in his 2009 Calendar Divine Nature. The image is available in his shop with a set of postcards and a fine art print.

Perfume Illuminated: Pepper

Pepper, known as the King of spices, features prominently as the main character in tales of the spice trade. Botanically named Piper nigrum this warmth inducing berry began its journey across the world from India some four thousand years ago.

A tropical vine, native to of the southern region of India, Piper nigrum produces a berry termed as black, white and green peppercorns. The different colors are derived from the freshness and processing of the fruit, all from the same plant.

Also warming and a digestive stimulant Capsicum fruitescens is the botanical name for another group of peppers including: "Capiscum, Cayenne, Chilis and Paprika."1

Both these peppers are under the planetary influence of the red planet, Mars.

FRAGRANCE

The palette of the botanical and natural perfume artist contains Piper nigrum essential oil distilled from the dried berries originating in India, Indonesia and Madgascar. There is also a C02 extract from India with similar characteristics. Black pepper is a top to middle note with a strong personality and thus must be used mindfully so that the blend is not overtaken by the warm, pungent aromatic. Schinus molle, pink peppercorn, essential oil from Peru has a similar aroma as the black but with "greener" aspect.

For aromatherapy synergies I have used black pepper essential oil in blends for arthritis combined with Vetiver and Juniper. Since it is a "warming" essential oil I like to use it during the cold months in the bath or for massage to stimulate circulation. For aromatherapy preparations that are more emotionally based I have combined Black pepper with Thyme, Elemi and Grapefruit to strengthen the will force.

Whether used for natural perfume or aromatherapy this essence requires mindfullness, like the pepper we use to flavor our food, just a small amount is all that is necessary. Consider pepper an accent note to your blend or perfume.


Black pepper is a note often used in the Oriental family of perfumes and for recreating the aroma of fresh carnations. Although carnation is available as an absolute from France it is a very expensive raw material. A basic formula for recreating the aroma of fresh carnation is the combination of these four ingredients:

• Black Pepper
• Clove
• Ylang Ylang
• Vanilla

When I was working on the botanical perfume called Aurora it began as a recreation of carnation using the four ingredients listed above.

The book "Flower Oils and Floral Compounds in Perfumery" by Danute Pajaijis Anonis contains several formulas for the creation of Carnation, albeit using synthetic aroma chemicals. It is possible however substitute many of the synthetic chems with accords and notes from botanical essences.

1 Culpepper's Color Herbal

Images:
Piper nigrum botanical drawing from 1832 has been digitally altered from the original found at Wikipedia.

{ AURORA }

"Star bright, star light,

first star I see tonight,

I wish I may, I wish I might have the wish 

I wish tonight."

The solid perfume aspect of Aurora is ready. The fragrance originally came into this earthy manifestation as a liquid perfume. The notes of the creamy unguent are very close to the the perfume extrait/extract.

Here is a little snippet from a post here on our journal regarding Aurora:

"Although Lyra was released first, Aurora is the initial floral perfume I created. Back in the nineties I had sat down to recreate the aroma of carnations shortly following a Natural Perfumery class I had organized at the Bodhi Tree. Originally titled Experiment #2, Aurora has a spicy floral quality reminiscent of carnations."

The carnation quality is subtle and due to the combination of floral and spice. The main odor chemical in a fragrant Carnation flower is "eugenol", this component is found in high concentrations in the essential oil or absolute of clove.

Perhaps you have already noticed that each perfume has a color association as well as an illumination created by Maestro Gregorio. The color harmony for each perfume is chosen from our color palette. The challenge is matching the specific hue & tone in the corresponding painting, to the right crochet thread for the pouches and the wax sticks. Sometimes all this takes time to put together, it gets even more complex if  it is a new perfume that also requires a name.

The naming of a scent is a bit of a drag, very different from naming a painting. Although one can approximate a carnation type of aroma with just a few essences, our natural, botanical perfume contains over twenty. I added a bit of my precious carnation absolute from France just for Divina of the Fragrance Bouquet Blog, who in December wrote a lovely review of the liquid version of Aurora, here are a few of her words: 

"What beautiful, twinkling magic has been weaved in this amazing, heart-moving fragrance? Because it is surely magic, or at the very least the magic of art and love, that make this fragrance evolve so stunningly on the skin, going through countless transformations that seduce the senses one after the other..."

Read the rest of the review at her blog here.

The illustration we use to illuminate Aurora is a detail of Snow Faerie, an image by Greg, it is featured in his 2009 Calendar titled Divine Nature. See more of Greg's artwork at his website

Here is a site which offers carnation seeds, and this one. According to an acquaintance, I was told to hunt for the Mini spice and the Valentino mix since they contaie the most fragrance.

For the largest selection of Aurora, in all her guises, head on over to the website.