Fragrant greetings on this Friday, January 6, from Zurich. This Friday sees me writing a few commercial invoices for boxes that go into airplanes and fly over the seas and mountains over the weekend. It sees me on the phone, talking to retailers interested in my brand, and talking to suppliers who supply too slow, and this Friday sees me continuing trying to lay out a few facts and figures in Excel. And lay out the consequences: All fact based. Only cruel brutal number facts. No Andy in wonderland hopping around allowed.

I give you one example. We did these wonderful fragrant cards, printed, with relief, and soaked in the scent of Carillon pour un ange, individually wrapped in a little transparent bag, sealed. We used them to give these during the launch of the Carillon pour un ange, a little gift for clients, so they could take the scent with them home. And many orders, especially sample sets, leaving my house do so with one of these cards, with a hand written note on the transparent bag. (Sometimes, when giving free samples with perfume orders, I write on the back of the sample hanger directly.)

Anyhow: We put a good pile of money onto the table to get these scented cards done. We did thousands. We still have a few hundred and then they will be gone. I get a lot of mails, where perfume lovers tell me what they received and that they like this and that or did not like this and that. Not one word on these cards, though. I am not sure they were even used in the shops. And I saw on youtube once a video, one of these cool unpacking videos that I find thrilling like a crime story,  especially when they unpack my products, and I am sure the guy doing the unpacking did not even realize that the cards are scented…

Thus, fact based and without Andy hopping in wonderland: These cards were wonderful, a great design, a perfect encapsulation of the scent, but a failure. A complete failure. Too expensive, not understood, not used, never asked for by retailers. A simple printed card, printed in 10’000 pieces, for 1/20th of the scented card’s price would have done the job. Better. Because they would be understood. And appreciated.

This is what I do these days: I comb through my universe of bottles and caps and labels and cards and all the tools that we built. Many of which have worked wonders for my venture. Analyzing where I stand. Based on this Excel I will move on.  And the pendulum will swing back and forward at the same time.

Ah, and yes! I will start smelling my beloved apricot all natural oil in some seriousness, and maybe even do a little mix, thinking apricot, patchouli, rose. Ah… roses! In Excel, too.

but when I got up in the morning, I felt like sketching a foggy early morning, brisk, and under a bright moon. I did so first thing in the morning, right after the first sips of coffee and forgot to finish the coffee while doing so. This is what you call “flow”, or you could call it deep immersion. I would like to do more sketches with my ipad, simple experimental drawings, exploring and training my hand. I like to immerse there.

The same in a sense is true when it comes to perfumes. I am doing more sketches these days, with my raw material vials, exploring and training my nose. Independently of whether I can sell them or not later. Right now, I have an ambra sketch under my nose: I mixed it a few days ago. It willl go into a first experimental dilution today, later in the evening. Ambra-cocoa-patchouli and hints of cinnamon and leather. Just finest hints. I do these mostly for myself and will not share them right now. I cannot even if I wished. But I am looking into.

The same is true for filling Cologne in sample vials and do extra “off-track” specials. I already do much too much specials. Thus, referring to a question in yesterday’s comments: No, I do not fill the Cologne into sample vials, even if paid for it, as this would only distract me from my mission.  But I am looking into the Cologne du Maghreb and other scents that are either finished or in the pipeline: How can I move on there, offering them without overloading my boat.

There is a limit of what you can do, if you do things yourself. A limit of sample vials that you fill, a limit of mails that you answer and a limit of special little extras that you can do on the side. In a sense it is a paradox: I have to distance myself in order to stay close to what I love doing-creating.

The first meetings to address this question is scheduled and happens in 10 days.

Welcome to 2012 and welcome to my blog in 2012. The last few days of 2011 saw us looking into the books, counting stocks and looking at numbers. I need the stock to close the books. Although I work in the industry of dreams if you so wish, creating fragrances, little fragrant dreams, at the end of the day, I need to count Francs and Euro and Dollar and see whether I can pay the bills and whether I can afford to move on. Like every year, I need to look deeply into the numbers of 2011 trying to understand what happened and coming up with an idea of where we are right now and where we might go in the first months of 2012.

I look back to a reasonably successful year when it comes to numbers. Not fairy tale numbers, but sufficient in the moment. The outlook for 2012 is blur, however. I am convinced that we all have to get used to the idea that we are walking at the rim of a volcano that is bubbling down there and sends stinky gases up here. If we want we can actually smell them. The march along the rim brings a spectacular view, but we better be careful up there. We will see what 2012 brings in terms of economics and Euro values and trust in a banking system that seems more rotten every month. I am not very optimistic there.

