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To be honest: The last few hours were somewhat heavy.

I wish myself back to the huge pile of cushions in our tent in Kiev, watching the (artistic) fire, and dreaming myself away in a sea of red. (see below)
Yesterday, I got the “Tauer branded” lot labels on which I will print the lot numbers and the names of the perfumes. and I tested them in the printer and… it did not really work. So , we fiddled and tested and fiddled and tested… and got somewhat nervous. Finally, after a sleepless night, I got the answer that we need to change the thermal ribbon and then all will be fine, as the labels are printed on special paper. Uff. Double uff.
Thus, this weekend sees us printing lots of labels for the samples that need to go to Milano. As far as the new super trooper flacons are concerned: They still worry me, as I am still waiting for a long promised delivery of the first set of them. I just hope they are not in flacon limbo, to take up a featured word of yesterday’s post.
On the bright side: the papers come in (cards etc.) and it all looks perfect. Please, all of you, help me sending positive vibes to an unknown French truck driver, driving somewhere someway some-when  with my flacons in the back of his truck.

I wish you a lovely weekend. Ah… and before I forget: Yes, I definitely decided to produce Gabriel , aka supergreeen, and ordered all I need, for autumn 2010.

picture: Cushions inside the tent in Kiev, for the show we did there.

Yesterday, I got an e-mail about another email. It told me that “—– The following addresses had permanent fatal errors —–” . Nothing spectacular you would think. It happens all the time. But guess what: I have sent the mail on 09/11/2008.

yes. 2008.

Where was this mail for the last 1.5 years? And what happened yesterday? Is there an e-mail limbo and was my e-mail, after suffering and waiting for a while (1.5 years are an eternity for e-mails), sent to heaven? Or, maybe, it was kept by NSA, analyzed forth and back? Maybe it was all squeezed and put into a super computer, with white man in white shirts with black ties, trying to make sense of typos and other mistakes? The e-mail was about air du désert marocain and US customs. Modern wonders and wondering.

Another modern wonder, and one of mankind’s greatest achievements: Taking a hot meal at 10′000 meters above sea level.

No animal can do this.

Yep!

Picture: Photoshop merge of UIA ’s meal and plane wings.

with a cradle full memories and impressions.

What an amazing experience. I look forward to sharing with you, in a day or two. Right now, I should get some orders out and need to prepare for Milano.

Maybe just one, two words. The weather was a 1/1 copy of Zurich weather, which made it easy to get accustomed. And I did not have to worry to much about what to put into the suitcase. We are still in the minus 6 region (Celsius) here and there. But, without orthodox churches and  with houses in all colors (like you do not see it in Zurich), the weather is annoying here in Zurich. For Kiev, I think, it was fitting, in a sense. And I loved the white snow in the back of my hotel, which was a little family owned enterprise with 7 rooms and heated up to a level where you could walk around naked.

The flight was nice, and -in a light of heavy snow fall in Zurich on my departure day- I was lucky to catch it after alll. It was a bit of a bumpy start , but once up there: Great! And once down there: Great, too! I was invited immediately for diner, downtown Kiev, where we discussed the days to come. The meetings with the press and the actual event. And the sightseeing tour, that -as always- was second in row, because perfumes come first….

More on the gatherings soon. I made a few videos to share. And yes: It is nice to be back, too…..

Yesterday, I prepared the first 450 paper “things” late in the evening, in the new design, to give away in Milano, supposed to hold the samples. I am trying to get about 3000 ready for the Milano Esxence exhibition. Definitely a step forward compared to the old sample design. In terms of handling and in terms of appearance. And now: Enjoy a glimpse on the alps and a church in Kiev.

on the way back.

an orthodox church in Kiev

we are all waiting for spring: flowers in a local market on March 8, the women’s day

Tomorrow, I will fly to Kiev and will have a few busy days there. Meeting press and (more important) clients and doing a real cool show. I feel this is going to be the coolest show I have ever done.

Actually, to be honest with you, I was amazed about the planning process and how much care Helen from JAN JAN put into all the details. Thank you Helen. We expect about 100 visitors for the show.

To give you an idea on the shop: Here is a video of the opening http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMCZUkuN9bY … Trust me: I will not walk around in a perfume dress, but I could dress as cowboy  ;-)
Enjoy!

Tomorrow, we’ll have the final meeting on the paper stuff for Tauer.

We=the branding gurus and me.

Paper stuff=letters, business cards, envelops

I need the business cards desperately, as I run out of old ones and as I started to really dislike my “old” design flower business cards. There was time where they were right and fitting, but now: It is time to say bye bye to some flowers. Actually, I feel it is more important to have flowers in the bottle than outside. Or in other words: I feel it is important that perfume lovers, who have never heard of Tauer nor smelled Tauer, get a feeling that they are dealing with a truthful, artistic line of perfumes and perfume house. And I want that everybody who gets into contact with me and my line of scents realizes that there is one red line that goes through it all. Now, in the existing line, do not really see this line going through. Well, there is a common pattern, but actually, if you want to find out who made perfume xyz: You won’t find Tauer except on the back, very small. And I do not really have a logo going with the old design that you would find everywhere. This will change.
Time to become a touch more visible.

