sapunablog

I made magic over the holiday break. It sounds arrogant, but the aura that’s surrounding me as a sample my latest creation is – magic.

The scent: A sweet, powdery vanilla base wrapped in thin layer of cognac. As the cognac layer ever so slowly melts away, like a sticky caramel coating, a hint of rose rises up say hello.

Yes. This is magic.

And this magic is working its charm, because it has made me pull out these:

I’ve had a bag of empty perfume sample vials in my cupboard for a very, very long time. I’ve pulled them out to look every once in a while and then put them back.

I think I’m ready now.

I’ll send out perfume samples to the first 5 folks who send their physical address to info at sapuna dot com, no matter where they are. In return, I’d appreciate your feedback.

Note: This was originally posted in Sept 2009 on my old blog. It just dawned on me that I should move it over here.

I’ve just returned from AbdesSalam Attar’s natural perfumery course in Italy.

I’ve found my calling. I’m turning in my resignation at the shop Monday.

Boss, I’m joking.:-)
(more…)

FB friend and natural perfumer Rodney Hughes has written a beautiful review of Mandy Aftel’s Trévert. Her scents take a bit to get used to (the ones I’ve sampled are very heavy), but if Trévert is a good as Rodney’s command of the English language, then it should be a best seller.

I had a friend over for dinner this weekend and made a chicken curry dish loaded with ginger. It was divine, but I think I can improve. The dinner inspired me to create a new scent with ginger, cedarwood, tobacco and a touch of black pepper. The cedarwood stuck out like a sore thumb, probably due to the memory it triggered: my grandmother’s cedar chest, which was always loaded with furs. One in particular fur was this weasel wrap thingy.

You know the one I’m talking about…every grandmother had one. And she looked like she was trapped in a vermin Vulcan stun grip.

That thing scared the living daylights out of me, especially those beady little eyes.

Yes. All of this from a whiff of cedarwood essential oil in a blend. After a few minutes, the cedarwood took a step back and allowed the spicy and seductive ginger to show her stuff.

Hmmm. Would ginger be female? Not sure.

As I ponder that question, check out this interview with perfumer Gerald Ghislain.

My favorite graph:

The most important things I learnt at the ISIPCA weren’t the technical aspects or the smells but the scents’ vocabulary. I learnt 
to describe a scent with words 
and very quickly, I was able to describe an image with scents. Ultimately, I learnt to tell a story with 
a perfume.

That’s my main goal right now, telling a story with my creations.

So, back to ginger. Male or female? Devilish or divine? I sense her as a somewhat an ingenue, spicy, bright, but not quite sure of her power. She teases you, gently. Just a tickle on your nose is enough to make you remember her.

_{Image: Wikipedia}