Recently I have been researching natural perfume-making and have been collecting essential oils to work with. Like any topic, there are blogs devoted exclusively to the subject, so I feel a little hesitant on adding to the mix since this is not something I have a lifelong experience with. My comments and thoughts on the matter may sound uneducated and naive since I am just beginning. But at least I admit that. I have no desire to become part of the online perfumerati, or part of an online anything anymore. Those days, the 90s and early 00s of web communities and cliques are so old and tired now. I just want my own little journal here where I write about my life, be it my animals, movies, music, art, plants, whatever.

And lately I really want to write about scents. I've already made some concoctions that I feel smell as good as anything commercially available. There are so many essential oils I'm unfamiliar with, so I add a small bit to some carrier oil and wear them as a single note perfume so I can take them in and "learn" them. Then there are some EOs I had been hesitant to get because I have a prejudice about them from my past.

I started obtaining my own perfumes when I was in Junior High. It began with some cheap mini bottles from Woolworths, plus some Avon solid sticks...they were sort of like lip balm, but scents. They came in little decorated tubes, Lilac, Hyacinth, Lily of the Valley and Hawaiian White Ginger. I didn't care for the Hawaiian White Ginger, but I wore it anyway. Then my 8th or 9th grade art teacher, a curmudgeonly old white-haired woman near retirement, wore the same scent. I really had a hard time wearing it after that.

So after that, up until this day, I have not been able to wear any Ginger. Nonetheless, last week I ordered a 1/6 oz size of Ginger Root from an online EO company. I thought I'd give it a second chance. I tried it in carrier oil. It smells nothing like my grumpy art teacher, or the cheap Avon scent. It smells like...crystalized Ginger. It's wonderful, and would make a good scent on its own.

The unfortunate part about natural perfumery is that the scents don't last as long as with synthetics, which is most everything on the commercial mainstream market today. But at least this gives me a way to sample more of my essential oils during a day, than having to wait until I shower next to try something else.

And here's one final thought for the day: I absolutely abhor all the silly Divacelebs with their fragrances. These chickies had absolutely nothing to do with the perfume other than lending their name to it. They probably know nothing about notes and fragrance families let alone tried their own hand at blending. And if anything, it would make me want to try it *less* than something with an abstract/non-celeb name (that is if I were still buying commercial perfume, which I'm not). The thought of a Br*tn*y Sp**rs perfume makes me wretch as I think of horrible smelly things I don't want to mention. Yes, some EOs have quite the...odd, if not downright unsniffable, waft to them. Valerian Root, even diluted, takes my breath away not in a good way. Black Currant bud, which is supposed to be so prized in perfumery smells like cat piss to me. I had such hopes for Galbanum, but I tried it diluted the other night and it left nothing but the smell of paint brushes that had been sitting in mineral spirits for a week. I need to try it again--that just can't be right! But I'd wear those any day before I'd put on any P*r*s H*lt*n. Yuck.

Labels: Scents

Not the most comfortable accommodations, I don't have anywhere to sit comfortably and use my laptop, except on this twin futon if I prop pillows up against the uncomfortable arms and lie crosswise on it. I can't access the internet while I'm doing this because the phone line doesn't reach, but it's dialup anyway and there's only one line and Montgomery Burns (the doghating version) will yell if he can't call to check the weather.

It is like a prison here, literally. I am in an approx. 10x12 room with two windows that I can't see out of because it's in a basement and there's those stupid plastic bubbles over them. The irony is that this is an improvement over what it was prior to 2004. Back then, I had to sleep on a mattress on the floor in the living/dining room, no privacy. And before I figured out that the mattress on the floor was actually more comfortable, I was sleeping on a rollaway cot that squeaked and was lumpy. The things I will endure just to see friends.

We almost got a motel for the rest of what would have been an extremely abbreviated stay, because the hot water heater broke. Had I not complained very loudly about the tepidly cold shower, they would've continued to use as is, rationalizing (if you can call it that) "the water is cold because it's cold outside", each shower becoming progressively colder and colder, and shorter and shorter, until finally they took no more showers and just washed in the sink and boiled hot water on the stove.

The above paragraph is supposed to be read in a Garrison Keilor voice. A Scary Home Companion.

So here's what went down so far.

Monday, March 24: Left Madison and went to Galena, IL. Disappointment. The rock shop in town has closed forever. I wanted mass quantities of Fluorite and Galena mined from this town, but instead will have to buy it in Colorado and elsewhere that imports rocks and minerals mined from Galena, IL. The irony. I like hills, but Galena is too hilly. Would not want to live there. Old mining towns are creepy. It reminded me a bit of Bisbee, AZ, but creepier. Since we didn't stay long there, we headed down the road and stayed in Lincoln, NE for the night. Not at our usual haunts because that one was going downhill the last time we passed through (coming back from Arizona a year ago), but this time at a Super 8 so I could take advantage of my Trip Rewards (which I should've signed up for over a year ago). It was near the stairwell over the lobby so it was loud, and although it was a non-smoking room, the room across wasn't and the occupants kept the door open and it stunk. Not a lot of sleep.

Tuesday, March 25: Got coffee at the best coffee shop in the world. Stan felt lousy...he was coming down with a cold. We both felt dessicated and were drinking mass quantities of fluids. I was about to come down with a cold, so I didn't feel my best either. Lots of interstate rest stops. Nebraska. Boring. Eastern Colorado. Boring. Hot. Dry. When I arrived in Fort Collins, my mom had found a Coty Sweet Earth Woods perfume compact for me. This was possibly a rosebud. I don't know if this was THE one I had, or one she had. If it was mine, where were the other two? The smells instantly brought back memories, and now I know why I thought they all smelled alike. In my final analysis, I think the Vermont Country Store's version actually has more distinction between the scents than the originals did.

