Friday, February 26, 2010

Green Clean Scents ~ Flowers for Demeter



I am exploring the world of Green Clean Scents...

When I was blending custom perfumes at the Four Seasons "Everlasting Valentines Day" Event, I noticed there was an overwhelming trend - Everyone, had the same request for a "Green-Clean Scent."

Even when I spoke with Kim (Director of Public Relations at The Four Seasons Hotel, Beverly Hills), about her Bespoke Perfume, she told me the same thing - that she wanted "A clean, fresh, green scent", that she could wear everyday...

I mentioned this trend to my Mom, and she told me a story about one of her last Scent Memories (she's completely anosmic due to a head injury). There was a hair salon in Toluka Lake where she especially enjoyed going to have her hair shampooed, because they used a wonderful "Hay"/Grass scented shampoo. (She's an outdoorsy Horse-Person who brightens whenever she talks about her favorite scent memories.)

How could I have missed this?!... Through all our years of "Shared Scent Experiences", it never dawned on me that she was focusing on the GREEN aspect of our scent environments...I guess I have always been so pulled by the narcotic allure of floral scents that I never even stopped to think that maybe she was experiencing a simultaneously overlapping Scented Moment...

In other Words: Green Clean = "Demeter's Choice"

Well that makes it official - I am off and running on a mission to create the ultimate "Green Clean" Perfume for our House Collection!

To me, GREEN smells like ~ SPRING...Fresh, clean, happy, bright... Aromatic, light, Pear, fertility, abundance, possibility...Young Love, a walk in the rain... A pile of fresh cut grass just as the rain begins to fall...COUMARIN...


*** What does Green smell like to you
?***

The first 3 people to post a blog comment with their definition of "What Green smells like" to them, will receive a 1 Dram bottle of said perfume when it is finished!

TASTY TID-BIT:

COUMARIN; (Per Wikipedia)Is a chemical compound (specifically, a benzopyrone) found in many plants, notably in high concentration in the tonka bean(Dipteryx odorata), vanilla grass (Anthoxanthum odoratum), woodruff (Galium odoratum), mullein (Verbascum spp.), and sweet grass (Hierochloe odorata). It has a sweet scent, readily recognised as the scent of newly-mown hay, and has been used in perfumes since 1882. The name comes from a French word, coumarou, for the tonka bean. It is a crystalline white solid when seen pure.

Tonka Bean Tree / Dried Tonka Bean

















Coumarin in Perfumery:


Coumarin has a history of importance in perfumery, being the first synthetic (synthesised by W.H. Perkin 1868) to be used in a fragrance. Fougère Royale,from the house of Houbigant was created by Chief perfumer Paul Parquet who used coumarin,combined with lavender, citrus and woody notes to Author the first fragrance that defined the Fougère(fern)genre. It is said that the creation of Fougère Royale marks the birth of modern perfumery.




Soon after the release of Fougère Royale, perfumer Aimé Guerlain (1834-1910) combined natural and synthetic fragrances to produce Jicky in 1889, a scent that is still sold widely today. Guerlain added the synthetics coumarin and vanillin (the fragrance principle of vanilla)to natural fragrances. Like Fougère Royale, Jicky is a fern based fragrance.



Friday, February 5, 2010

Valentines ~ In the mood for Love

"I'm In The Mood
For Love
Simply because you're near me
Funny,but when you're near me
I'm In The Mood
For Love
Heaven is in
your eyes
Bright as the stars we're under
Oh! Is it any wonder
I'm In The Mood
For Love?
Why stop to think of whether
This little dream might fade?
We've put our hearts together
Now we are one,
I'm not afraid
If there's a cloud above
If it should rain we'll let it
But for tonight, forget it
I'm In The Mood For Love..."

~Lyrics by Dorothy Fields


Maybe it is because I am a hopeless romantic,
or maybe because my last name is Hart, but I
have always had a sweet spot for Valentine's Day...
It's a day that focuses on all of my favorite things,
Love, Perfume, Chocolate, Champagne & Flowers!
What's not to love?

The history of Valentine's Day,and its patron
saint,is shrouded in mystery...

Like many other modern Holiday traditions, the origin
of Valentines Day can be traced back to a Roman Pagan
Celebration. For eight hundred years prior to the
establishment of Valentine's Day, the Romans had
practiced a pagan celebration in mid-February
commemorating young men's rite of passage to the
god Lupercus. Lupercalia, which began at
the Ides of February, February 15, was a fertility
festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman God of
agriculture(the Roman equivalent of the Greek god Pan),
as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.

After the Emperor Claudius II banned marriage (he was
of the mind that single men made better soldiers than
those with wives and families), Lupercalia festivities
came to include the pairing of young women and men.
Men would draw women's names from a box, the girl
assigned to each young man in that manner would be
his sexual companion until next year's celebration.

So how Did the mysterious Saint Valentine get involved?...

