A Natural Perfumers Journal

My best moments of 2008 I discovered content management systems. I launched Nature's Nexus Website. White Witch launched a brand new website. We successfully distilled 10mls of pure hydro-distilled tuberose absolute and it was proclaimed by an experienced nose to be of very high quality. Nature's Nexus Academy of Perfuming Arts was launched. I took up Yoga. An amazing mother/daughter moment that is too personal to share but that I have to list was by far the best thing that happened to me in 2008 and is something that I would class as a miracle. I decided that 2009 would be my best year yet.

Hey I almost missed this. I heard that White Witch was mentioned in the lifestyle section of The Irish Times on the 9th of December. If anybody has a copy of that edition and wouldn't mind sending it to me, or scanning it and emailing it to me please let me know. Here it is on line, but I think they had some images in the print edition. Here is what they said. "A small Galway-based firm called White Witch makes great natural, ethical and very affordable beauty products and perfumes with great biodegradable packaging. The range includes a facial steam sachet with rose petals for €2.20 and the magical Bridget's Balm for use on everything from nappy rash to joint inflammation, which costs €6. ( www.whitewitch.ie )."

To the Celts the oak is one of the three magical woods, along with apple and yew. In fact the word Druid comes from the Irish word for oak: Dair. Dair is the seventh letter of the Ogham tree alphabet. The oak symbolizes strength and power. I chose this very special wood for the cases for the kits for NN Academy of Perfuming Arts. The oak in the cases is from Lisnavagh House in Co Carlow. The oak died of natural causes before being felled. Each perfumers case will have a number that can be entered into a website and the owner of the case will be able to read the story of the tree their case was made from. I visited Lisnavagh house myself and chose the timber. It was amazing to see the timber in it's rough state. I chose a beautiful timber with natural silver rays. Lisnavagh House is a a Gothic Revival mansion owned by William & Emily McClintock Bunbury. The timber mills is in the old stables on the grounds of the estate. Here is a model of the case. The finished case will be...

Dylan Thomas - In The Beginning In the beginning was the three-pointed star, One smile of light across the empty face, One bough of bone across the rooting air, The substance forked that marrowed the first sun, And, burning ciphers on the round of space, Heaven and hell mixed as they spun. In the beginning was the pale signature, Three-syllabled and starry as the smile, And after came the imprints on the water, Stamp of the minted face upon the moon; The blood that touched the crosstree and the grail Touched the first cloud and left a sign. In the beginning was the mounting fire That set alight the weathers from a spark, A three-eyed, red-eyed spark, blunt as a flower, Life rose and spouted from the rolling seas, Burst in the roots, pumped from the earth and rock The secret oils that drive the grass. In the beginning was the word, the word That from the solid bases of the light Abstracted all the letters of the void; And from the cloudy bases of the breath The word flowed up, translati...

The peach, Prunus persica is a summer fruit that originated in China. It is typically soft, sweet and juicy when ripe. The skin is a deep yellow with pink and dark red accents. It has a soft 'fuzzy' or velvety texture. The flesh can be white or deep yellow in colour. There is a stone in the center of the peach that is hard and rough. Inside the stone there is a soft nut that looks like an almond. If someone who had never eaten a ripe peach asked me to describe what it is like to eat one this is what I would say: It is only worth your while eating a fully ripe peach. You find out if it is ripe by holding it in your hand. It should be at room temperature or even slightly warm. Press gently at the top of the peach near the stalk. If it is ripe it should yield to the touch, like butter out of the fridge. Hold it up to your nose and smell. A ripe peach smells delicate, floral and sweet, with an edge of woody green. It is easy to bite into a ripe peach. In fact if the peach is prope...

Phytonic rose extract - South Africa (damascena): Gorgeous toffee caramel sweet rose with spicy green undertones. Phytonic rose extract from musk rose - South Africa: Deep sultry rose, moody and luscious. Rose leaf absolute -South Africa: Sweet green hay-like, tobacco leaf undertones. Arctander says about rose leaf absolute, 'When creating a rose perfume or a rose base, the perfumer is often interested in notes that will give him the reproduction of the leaves, the fragrance of the foliage which forms such an important part of the rose gamut; the bouquet of roses is not complete without it.' P.556 Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin by Steffan Arctander. Jasmine grandiflorum C02 from concrete France: Light fruity floral, fresh sweet smoothness, has candy like notes. Jasmine auriculatum hydro-distilled essence (distilled from concrete) : Spicy heady floral with green undertones. Jasmine sambac hydro-distilled essence from concrete: Sweet clean floral, with intense e...

