Experimenting: successes, obsessions and expensive mistakes

Mistakes: my most pongy and expensive mistake to date - and I'm sure they'll be more in time - has been a whole litre of vetiver liquid soap that just made us all feel sick and ended up being thrown away. I seriously overdid the vetiver and didn't get the smell of clean that I was after. A good lesson in less is more. I've made mediocre eau de parfums and colognes, face toners that went off and face oils that weren't good for me because I diagnosed my skin-type wrong!
Successes: These are two fragrances of bath & body oil and a facial exfoliator. The bath & body oils are spring and winter inspired and I've called them 'Persephone' and 'Demeter' because the spring-like scent is from fruity and floral essential oils that are chosen for their uplifting effect; the fruit and feeling of renewal a reawakening. The counterpart then had to be winter and the time for Demeter's lament over the loss of her daughter. This scent is of grounding essential oils such as patchouli and frankincense - great favourites of mine - befitting an earth goddess. The facial exfoliator is the only survivor of my first attempt at making my own skincare. It has a gentle aqueous base, some walnut grains for visual effect but the work is really done by jojoba beads. Finally I add neroli essential oil because of its suitability for all skin-types, including sensitive, and its efficacy as an oil for skincare. My daughter now won't use anything else and she gave some to a friend as a present, her friend's mum uses it too...
Obsessions: I have obsessive crazes - several months buying old perfume bottles, but only under £10, and now old compacts, again they have to be under £10. The latter I might fill with lip balm for gifts but I've not yet got the formula quite right ... well, perfumery, unguents of all types.
Experiments: I've had a go at making glycerine soap - no report on this yet, and I'm having another go at blending an eau de cologne fragrance with essential oils, only this time I'm sticking with a bath & body oil (they seem to be working for me) and not adding the alcohol etc..

Astrology, neo-Babylonian scientists and signature scents

From the blog Yesterday's Perfume, which I recommend for its reviews of vintage and classic fragrances, I discovered my star sign is Aquarius and not Pisces. Oddly I'm not surprised, my birthday was on the cusp and on my whimsical, astrology-leaning days I would always read both.

http://yesterdaysperfume.typepad.com/yesterdays_perfume/2011/01/whats-your-signs-signature-scent.html

My recommended signature scent is Chanel No19 which I love but avoid because my oldest and dearest friend wears it. She,, however is still a Pisces and maybe should give Fidjii a try. Does this let me off the hook in terms of No19?

Martha Graham Dance Company

Martha Graham has long been one of my heroes and I recommend her book Blood Memory, I have also found a link to a short film on The Another Magazine website with a performance by the Martha Graham Dance Company which carries on her legacy.

http://www.anothermag.com/exclusives/the-martha-graham-dance-company

The Natural Perfumers Guild: Outlaw Perfume Project - A Natural Perfumers Guild Artistic Statement

The Natural Perfumers Guild: Outlaw Perfume Project - A Natural Perfumers Guild Artistic Statement

All that needs to be said is on the blog entry that this link takes you to - indulge in and enjoy perfumery.

My Chanel: the three Cristalles

I've written before that my mother's signature fragrance is Chanel No5, my best friend's is Chanel No19, and my sister sometimes wears Coco. I have flirted with Coco, buying a bottle of it when it first launched from Harvey Nichols - out on a shopping mission in my lunch break. It was the first bottle of perfume I ever bought myself and at 21 it felt a very grown-up thing to do. I eschewed Cristalle as a younger woman as too watery, too much like the aquatics that flooded the perfume market. Now, my tastes have changed and just as I got to the point when I thought I'd not find a Chanel fragrance for me, I've tried Cristalle again because of the launch of Eau Verte and have become obsessed by it in all its three forms: the classic eau de toilette, eau de parfum and Eau Verte - I'll even have the body lotion!

Vetivert Essential Oil

Vetivert is a scented grass indigenous to India and Sri Lanka. The essential oil is distilled from the roots and its fragrance is deep and smoky, but blended with a base of oil, or alcohol, it develops lemony overtones. In modern perfumery Vetivert is used as a base note and fixative, and the essential oil is excellent for skincare.

Vetivert roots have been used for fragrance in India for thousands of years and in Indian means 'Oil of Tranquility'. It has a deeply relaxing effect when used in baths and for massage.

Eau de Cologne

Traditionally eau de cologne is made from essential oils such as Bergamot, Neroli, Lavender and Rosemary, or Thyme, and often with citrus oils. These refreshing aromatic preparations date from the eighteenth century and this genre of perfumery takes its name from the city of Cologne, where it was manufactured by Johann-Maria Farina and called 'Kolnisches Wasser'. Over time many variations of colognes have continued to be developed. Chanel's Eau de Cologne is a classic and Guerlain's Eau de Guerlain is a citrus masterpiece. Perfumerie Generale's Cologne de Grand Siecle is made using only ingredients that were available to eighteenth-century perfumers and will appeal to history purists and lovers of natural perfumery.

Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez in Perfumes: the A-Z Guide recommend those by Institut Tres Bien, which myth has it were made from family recipes, unfortunately this company has gone out of business. The role of a cologne is, to quote Luca Turin: 'one of life's absolute necessities, perfume for when you don't feel like perfume, before going to bed, to splash on your kids after the bath and introduce them to life's finer pleasures, etc.. In short, cologne is a cleanser for the soul.'