Give aways and goodies

Day 8 of the advent calendar

Welcome to day 8 already of the advent calendar and good luck to you all. Today, you can win two samples of PHI-une rose de Kandahar, a small prize, but fitting with the post. Just leave any comment and you are in the draw. And as always: we pick the winners randomly.

PHI-une rose de Kandahar was this year’s holiday treat, a fragrance composed this year, and a special treat. Today’s picture shows you a cut out from a picture of experiments in brown flint glass bottles, with a paper strip underneath, and all of it sitting on a print out of a tulip picture. The print out still sits there, illuminated by my computer screen on the desk, a memento of spring and its treasures. I always mix my trials in these 30 ml bottles, and mix 12.5 gr of trials in there. And when working on a new fragrance, I end up with a wave of bottles, inundating my desk . While going through my library of phone pictures in search for a particular shot, I found this one which works perfectly. The rose de Kandahar was a story that got kick-started by me getting a particular rose essential oil from Afghanistan , through one of my essential oil suppliers here in Switzerland. It is a specialty, both the rose oil and the fragrance and I have to see how to continue with PHI in 2014. No promises there…

And it was further amplified by me visiting a Paris fair of (natural) raw materials. There, I discovered and later got some tobacco absolute and a great vetiver. Both ended up in the PHI-une rose de Kandahar scent. When I got the tobacco, I knew immediately that I needs to go together, and every trial since then got it in. Do not ask me why this is or was. There is one thing I know, however: This is not my last fragrance with tobacco.

Composing perfumes is a fluid process: You have to immerse and let the fragrant flow carry you.

Ah, and yes, not every coast where you land is fruitful. Mostly, you end up with grey and dull versions of scents that will got to perfume heaven.