Peek behind the doors of London’s private members clubs, and sniff the rich tobacco that hovers over dark woods and boozy drinks in a haze of golden amber laced with expensive incense. That’s the inspiration behind Ryder, the newest release from Ex Idolo, a British artisanal brand. It is the sort of olfactory story that I normally love, but Ryder did not work for me, alas.
Category Archives: Fragrance Genres
Review En Bref: Amouage Opus IX
My Reviews En Bref are for perfumes that — for whatever reason — don’t seem to merit a full, exhaustive discussion. In the case of Opus IX, the newest Library scent from Amouage, the reason is dislike that is slowly replaced by boredom and disinterest.
Source: nezdeluxe.pl
AbdesSalaam Perfume Course – Part VII: Final Topics & Thoughts
Words are no substitute for actual experience. I’ve tried to give you a small glimpse into the wide range of topics and olfactory experiences involved in AbdesSalaam Attar’s Italian perfume seminar but they are, ultimately, mere words and abstractions. It’s not even the whole picture. I’ve omitted several subjects, partially by request in order to maintain the impact for anyone who decides to take the course for themselves, and partially out of my own concern of boring those who are not interested.
There are two topics, however, that I’d like to briefly cover before concluding with some thoughts on the class as a whole and information on the upcoming sessions: 1) psycho-aromatherapy and the neurological impact of scent; and 2) distillation.
AbdesSalaam Perfume Course – Part VI: The Animalics
Bring on the animals! In perfumery, “lions and tigers and bears, oh my” turns into “deer and beavers and furry rodents,” with a strong whiff of goats and horses as well. It’s quite another world, one where the materials in their concentrated or raw state smell very different from how they end up in a fragrance bottle on the store shelves. This is Mother Nature in her stinkiest, most feral, most natural form, though the skank sometimes feels like Mother Nature is on steroids.
Beaver glands, the basis for Castoreum in perfumery. Photo: my own.
What was so special about AbdesSalaam’s perfume course was the opportunity to smell some truly rare materials, to actually hold them in our hands, smear them on our skin or, in one rather disconcerting incident, even taste them on our tongue. From fossilized African hyraceum to Ethiopian civet anal sac paste and muskrat genital glands, each bore a scent that was truly like nothing that I’ve ever encountered in perfumery. Their aroma was so alien from my every day existence that I lack the olfactory vocabulary to convey the full extent of their aroma, but I shall try to do my best. Ultimately, like everything else in AbdesSalaam’s perfume course that I’ve written about so far, there is no substitute for personal experience and my posts can only convey one-tenth of what it was like. The animalics are just one part of why his perfume course is so unique, as well as why it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that you should experience for yourself if you have the time, means, and opportunity.