OK, so I sort of told myself that if I had a glass or 8 of wine then I would post something on the Interwebs. Which, now that I think about it, maybe isn't the best idea, but whatever.  I'm only in the mood to post after a glass or two of wine.  And prebiotics.

So I thought I'd flammer about things that I couldn't smell before but I can smell now.  First, the odd ones out: raspberry ketone and eugenyl acetate.  Raspberry ketone I thought I just couldn't smell.  But since there's online jangles about it helping hair growth and skin elasticity (and weight loss--how odd that something I've played with for perfume is also available in pill form for people who want to slim down), I diluted some in PG (yeah, I did that.  I said PG for propylene glycol) and then in water and put it on my face.  Why not? It's cheap enough.  And from that I get a little bit of a berry smell.  Not singly raspberry--more like a vague strawberry/raspberry/generic berry. Or like the fruity part of ethyl maltol without the burnt sugar/caramel tone.  Faint, but nice, and seemingly very versatile.  I think TGSC said one of its uses was 'Christmas blends,' and I can see this now.

And eugenyl acetate.  The first couple times I got this chem I could not smell it AT ALL.  This latest time I got an impression of it.  I think.  Now that I've come to the conclusion that acetates are fruitier than alcohols, I smelled the eugenyl in that frame of mind. I think it is fruitier than eugenol, although it's not fruity per se.  I think it's a more rounded smell than eugenol, not as sharp.  But I still can't smell it all the time, whereas I can absolutely smell eugenol, dihydroeugenol (the Monster thought that smelled like clove cigarettes) and isoeugenol (there's a weird ham note there). I like eugenyl acetate, but of course I would.  I love the clove note, and I don't think I've met a clove note that I didn't like a bit. Interestingly, the Nilsmonster couldn't smell eugenyl acetate at all either--is this common?  Anyone out there who could smell eugenol perfectly well but not the acetate? (I don't know if it's relevant, but I can smell Z3hexenyl acetate and linalyl acetate just fine.)  So I can sort of smell eugenyl acetate now, under the right conditions.

A couple more: ambroxan at 100% and Exaltolide at 100%. I can smell these now.  Before, I couldn't.  You may be thinking, "Of course you couldn't smell them at 100%! Why didn't you dilute them?!" OK.  I admit it--I'm not exactly scientific with my aromachems.  I'm not a perfumer or a compounder.  And I don't have a 'lab.'  So I usually smell things at 100% or dilute them in any carrier I have (at whatever %) and, well, yeah.  Anyway, I can smell ambroxan now.  If I hold the bottle under my nose for just a moment, I get the whiff of what I know is ambroxan (I know this mostly from drydowns of things with it.). And Exaltolide: I couldn't smell it at all before at 100%, and I don't think I could smell it in dilution, but I  COULD smell a change when I added it to things.  I can't exactly explain the change, but it just seemed to enhance things.  Well the last time I ordered it, I smelled it outside (this is important, I think because of air pressure) and I could smell it!  I could smell the balsamic character it has!  That was cool.  Other musks were somewhat easy to smell at 100%: Cosmone, Musk Ketone, Velvione, R1. Others needed dilution: Galaxolide (I put this in my bathroom spray, which essentially functions as a vehicle for experiments. I sprayed it, and after the lighter notes wore off, I was like 'this smells just like Tersor!!!'), Tonalide (to me this smells like Downy when it dries down), Habanolide (the hot-ironed fabric note is real: but you have to dilute it or let it dry down to smell it).

I'm not sure I have anything else that I can't smell at 100%. I don't really keep track of musks, since I don't expect to smell them at 100%. I have a great musk ambrette replacer that I can smell if I put it on paper and wait a short while. Otherwise I think everything I have at the moment is smellable at 100%.

And that's the burgoosh for now.
E

Still here. Still a Sauvignon Blanc wino.

So I have some castoreum absolute (50% in benzyl benzoate) on the way. But I have to admit, I prefer the Givco (I think) castoreum base. I guess it's "Disneyfied," but I just see so much possibility with it. Whereas the natural I'm just like, 'it smells sweaty.' I think I need to further dilute the natural. Am I the only one who thinks this?

Hermitage has some natural civet absolute for sale. I'm toying with the idea of buying a milliliter just to have the reference scent at hand.  After all, I've had the base (Firmenich? I got it from Perfumer's Apprentice), and I don't think that's EXTREMELY offensive.  Sure, it's unpleasant, but not all THAT bad, really.  Not something that I'd keep in a jar inside a jar (like the isobutyl quinoline, which I find quite pleasant even at 100% but which is so strong that I keep it inside a couple jars). At Symrise I smelled a sample that just smelled like bad teeth.  Or, if you will, "over 45 teeth" (I put the 45 in there since I'm, um, "over 39," and I'd prefer to think that I have 5 years before that 'teeth' smell arrives). Anyway, the natural is supposed to smell 'repulsive,' so it would be nice to have the reference smell.

But back to Givco bases. I had some Sampaquita  and used it all to simply dilute in alcohol to make scents with (it's that good). And sure, it smells like jasmine, but, like I've said before, jasmine "with all the lights turned on."  I will say, however, that in a composition I think it smells more like regular jasmine flower.  So why does anyone use natural jasmine?!?!  Now if only PA would carry a tuberose, a fully accurate carnation and a tonka base, then all the problems of the world would be solved!  I imagine that if I had the perfect tabac-new mown hay base, then I could just quit with all my experimentation, because there would be my perfect scent!

