Forbidden Fruit

In the kitchen the other day I remarked, "Something smells fruity." My teenage daughter rolled her eyes answering, "Mom, everything smells fruity to you lately!"

Well, not everything, although I have been picking out the fruit note in a number of items that normally I would not have. It's as if my olfactory antenna is tuned to that fruity note. Our local farmers markets and CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program is abundant with fruit lately, amplified by the fact that I've been working on a fruity Chypre perfume.

As I develop other perfumes and accords I've become keenly aware of the note. Each time an essence crosses my olfactory terrain that has a semblance of fruit I add it to my expanding list. Some essences are obvious like those in the Citrus family and Osmanthus. I've got some Apple blossom concrete which is within the right family but has more agrestic qualities than fruit. Will see what transpires with the aroma when I dilute it in alcohol.

Why fruit? The addition of the fruit accord for this fragrance is at the request of Ms. Michelyn Camen. Read some of the back story about this fruity chypre by following this link.

The odors of this major fragrance family are of edible fruits such as apple, apricot, banana, berry, citrus, peach, pear, pineapple, and prune. For the botanical / natural perfumer we have plenty of aromatics are our disposal from the citrus subfamily and a few from the berry grouping. However, we rely on other materials which impart fruit notes, like Osmanthus for example. Osmanthus is an evergreen shrub/tree producing fragrant flowers native to China that is often referred to as The Jasmine of the Orient. Boronia and Champa are other exotic, rich floral notes that can be utilized for imparting fruit. Chamomile has a strong apple aromatic note while Ylang Ylang can sometimes convey the banana note. Absolutes from the conifer family contain fruit jam notes that will be part of this bouquet.

Essences which impart "wine" notes (referring to grapes), include Ambrette, Pomegranate, Davana and Cognac. The two later have the ability to impart fresh, fruity notes to the top of the composition when utilized with mindfulness. Sea Buckthorn is an extract from berries commonly used in aromatherapy that has sweet berry notes. I have not used it in a composition as of yet and am sensing it may work well in this accord.

With this fragrance I am also interested in essences with warm, honey notes like Genet, also referred to as Broom, Mimosa, Beeswax and Hay are possibilities. These will work well with conveying the Pampas, which plays an important aspect in my connection with Argentina. I'm just not sure if I will add them to the accord or the overall composition. We will see as this accord progresses and matures....just like fine wine.

Read part three of this segment here: Equus caballus.

Tale of Two Cities

This past summer, shortly after the review of Vera on the Perfume Critic website, the New York City based fragrance writer Michelyn Camen contacted me via e-mail. In our cyber exchange, I learned that we shared a plethora of shared interests including Argentine ancestry. The fertile connection has birthed a collaborative project on our beloved city Buenos Aires. With Michelyn's creative input I am formulating a Chypre perfume based on Argentina's capital city, Buenos Aires.

I was born in Buenos Aires in 1962 just as my mother was hitting her prime with her fashion business. My family roots go back to Western Catholic Europe, mainly Northern Italy with a bit of Irish and Spanish. My father and mother choose to immigrate to the United States with my older brother and I in the mid sixties. Read more about this by following this link to a post on this journal. Michelyn's experience of Buenos Aires stems from her Jewish Argentine mother.

Thus, Michelyn and I come together to bring you the two aspects of Buenos Aires; the Paris of South America- a city of culture, literature, mate and the Tango and the dark side of Buenos Aires, one of death, military juntas and tragic repression.

The fruity Chypre perfume will reflect a tale of two cities, reflecting the dark and light of Buenos Aires and the perspectives of its two creators.

Chypre as a perfume family was made famous by Francois Coty with the launch of 'Le Chypre' in 1917. The perfume contrasted the citrus top note of Bergamot with the heavy, lichen base note of Oak Moss. Since then the classic formula has grown to have many sub-families including the fruity Chypre.

I am beginning this formulation by creating a fruity accord. All the citrus essences are being contemplated as well as those notes in the natural botanical perfume palette which convey a definitive fruit note such as Black Currant, Osmanthus and the Absolutes from the Conifer family. Italian Blood Orange and Bergamot will tie in nicely with my Italian heritage and that of so many who have immigrated to Argentina. Labdanum and Patchouli will manifest in the base note as well as both my Vegan-Ambergris accord and a Leather accord. For the middle east influences and the nod to all the Argentine Jews we are contemplating Oud, Damascus rose, Dates, Star anise and Cardamom. Mate, Tobacco and Cacao will also be featured somewhere in the composition.

Michelyn has asked that the fragrance contain a hint of blood and tears. Two resinous materials come to mind for this request, Dragons Blood and Frankincense. These will be added either in the form of tinctures from the resinous material or a Blood & Tears accord.

Back in October 2006 I modified a chypre perfume created for the pastoral Pampas. It is warm and earthy, depicting the agricultural land so vital to Argentina. Aspects of that formula will be woven into this fragrance, as my family has a ranch out on the Pampas.

If you are a regular follower of this journal then you are already aware that as of late I create my perfumes utilizing multiple accords which I have formulated in advance. During Andy's visit here in April he referred to the word "accord" as bases.

This perfume is a challenge for me because I am not a fan of the fruity category of fragrances. Thus, I will be stepping out into a new arena on many fronts. I intend to create something beautiful that is evocative of my home land.

Read part two to this segment here: Forbidden Fruit.

Michelyn Camen is a New York City based writer and is the former Editorial Director/Fragrance Editor for Beauty News NY and LA. Michelyn is our Senior Contributing Writer for Sniffapalooza Magazine, the New in Niche Columnist for Basenotes.net, and a contributor to national magazines.

Camen is a multi award winning marketing executive, a fragrance consultant and the Founder and President of BrandWidth Consulting Co., which specializes in brand development and positioning in niche and emerging markets.

Photo at top was take at La Recoleta in March 2005, ©Roxana Villa, photo of Michelyn Camen courtesy of the author and illustration of the question mark pen is by Greg Spalenka, www.spalenka.com.