I look back to a 2011 that was the most creative year I ever had in my entire life. 2012 will demand answers where to go with this creative venture of mine and how to add more  threads into the Tauer fabric. Not an easy task. The Tauer fabric is already very dense and complex. 2012 will start with a lot of meetings and writing up of  ideas, trying to imagine how my venture might look in a year or two from now. Where I can move on, where do I need to move back and where might I need to cut? I am very much looking forward into doing so.

And I am looking forward to sharing this process with you, my readers.

The newspapers tend to bring rosy, happy articles with a cheerful note when looking into the new year. Thus, I want to bring a rosy note into this post, too. The picture to the left shows you a little sketch of “roses and pine needles”, drawn on the ipad real quick. This afternoon, after having finished stocking up Miriam from Tableau de Parfums and Air du désert marocain, will see me playing with rose. Again.

I hope that 2012 will see more roses from Tauer coming, painted or in little bottles.

The draw is over now. A big thank you to all of you. Merci!

I wish you merry holidays!

This is the last day of the advent calendar and again an opportunity to win by leaving a comment on this blog post.

Your prize today: You can pick a  fragrance from my range of scents that I offer on my website, or a Cologne du Maghreb, or a flacon of Miriam from Tableau de Parfums. It is your choice.

The advent calendar this year was really exciting. I never had so many comments on my blog, and reading all your thoughts was wonderful. Thank you to all of you for participating and sharing.

Today I cook for friends (curry!) and tomorrow, I will cook for the family, and like the last years I will be making homemade Gnocchi with a couple of different sauces. And as every year, I will close this blog for a few days.

I wish you peaceful holidays.

This draw is closed now. Follow this link for your chance to win a flacon of a fragrance from my line,your choice, December 23.

Welcome to day 22 of the advent calendar and another chance to win an all natural, all botanical Cologne du Maghreb. Just leave a comment on this blog post and you enter in the draw. Any comment will work just fine. And as always, I will pick the winner by random.org and will inform the winner by e-mail.

I will meet the insurance guy in a second who visits our apartment to do a post burglar inspection of the damage and make an educated guess on our claim. (see post Friday 16 for details on the burglar issue) . In the mean time, we figured out that the burglar had a very strange stealing pattern indeed: He took a half eaten Salami from the kitchen, too. A hungry burglar.

After this meeting, I am looking forward to play for a moment with an ambra base, a mixture that I created almost a year ago, rich in amber gris, vanilla, cistus extract(s) and a few other treats. I need to search it, somewhere in this sea of bottles that fills a lot of space and needs some selection and clearing, and I want to smell it again; stealing some time before I have to start working conceptually.

Working conceptually basically translates into filling excel lists, to layout ideas for next year and come up with a plan. It is always good to have a plan. Right?

This is day 21 of the advent calendar and today you can win a bottle of the Cologne du Maghreb again. Just leave a comment on this blog post and enter the draw. I wish you good luck. The winner is picked by random.org and I inform the winner by e-mail.

Here is a news for “Mireille”, winner of the Perfumeshrine draw, of December 13. Please check your e-mail inbox and send Perfumeshrine your address together with your selection of the fragrance from the Tauer range that you won. Thanks.

I am very busy today, and need to head immediately for my little factory  (two rooms: One storage, one actually production related) where I wait for DHL to pick up a large box that I prepared for clients. And then I will need to write a few cards, and send them off, together with the orgami envelope that I folded to hold a little, simple card, saying “Merry holidays and a happy new year”.  This year, I wanted my X-mas cards to be home made, home folded and simple.

The picture below shows you the work in process. Other work in process for the festivities: Pack the presents, think about the meal with friends  for the 24th, decorate, bring myself into the right groove.  But then I am ready.

Are you?

(this draw is closed now. Please see the advent calendar for another chance to win. Thank you!)

This is day 20 of the advent calendar and soon, very soon we come to the end. Thus, I invite you to take your chance, leave a comment on this post and maybe you win a Cologne du Maghreb. Good luck to you! Any comment works. But if you need an inspirational topic: Any discoveries in 2011 that were exciting?

Yesterday, I learned how popular yoga seems to be. This was new to me. It is one of the things I learned in 2011. Thanks for sharing! Other things I learned in 2011 are among others: How to incorporate Marjoram in to an eau fraiche or eau de toilette scent. Marjoram, a carbon dioxide extract, was a big disovery this year and the all natural eau de toilette that I built around it is one of the formulas sitting in Excel waiting patiently for a release date. I guess I will do  as many of you suggested in yesterday’s comments: I will follow my heart.