Pink pepper oil; Shinus molle, is an oil that is steam distilled from the fruits of a tree called the Californian pepper tree or the peruvian pepper tree. The tree grows wild in many tropical regions. The fruit was first distilled for use in the perfumery trade when there was a scarcity of black pepper oil and it was used as a substitute. It is described by Steffan Arctander in his book Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin on page 583 as "...whose odor is fresh, woody-peppery, warm-spicy with a somewhat sharp or dry, smoky woody undertone." Black pepper oil; Piper nigrum, is a steam distilled oil from the fruits of the black pepper vine. The vine, piper nigrum, grows wild in parts of India. Most of the fruits from the peppercorn vine are used in the food industry and only a small fraction is actually distilled for the perfumery trade. Steffan Arctander in his book Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin on page 516 and 517 describes black pepper as ...

Having struggled hard over the last few evenings, making concoctions that smell nothing like I want them to, a penny dropped this morning. I had been reading the Secret of Scent by Luca Turin and, in the book Mr Turin goes into great detail about the different chemicals that make up the most famous synthetic perfumes. I also learned about orris butter with it's complex mix of irones and what Luca describes as "it's magnificent, melancholy smell". He says when orris notes are used properly they "exude a frosty luxury which everyone falls in love with sooner or later". I also learned how experienced perfumers and chemists have created rose smells which have none of the heavy oily counterparts found in natural rose extracts. He speaks about transparent florals in a way that makes me want to sample some of these synthesized chemical groups. Instead I get to thinking of new ways of taking the natural essences and brightening them and making them translucen...

"common everybody..." seriously though, I was delivered the most delicious red mandarin cold pressed oil the other day. I'm not a lover of citrus oils, they are too...flighty, but I fell in love with this one: citrus deliciosa tenore (C. reticulanta Blanco) Origin; Italy. It has the usual bite one's nose would expect from a citrus. Just a little nip, then after that it's sugar. There's a peaches blossom sweetness that reminds me of smelling my baby girls sun kissed hair. I began to ask myself; What will I blend it with first? I chose orris butter. Orris butter is the rich with the smooth. It's the sublime with the earthy. It's the delicate flowers that die before we get them home. The two together said "we love each other but we want to have a threesome, look there's Tuberose over there in her bikini". O God, I can hear their orgasmic cries from here... Actually when I blended them together. I was surprised. I didn't reall...

Funny what kids teach us. I have a 6 year old son who is learning how to draw. He is very intent on learning and sometimes he gets frustrated because he can't draw what he wants, how he wants. I remember being advised by a very good art teacher to " draw what I see and not what I think I see ". I relayed that message to my son and set him up with some exercises to help him practice. He knows he has to make mistakes so that he can learn . So, he was drawing Spiderman and he was doing a very good job as he had beside him a print-out of Spiderman that he could look at. "Draw what you see", I kept thinking it and then later on I took that idea into my studio. Yesterday evening I was at the rough end of a learning curve and I was feeling frustrated. I needed to look at the art of natural perfumery differently if I was going to move up to the next level. So "Make what I smell, not what I think I smell?" how might that work? I suppose I could take a perfume,...

Opoponax and Cassie, two friends of mine. They met in September and by June they had turned the moon blue. What's your blue moon?

Everybody here at White Witch was so impressed by the standard of Nathaniel Musselman's Kyphi that we wanted him to make something new especially for us. Kyphi is used to relax and help sleep so we asked for something that was going to stimulate and excite and fire people with enthusiasm. We wanted an incense that could be burned at celebrations, at parties, while doing creative work and while dancing, singing and studying. Our expectations were exceeded by miles as Jaguars Breath suits it all and so much more. Nathaniel began his investigating and studying for the project. He kept us informed every step of the way. His passion and his attention to detail go hand in hand with his creative genius. Every ingredient used was chosen with care and attention to purity and quality. Jaguar's Breath is Mesoamerican inspired and heavily influenced by Aztec and Mayan components. Nathaniel began the arduous task of expeimenting with different blends and materials. Jaguar's breath ha...

Lately labdanum has been calling to me, from the shelf. I have a smidgen of Mandy Aftels labdanum which I am saving as there is nigh only a drop or two left. I have a thick golden syrup colored labdanum which was bottled by A Little Ol' Factory and which I like well enough and a dark molasses like labdanum by Eden Botanicals. I also have a sticky tar like black raw labdanum which is mouth wateringly delicious to smell. So calling to me they were for over 2 weeks and tonight I answered. I went to my organ and I took down the dark labdanum from Eden Botanicals and it cried "the boronia, the boronia". I took a little vial and I let that voice tell me how many drops of each to put in the vial and what a wonderful beautiful accord they made together. Suddenly the labdanum isn't labdanum, and the boronia isn't boronia. It's something else, something new. Its light and dark, like day and night. It's rich and warm. It's smooth and sweet. Then the cedarwood sho...