We are entering in full last minute preparation mode these minutes: Pitti Fragranze is ante portas, and on Thursday we hit the train to Florence (hence the picture, although the train in the photo is the Bernina express train, seen 10 days ago).  In order to get into the Italian grove we went to the movies yesterday and watched “mine vaganti (click here for the trailer)” . Not the average Italian family, though. But it was good entertainment and distraction from boxing and packing.

The next two days see us making more stock , and getting ready for the days after Pitti. Then, we will engage into soap making mode, as I got an order for my X-mas soap that -my efforts paid- ends up as X-mas for a Zurich pharmacy. I consider it a test ground for my capacity in soap scenting and pouring (how many can we possibly make in a day?), and I hope it will turn into a cool marketing return for the brand, and a nice X-mas gift of the pharmacy for its top clients.

They have a lot of clients.

We need to get 100 kg soap and do so today.

A little video I made during the photo shooting with Vero from Vero Profumo and me, for Wallpaper with the photographer Tarik Hayward from Koerner Union.

And no: We did not fly to Brazil….the location is the botanical garden in Zurich.

Enjoy!

Uff. It is Friday, this week’s big shipment is ready in front of the house for pick-up by Schenker, and I can worry about other things, such as my hair or creation of new perfumes. I decided that Friday afternoon will be my “creative day”, translating into at least 4 hours working on fragrances.

Otherwise, if not scheduling it like that: No chance. Too much going on….But first things first: Newsletter final texts, pictures for the shop. I will hit the essential oils in the afternoon before hitting downtown.

Today’s creative challenge: Ambreine. I get mine from Biolandes in France. It is a natural substance, isolated in a few steps from Cistus ladaniferus, to be precise: solvent extraction of  the concrète. It is not easy to work with, as it is -in all its beauty- very quickly dominating an entire composition. I want to use it in a mix where I just need its dry woody incense effect, without the ambergris part. And it has a harsh side.  Let us see how we can soften it. I guess I will bring in some green contrast. We will see.

I feel, perfumery is very much about light and darkness, about contrasts, about effects…I need to think a bit more on contrasts in perfumery.

And with this I wish you a great weekend, and here is your reading recommendation for it:
Open Letters Monthly, on “difficult pleasure”, featuring among other things Lonestar Memories. Enjoy!

(picture of today: A cut out from a larger photo taken last weekend, stones and water in sunlight)

I am not used to posing for a photos in Wallpaper, hence I picked a location that compensates with flowers and colors and shapes. I proposed the Botanical Garden, where I might hide behind gigantic sunflowers or orchids, shy as always. In case of me shining through  and showing up behind the flowers, I get a haircut today. My hair looks about like the dead branches of the Swiss Alpine Fir tree seen over the weekend, and admittedly needs some trimming.

Just a bit, also for Pitti. I do not like to sit at the hair dresser, and see what is left of former beauty.

I guess for a photo in Wallpaper I will get over it.

This is the official PR for the new Tauer launches, on Now Smell This. Click here for Robin’s post.

And here my contribution to this PR fact (click on image for larger version).

the first morning hour is usually mine. The earlier the more it is mine, and the better: in the morning I write the posts of the day and come up with weird thoughts. And get used to the idea that another day waits with e-mails, although I spenTd an evening answering so many of them.

It is an endless flow of communication that has something very comforting.

It is in the morning that I use photoshop and draw its and bits. This morning, I was putting the sketch of yesterday into a more readable form.

Sketch of the eau d'épices structure.

The sketch looks like that.

This is -if you want- the shape of the perfume, in some detail, showing some of the complexity. I will need to add two or three components, though.

If you want, you may scan from top to bottom to get a pyramid kind of description. But the sketch misses the light, the color. And -as a commenter lately rightfully said- the sum is more than the individual ingredients….  Tricky…(here is the link to the same picture in higher resolution)

But at least it gives you an impression of COMPLEXITY and how I think, if I do.