Picture: a view inside the glass oven at Waltersperger, the producer of my flacons, actually, it could be used as ad picture for orange star…

I got definitely the ultimate perfume for laundry. When diluting air du désert marocain, I spilled a bit, and cleaned it up with a towel that ended up in the laundry. The towel got a good wash in the machine, detergent included and since then then laundry room smells like one part (flowery, musky, dry) of the air du désert, and the towel that dries peacefully down there transfers its surrounding into a big, dry place.

I have realized this earlier: The l’air du désert marocain would make a great fragrance oil for the bath, it would be a perfect linen spray, surviving endless washing cycles!, and it would last for ever as eau de lit. But it just got the wrong name, sort of! May be -one day- I will make a flanker, like an eau de tente, or eau de tapis, eau pour le bain dans l’oasis.  … actually the last name is cool.
But before we worry about flankers: We continue worrying about getting all the its and bits in place for Milano, with the bottles getting real tight!…and I try to answer all mails. Sorry folks if it needs a bit longer these days to get an answer.
And, after reading AromaX’s post this morning, here is my snowdrops picture and my idea for a snowdrop fragrance: actually I think it is a very green, but shy fragrance, mimosa like, with a hint of a silver line (cyclal C, phenylpropanol), like you find it in hyacinths.

What do you wish a snowdrop to smell like (they don’t in reality)?

Picture: snowdrops seen this morning in the garden

Today is dilution day. BIG ones, like the Lonestar Memories that waited a few weeks in the fridge to marry today with ethanol. And small ones, like the testers that I will take with me to Kiev, where I want to show a few natural delights, like rose absolute or jasmine or cedarwood: The Le Maroc trilogy. And others… for a little show with clients. I find it utterly important when introducing my line to explain where my fragrances start and where they end: With naturals that build the core and that are at the center of the stage.

Anyhow: Later today, I shall see the branded templates for letter, business cards, envelops and alike. Not match making , but still important for the overall recognition of Tauer.

By the way: Have I told you that I ordered branded perfume cards? You know…the ones you get in perfumeries to spray fragrances onto. Yes, I did. I simply could not resist. To which extend this makes sense from a money point of view, I do not know but I ordered 50′000 pieces to start with, coming from France in the coming weeks.

We hope so at least.

I emptied an old board yesterday, in anticipation of labels and other space eaters to come in the coming weeks. We used the board as some sort of a vertical walk-in closet. The real walk-in closet, that was one of my greatest goodies when living in Texas, in a rather cheap apartment, in a rather cheap place: My walk-in closet!
Now, we don’t have this institution “walk-in closet” here in Switzerland, but the result isthe same: you just put stuff into the board and then nobody sees it, and you forget about it until it is filled up or you need space. The later is the case now, and thus I hauled out a lot of stuff, among them: an old Roleiflex, “produced in the US zone of Germany”, that my father owned, my own first camera, a click-o-matic, and a few other funny things that I completely forgot about it. One of them: a old macro objective, that fits with my newer Nikon. I did not realize how compatible Nikon stuff seems to be.
Great.

The cupboard is ready to hold a few labels and bottles more and I am ready to take bigger close-ups with my Nikon. And now: Getting ready to meet my brading gurus, dilute air du désert with another lot of ethanol that should come in today, make a big order ready for Germany, and well, while putting ribbon on things: think about what Antonio Alessandria said about perfumery and art.

This man is smart.
And so is Ineke. And others …I am privileged to read their answers beforehand.

(if you are interested: Follow this series here on PERFUMism, http://www.perfumism.com/art_in_perfumery.25.html).
Picture: a close-up of one of the phalaenopsis blooming these days.

Next week, at this time, I will be jogging in Kiev (I hope), and preparing for the gathering with clients and folks there. It will be a first in my life and I cannot wait anymore to finally get there. (hoping to do some videos there!)
What got here last week on Friday: The first 142 new design boxes, sent to me beforehand by plane, to have boxes to show in Milano end March. The rest of the boxes follows by ship. Thus, it was the first time I saw the new design coming right out of the production, for the new design flacons. And it was the first time that we did a real, thorough calculation on how much volume the first order of 5000 boxes will need. They will need a lot.

Actually, the W.-factor did the calculation: it will be 7.26 m3
I guess, we need to get organized there…

I wish you a lovely Sunday.

Picture: the two air freight packages with 142 boxes inside. Air freight is kind of tough these days.

I got another big parcel with scenting materials, helping me to keep my stock up. Maybe I have told you this before: The biggest challenge these days is keeping up enough stock of everything. Since last year, I try to have enough fragrant material to at least produce one lot of each fragrance before I need to reorder. Thus, the target is set and these days we are (almost) there. Anyhow: Yesterday I got another fragrant parcel with ingredients from B like Bergamot, BF free, to Z like Zedernholz (Cedarwood), rectified.

Now, I have to go through all certificates and check for changes in specifications and sniff my way through. Quality control. Later the bottles will all end up in the cellar and fridge where they’ll wait until they are taken out and mixed.
Talking mixing: I am taking videos of the entire production process, from mixing all the way down to packaging, for the rose chyprée, to show at the Esxcence in Milano. In a minute we will do the bottle filling, small scale, for the camera. I am not 100% good at this, but the message will get across. I think.
Picture: a look at empty flacons through the juice.