The cold weather version of our summer reading list poll: tell us about a great book to curl up with on a frosty winter night, and what fragrance we should wear while reading it.
Note: image is A good book and a good hat [cropped] by John Mallon Iphoneography at flickr; some rights reserved.
Scentings is a small company specializing in handcrafted aromatherapy products with charming packaging and literary themes. Two of Scentings’ essential oil blends, Emma Woodhouse and Elizabeth Bennet, are inspired by the heroines of Jane Austen’s novels. I’ve tried Elizabeth Bennet, named for the leading lady of Pride and Prejudice; it’s an all-natural mix of clary sage, palmarosa, ylang-ylang, lavender and bitter orange.
My first impression of this blend is the earthy, slightly musky clary sage — clary sage has plenty of personality, and it tends to dominate a bit here, so you’ll need to like clary sage if you’re going to love this blend. However, it is lightened by the floral-herbaceous lavender note, a citrusy edge of orange peel, and the warm, woody-floral palmarosa. The various oils or notes are combined smoothly, so that the result is a sophisticated blend, with a certain amount of depth from the more intense ingredients…
Apologies for the lack of posts earlier today — I am on vacation, and internet access has been harder to come by than I expected. Hopefully I will catch up next week.
Meantime, a repeat of a poll we did last June:
Please recommend a great book to add to our summer reading lists, and tell us what fragrance we should wear while reading it…
Danielle Bretancourt von Hoffman, a talented nose and wife of an aristocratic glass manufacturer, is plunged into a nightmare when England declares war on Nazi Germany: her young son and mother-in-law might be trapped in Poland behind advancing enemy lines. As the conflict sweeps across the globe, Danielle turns to her perfumery talent and French aesthetics, her strong work ethic, and her good business sense to pave a way for her family’s survival.
Jan Moran chose an ambitious setting for her debut novel Scent of Triumph. For fiction writers, the war has it all: a sweeping international stage, a full cast of heroes and villains, good versus evil, life or death choices, intrigue, suspense, romance, heartbreak, and, of course, gorgeous perfumes…
I’m always happy to come across connections between perfumery and literature, so I read (and thoroughly enjoyed) M. J. Rose’s “novel of suspense” The Book of Lost Fragrances soon after its release, and then I tried the accompanying scent from the independent perfume house Joya. According to the author’s website, Rose sent an advance copy of the novel to Joya as a gesture of thanks, since she had been burning Joya candles for ambiance while writing it; the company’s owner, Frederick Bouchardy, was inspired to create a fragrance in response to the novel.
The result is Âmes Sœurs (Scent of Soulmates), developed for Joya by perfumer Rayda Vega and described as “an orange blossom wrapped in incense, smoke and musk.” Its official list of notes includes tamarind, grapefruit, and cypress; rose Bulgar, ginger, and orange blossom; and cedarwood, incense, amber and sweet musk.
If you’ve read The Book of Lost Fragrances, you’re familiar with its motif of an ancient Egyptian perfume, preserved through the ages…