Today, the Catholic Church recognizes at least three
different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of
whom were martyred.



One legend contends that Valentine was a priest
who served during the third century in Rome.
Valentine, realizing the injustice of Claudius's
decree banning marriage, defied Claudius and continued
to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When
Claudius discovered Valentine's actions he ordered that
he be put to death. He was stoned and beheaded on
February 14Th. After Valentine's death, he was named a
saint. As Christianity spread through Rome, the priests
moved Lupercalia from February 15 to February 14 and
renamed it St. Valentine's Day to honor Saint Valentine.

Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed
for attempting to help Christians escape the harsh Roman
prisons where they were being beaten & tortured. According
to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first 'valentine'
greeting himself. During the days that Valentine was
imprisoned, he fell in love with the daughter of his jailer.
Before he was taken to his death, he signed a farewell
message to her, "From your Valentine." The phrase has
been used on his day ever since.

Here are some Unique Ideas for your Valentine ~

How about a Chocolate Bath?




A Perfume Vending Machine!



A Chocolate Shoe - Everybody needs one!



The "Everlasting Valentine's Day Package"
at Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles,Beverly Hills



***From the Four Seasons Press Release:

EVERLASTING VALENTINE’S DAY PACKAGE-
Meant to Provide an Experience for Couples
that Lingers after the Special Day

LOS ANGELES, CA – January 27, 2010 – This year,
Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills is
offering the Everlasting Valentine's Day Package,
meant to create an experience that will linger long
after the romantic hotel visit.

Couples will enjoy a private aromatic journey with a
custom perfume specialist to create their very own
fragrance. Kedra Hart from Opus Oils’ Jitterbug Perfume
Parlour will bring couples on an aromatic journey in a
private suite to create personal custom-blended fragrances.
Couples will explore different perfume base blends and select
the scents they prefer. Kedra then works with the scents
chosen as favorites to blend each couple’s signature perfume.
While creating an everlasting romantic memory, Kedra will
discuss the history of scent in conjunction with love
rituals throughout the ages.

EVENT PRESS:

http://www.gadling.com/2010/01/28/valentines-day-specials-four-seasons-los-angeles-finds-your-sc/

http://www.luxist.com/tag/ValentinesDay/

http://elitechoice.org/2010/02/11/romantic-couples-massage-treat-at-redone-fourseasons/

http://blog.americanspamag.com/2010/02/four-seasons-hotel-los-angeles-at-beverly-hills/

http://www.travelagewest.com/article_ektid39558.aspx

http://jianantonic.com/2010/02/02/have-a-valentines-day-to-remember-at-the-four-seasons-beverly-hills/

http://www.luxury-links.net/blog/beauty


SOTD: A combination of EROS & VENUS for the best of both worlds...

THE DIVINE COLLECTION


...I designed The Divine Collection ~ A Natural Perfume
Collection made with 100% pure & precious essential oils
& absolutes, so they can be worn alone or in layered
combinations with each other. Venus & Eros make an
especially exquisite combination. The lime in the Eros
brings a bright and uplifting quality to the Oceanic Floral
Sex Bomb that is Venus!






KEY NOTES VENUS: Pink Lotus, Rose,
Ylang Ylang, Neroli, Chocolate, Ambergris,
Choya Nakah, Seaweed Absolute

KEY NOTE EROS: Lime, Green Mandarine,
Rose, Dark Amber,& Vetiver









...I am invoking two of my favorite Deities
to give their special dose of Divine Love
to the Perfume Bases I will be using for this
weekends Scents of Imagination Event,
as part of the "Everlasting Valentine's Day
Package" at Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles,
Beverly Hills (**See above for Details**)


TASTY TID-BIT#1:

CHOCOLATE
During the 1800’s, doctors commonly suggested that their lovelorn patients eat lots of chocolate to soothe their nerves and calm their emotions. Chocolate has long been thought to be an aphrodisiac, and as far back as the Aztec empire this delectable creation was used in the pursuit of love. While we only know the heart shaped candies today, when they were first introduced, these imprinted candies were typically made into such shapes as horseshoes, baseballs, watches and even postcards, and they often sported messages that were far longer than the short and sweet ones we know today.

TASTY TID-BIT #2:

CANDY HEARTS

For more than a century, the makers of NECCO
Sweethearts Conversation Hearts have come up with
some of the sweetest ways "I love you." Every Valentine's
Day the company presents new messages on the tiny colored
hearts that have been a holiday tradition since the Civil War.
For the first time in its 145-year history, the American
public was invited to participate in an online survey to
decide which phrases of love would appear on conversation
hearts in 2010. The winners include: "Tweet Me," "Text Me,"
"You Rock," "Soul Mate," "Love Bug," and "Me + You."
The following classic expressions reappear on the candies:
"Puppy Love," "Sweet Love," "Sweat Pea," and "Love Me."