North-American Originals: Perfumers on Fall & Winter - Part 3 {Scented Thoughts} {Perfume List} {Shopping Tip}

If you missed the previous installments, here they are: Part 1, Part 2

Today, we continue to follow the thoughts and experiments of Anya McCoy of Anya's Garden, peruse the fall perfume catalog of Fabienne Christenson of Perfume Possets who announces an upcoming perfume Elegance and intrigues us with her Cambienne which changes with the seasons. We meet with Ayala Sender of Ayala Moriel Parfums, an independent perfumer from both Israel and Canada who also makes tea, chocolate and offers among other things a very Canadian-smelling perfume inspired by the maple syrup festivals.



Anya McCoy of Anya's Garden

[continued...]

 "...I needed to determine what do the cool temperatures do to the intake of air in the nasal passages in the absence of humidity? How can a perfume be constructed that would work well in that atmosphere when I live in the tropics and cannot walk outside and test? Well, a huge bowl of ice cubes held under my face while sniffing the progression of the drydowns on MoonDance and StarFlower helped!

The cool, floral softness of MoonDance can be paired with slightly chilled nights and mornings when you wake up and find frost on the ground. A light, very, very light touch of mint, cooling and refreshing, starts the MoonDance, almost imperceptible, but a great combo with the woody violet flower and dusky, dry rose of true Rose de Mai from Grasse. A slight splash of apple-scented Roman Chamomile appeals to the engrammes of those raised in northern climates where the apple is a true harbinger of Fall. Since I do not use synthetic scents, and there is no natural aromatic yet available with an apple scent, I used the Chamomile to that advantage. It's more like a slightly dried, concentrated apple scent with a bright edge, and it plays off the tuberose heart/base note as the perfume slides into a warm, cozy, skin-hugging sensual drydown.

StarFlower is a chameleon-like sexy gourmand fragrance, almost deceptive in the almond, cherry and lemon opening, then raising the temperature quickly with tuberose that melts into a chocolate, maple and patchouli drydown that seems to pair beautifully with leather coats, turtlenecked sweaters and boots. It's dry and serene, not sweet at all after the initial topnotes, and utterly enveloping in its warmth and sensuality. That to me is Winter up north, being wrapped in something new and comforting, the promise of wintertime romance and snuggling by a fire.".... 

Fabienne Christenson of Possets Perfume

[Continued...]

"...The Fall and Winter are amply represented by Possets Perfumes. Pomona is very autumnal with its big portion of strong spices and a light lift of pumpkin. Over-The-Rhine is another heavy spice fragrance, mixed with resins and presented as a portrait of one section of Cincinnati Ohio in the USA which was a big melting pot part of the city. Big Black Cat is one of the  sticky and sweet and strong fragrances with a Halloween flair. Autumnal Equinox combines a rose and chrysanthemum sort of a combination, which says that the last blooms in the garden are still there despite the threat of a frost. Finally, Cootie is another scent which is out for this year only, but it combines apple with ginger and herbs (like herbs from Provence). Also, Chagrin (another limited edition) is strong absinthe, I think of that as being a drink for the colder weather.

The winter fragrances have not debuted yet at Possets, look for the limited editions around the first of December. In the meantime, Orion is a great fragrance for the winter months, with its strong element of oude. When the Yules appear, you will probably have the opportunity to try the minty but super sweet gourmandy Luminaria; and the mild coffee and raspberry thrill, Ribbands. But there will be a VERY sophisticated fragrance which will be making its first appearance at Possets for the Yule season, and its working name is Elegance, a deep and perfumy chypre with a very modern twist, it will be a new direction for Possets but I think it is going to be an exceptionally popular new perfume.

Of course, there will be more iterations of the ground breaking fragrance, Cambienne. Cambienne is exclusive to Possets and it is the fragrance which is changed with the seasons. If you buy it in January, it will tend to the cold and wet, if you buy it in June you may very well see it turn to a rosier scent. By Autumn it has become more of a fall fragrance. It is great fun to take a chance on what it's like, knowing that it will probably change again before you buy another bottle. At $10 USD a bottle, you can afford to take a risk on whether you will love it or not.
 

So, keep your eye on Possets throughout the colder months. Http://www.possets.com is the address to find affordable bottled happiness at Possets. All orders over $50 are shipped free anywhere on earth!" 

 

Ayala Sender of Ayala Moriel Parfums

  

Blessed with two home countries, I live each season in parallel olfactory universes - the one in which I live and the one I grew up with. I was born in Montreal and raised in Israel, where the fall and winter are milder and far less dramatic than in Canada. In both places though, autumn is a time of change and harvest, yet the particular fruit and the intensity of the transition are a little different.

Autumn in Israel will always remind me of the birth of my daughter, and to celebrate this important event in my life I have created a perfume in her namesake. Tamya perfume celebrates Mediterranean autumn fruit - pomegranates, guavas and the first tangerines - and wild bulb flowers emerging from the red earth after it sipped the first rain of the season (the scent of the earth after the first rain is an olfactory experience I am yet to translate successfully into a perfume). Fruity notes of cassis and yuzu paired with jasmine sambac and ylang ylang create an accord that is reminiscent of the ripe fruit alongside autumn crocuses and wild bluebells. Ambrette seed, vanilla, cedarwood and sandalwood form a milky softness reminiscent of a baby's head. Tamya perfume might seem light and more of a spring scent in the Canadian fall. For that I created Autumn, a full-bodied fruity Chypre that embodies overripe orchard fruit, red wine and mossy undergrowth buried under fallen leaves of crimson, burnt orange and sienna.

 

Snow is the most dramatic and exciting aspect of winter in the Northern hemisphere, dressing the world with a white gown of sparkling snowflakes. Fête d'Hiver is my winter fantasy, with fluffy powdery snow on a fur collar, and burning incense and cedar in the fireplace in a little cabin in the middle of the woods. Her brother, Bois d'Hiver smells like bringing in a fir tree along with a trail of cold snow air from outside. Both perfumes have a foundation of frankincense, myrrh and amber, and have enough spices and orange peel to make them smell almost like pomander, mulled wine and church incense. But in both cases I tried to stay away from the usual holiday clichés by adding a little twist: rose and gardenia notes in Fête d'Hiver, and orange blossom and fir absolute in Bois d'Hiver (which was also made into a scented candle.)

 

There is no chance of surviving the Canadian winter without a good supply of food, and maple syrup is perhaps not so much a staple as much as it is the country's most distinct flavour. Immortelle l'Amour is probably the most gourmand and the most Canadian of all my creations, inspired by the maple syrup festivals where warm maple taffy is cooled off on the snow and eaten on the spot. Immortelle (aka everlasting flower or helicrysum) absolute is an earthy, sticky, warm, sweet essence reminiscent of curry and fenugreek that is surprisingly used in maple flavouring. In Immortelle l'Amour it is paired it with an overdose of vanilla and caramel-like benzoin sprinkled with some rooibos and wheat absolute, cinnamon and sweet orange that give it a nearly realistic pastry-like aroma of warm cinnamon waffles. It was also translated back into flavour with its matching tea (best served sweetened with maple syrup)."