So I also have some of their 'styrax essence' on order. And I'm not 110% sure if that's a purified natural or a base or whahappen, but I'm interested to see how it will smell. It's in their 'leather key accord,' so I'm hoping it will be more a leather than a cinnamic-tolu balsam-type. But since I intend to maybe use it in a spicy leather thing that I have, then probably either will do. But I'm hoping it smells exactly like Tom Ford Private Label Tuscan Leather (which it won't), because I adore that (along with Tobacco Vanille). And not only do I adore it, but I find it deceptively simple.  I smell it and think, "I could just dilute some Suederal."  But no.  I've diluted Suederal, and it didn't smell the same.  So if anyone has a formula for a convincing formula for a fake, please do comment....

I had the same experience with Chanel's Sycomore.  I smelled it and was like, "I could make that!" Even though I knew in the back of my head that I could not, in fact, make it.  But it seemed so simple!  I can't in fact recall the smell now, except that maybe it was vetivery and definitely woody-green-foresty, and that I'm sure I thought I could reproduce it with isocyclocitral, vetiver and galbanum. Oh, to be as close to the Chanel boutique as I was when in NYC!!!! Alas.

But anyway, I have castoreum, styrax and the citrus key accord they have on the way.  I do love the citrus accord. If you look at the formula, it's almost all limonene, but that's fine, because it smells sweet and dry citrus and wonderful, and it will go with my Celeditude scent, which might be a bit too round and needs more sharp citrus.  So there you go.  But apart from that, it's all about the leather.  And spices and tobacco. And, of course, powdery musk.  So if any reader out there has any strange quinolines or spicy notes or rare musks that they want to share/get rid of, hit me up in the comments.  I'm always up for spicy notes! (I love me some Methyl Diantilis, and I'm tinkering with the idea of getting some Safranal and zingerone.)

Beep!
E

This is one of those posts where I'm, like, 'I haven't posted in a while, but now I've found Jesus, and I'm going to post all the time or at least try or explain why I haven't posted or say that I'm drunk." So yes. Obviously the Jesus part is tongue in cheek.

So I haven't posted in 10000 years, but maybe I will sort of almost kinda in a way post more in the future or something?  So there you go.

I would have posted about aromachemicals right now, but my Nilsmonster just held one of his boxes in front of my nose.  See, he has these wooden boxes that he occasionally asks for scents to put in.  So I put scents in. Usually heavy woody or woodamber notes that take forever to disappear, like Timberol.  But in this case it was loaded with Cashmeran.  And it's STILL in my nose, the Cashmeran. I like this note, but it makes me think of hairspray.  Because I was doing a lot of stuff with it in my bathroom back in my Mom's house, and I always smelled it the next day or five, and I was like, 'It smells like hairspray.' Even though it doesn't smell like hairspray PER SE, but possibly as a component thereof.  Eller?  Anyway, it has a chemical nuance.  And a clean pine nuance as well, but the 'clean' part is very chemical.  And that's why I really don't like Dans Tes Bras. Because I find it harsh and chemical.  Am I the only one?  I've never liked it.

But continuing with this streamofconsciousness, I do like Musc Ravageur. Yes, it's much more than musk, and someone who smelled it on me thought it was Shalimar.  But I do like it. Better than Muscs Koublai Kahn, which I find animal-in-a-Costasuol-kind-of-way but not so much that I'm bowled over.  I like the vanillic spiciness of MR. I might would get it as a splurge, but I'd always wonder if I should have gotten Carnal Flower, which is closer, in my mind, to genius.  Sigh.  This is Sweden for you, folks.  There is one--count ONE--place where I can buy them, apart from online.  So I have to choose well, because I can't just waltz into the department store and spray them on, mind you.  So do I buy Carnal Flower, which I would seldom wear but it's perfect, or Musc Ravageur, which I could wear much more often if everyone here weren't "allergic" to noticeable fragrances?  Oh me.  My life if so hard.

So I feel like I should talk about aromachemicals more, since I've gotten a bunch (and used them up) since I last seriously reported.  Tabanon. Undecavertol. So many others.  In some cases I'm terribly embarrassed, because I sort of remember what they smell like, but not in detail. And every now and then someone reads this blog and comments and I'm like, "Shit. People actually read this sometimes." And then I'm like, "They must think I'm an idiot because I don't dilute things and my 'smell readings' are so amateur."  For example: rum acetal.  I don't remember what I thought when I first smelled it.  I think I was like, 'Yeah, this would totally work in tobacco scents.' But I had my monster smell it, and he was like, 'Tequila.  No, liquor.  It smells like liquor. Maybe rum.' And this was without me showing him the label. Interesting was his take on Dimetol: 'It smells like Gain [detergent]'  Yes. I think.  I had seen the descriptor of dihydrolinalool attached to it, so my impression was, 'Yes, it's like a super fresh linalool. I can see how it would be used in bergamot things.'   Anyway.....

So anyway, there's really no point to this post. I guess I just wanted to feel my fingers typing again, so I could see what it's like.  But I would like to start posting again, so we'll see.  And that's the bagoosh for now.

Flerp!
E