Other fragrant discoveries in 2011 that are not part of a fragrance yet, but even more thrilling due to their status of being new in my palette of things that I explore seriously. I smelled most of them before but finally I have large quantities allowing me to play seriously in 2012: Apricot natural extract, osmanthus absolute, frangipani absolute, cypriol, tuberose absolute, and I think Verdantiol is also a 2011 molecule discovery. Each of these come with a multitude of opportunities and challenges.

I think 2012 will be fragrant. Not easy as there are quite a few clouds on the horizon, but at least it will be smelling exotic.

This draw is closed. Please see the advent calendar 2011 for another chance to win. Thank you to all of you sharing and participating.

It is day 19 of the advent calendar and we are approaching fast towards the end. Thus, I invite you to take your chance to win another prize by leaving a comment on this post. Anything goes. Today, you can win again a Cologne du Maghreb. Good luck! If you need inspiration for a comment: What kind of body exercise do you do?

We got snow here in Zurich. I started my usual Sunday half marathon in snow flurry and it was wonderful. For about 5 minutes. I am a bit more a sun and sand lover, but after a while I always get into a running groove anyhow and I usually start thinking perfumes, their creation, their bottling and their presentation. Yesterday, I was thinking about an aldehydic, floral incense woody orris scent that I am working on. Not that I would not have enough scents already in my line, though. And with the next fragrance (Loretta) in the Tableau de Parfums line waiting to be mixed early spring for its big show off early autumn I will soon have more.

This will be one of my biggest conundrums to solve for 2012.  Being creative and come up with new scents, without blowing up my range of fragrances that I sell the way I sell them now. Yep: Maybe I need to sell some in a different way. Maybe I need to create a tauer outlet for some of the many new scents in the pipeline.  Maybe I am not supposed to sell some. I got a lot of comments by perfume lovers telling me to stop bringing more perfumes to the market next year and I got a lot of comments by perfume lovers telling me to bring new scents to the market.

I guess time will tell. Jogging did not end with an answer, but it sure felt good when the sun broke through and when I was done with it.

This draw is closed now. Please see the advents calendar page for a new chance to win. Thank you for participating.

This is day 16 of the advent calendar and your chance to win again a Cologne du Maghreb. Today started weird at my house. Someone broke into my house over night and while I was sleeping the unknown guy took a few things that he found valuable. He sure had a selective taste: All recently acquired HERMES and all CHANELS are gone.

But the Bond No 9 was not touched, neither was Badgley Mischka, nor was the Tiffany sitting right there next to my Chanels. Quite a selective taste for a criminal.

Also gone is my backpack with a few X-mas gifts, IT gadgets, and books I bought in Paris. Thus, I spent part of my morning with the police man wondering about this and that. Amazing how much money we are talking for just a few things. But here is the good news: I can go shopping again -once I got the insurance money- , double shopping pleasure for the price of one. Ah well….

I invite you to comment and make sure to enter the draw. Any comment is fine, but maybe you want to share in light of today’s thrilling news: Has ever somebody stolen something from you?

This draw is closed now. Please visit the advent calendar for your next opportunity to win. Thank you to all of you who shared your experiences with thieves and burglars and alike. It is amazing how many of us had to make this experience.

fragrant greetings from Paris! This is day 15 of the advent calendar and again another chance to win a Cologne du Maghreb. Just leave a little comment and you enter the draw, whatever you write there. Good luck to you all! And as always: we will pick the lucky winner with random.org and contact you by email.

And if you search for an inspiration for your comment: Do you believe in random numbers? After many draws on this blog, I personally have my doubts. (…)
Paris is indeed a special city and I always enjoy it here. This time of the year Paris, like many, many cities in the world, shines and glitters. I am sorry to disappoint you: I am not hunting exclusive perfumery material like oudh from Cambodia, or the most exclusive rose from Turkey. I hunt these, But do so on the webpage of Robertet or Biolandes or Ecomaat just to name a few.

Thus, like last year, I visited a few perfumeries and like last year I bought a few presents for friends and family in Go Sport, FNAC and a few small boutiques, too. Tonight, I fly back to Zurich, which hopefully shines and glitters, too.

In a sense it is us who make cities shine and glitter. Cities are what we make of them, I guess. The folks in Paris sure make a lot of their place.

This draw is closed. See the advent calendar 2011 for the next post where you can win.