Wednesday, March 26: Can't remember what happened that day other than buying a cactus at Fossil Creek Nursery. shopping at Sunflower Market. and going into a Mexican grocery to get some juices (Jumex...my favorite). We also went downtown to see if I could find some scents at the Tibetan store, but ended up buying blue coffee mugs that said "Namaste" (LOST reference) because there are no coffee cups at the Burns residence that are of a normal size. Every utensil, every cup is miniature in size, so in order to eat with a normal size spoon, one has to use their version of a tablespoon. It's like some sort of weird Alice in Wonderland through the looking glass alternative world where everything has shrunk in size. Went to Mellow Yellow in search of Frangipani. Found nothing. Went out to eat with Bill at El Burrito that night.

Thursday, March 27: I was sick. I felt awful. I stayed in the prison practically the entire day until I got bored out of my freaking mind (no tv, no radio, that's pretty unbearable when you're sick) and Stan took me for a ride in the evening.

Friday, March 28: This was the morning of the cold shower. At first I thought it was one of Montgomery Burns' money-saving methods of setting the hot water heater down so low that one can't take a shower for more than a minute without being frozen. But Stan checked the heater and it was set pretty high. I convinced them it was a problem with the hot water heater, and that it was old and needed to be replaced. They amazingly got someone over here to fix it...on a Friday afternoon. No way that could have been accomplished in Madison. Earlier in the day, Stan and I went to Bath, Fort Collins Nursery, and Gulley Greenhouse to get some cactuses. After that we came back to deal with the hot water heater guy and meddling Mr. Burns. After that I seriously had to have a Margarita with Bill at El Burrito. I don't drink much anymore because of the pain in my jaw it causes me, plus it makes me unproductive. But when I'm on vacation, productivity is not an issue.

Saturday, March 29: I was not exactly hung over (I only had one margarita the night before), but not exactly well-rested either. Went to the Longmont/Boulder area to see our friends Russ and Lamya and their two kids. On the way stopped at a greenhouse outside of Loveland to get cactus. We ate at a nice restaurant in Boulder that serves South American cuisine, like Cerviche. (sp?) I had a Mojito to drink which was delicious. Stan had a Margarita. We drove back to Fort Colins about 9:30 pm, but when we got back, we were dead. We used to do this all the time, and much later in the night. What has become of us? We are getting old. Unfortunately, this would have been *the* day to go for a bike ride had we not been out of town, unfortunately we couldn't have the nice weather on Saturday come later the next week.

Sunday, March 30: Dead to the world after the Mojito and the long night (up until all of 10:30, well, 11:30 Madison time) before. Went to Avo's to check our email on their free hi-speed internet. Had an absolutely delicious Creamation omelette. Went to East West Imports and found a Persian Attar scent, plus some Asian rice crackers to munch on for road tripping. I also broke down and went to the place in town I swore I'd never go to again, ever. The dreaded Whole Foods. I just wanted to see if they had more Kuumba Made scents available than they do in Madison. Bought some Tunisian Amber and Black Copium, plus some Vetiver essential oil and Jojoba oil to use as a carrier oil, and an empty roll-on vial so I can make my own Vetiver perfume. This might be the "smokier" more molassesy Vetiver that I'm not used to as much as the other kind I got as crystal resin from Eden Botanicals. I felt pretty dead the whole day. We got drive-thru food that night and drove around a lot. Nights are pretty much spent driving around until we're tired of it or have exhausted all the places to see, and then we come back here and hole up in the prison while the TV blares upstairs. If they would just turn the tv off and have conversations with us, that would be fine (non-judgmental, non-worrywart, non-persnickety conversations, that is), but no, the TV is all important. And loud tv too. Just shoot me if I ever get that way. I know I have my favorites like LOST and No Reservations, but if I had guests, the guests would take priority. But maybe that's just me.

Monday, March 31: Met my friend Barb for lunch and got to see where she worked, which ironically is in the same building where I had Driver's Ed in high school. Her boss had someone over that day who came from Baraboo, WI and knew Madison quite well. Coincidences and Ironies. We went with Barb and her sister, Nancy, to the Ethiopian restaurant we ate at with Bill last time we were out. It is so delicious there. We took some food "home" with us to eat for dinner, and even cold, it was still delicious. In the afternoon and evening we drove to Waverly, Wellington (scary), Owl Canyon, Bellevue, Masonville and back through Loveland. Anything to get us out of the house and Monty Burns and the LOUD TV.

Tuesday, April 1: Apollo's 8-month birthday. We took off and went to Denver in search of Dardano's Flowerland and Isis Books. We couldn't find Evans, where Dardano's is located. It's been ages. We found Isis's former location on East Colfax, but they have now moved to South Broadway. On the way to their new location, we came across Evans, fortunately. At Isis I got Heliotrope, Cypress and Wisteria essential oils, and Frangipani, one of my rosebud scents from ages ago that I have since stupidly lost. What an idiot I am. Stan only found one cactus at Dardano's. I remember them having so much more when I went there in the 80s. Maybe it's the time of year. After Dardano's it was still fairly early in the day, so I got the crazy idea to go to Casa Bonita. We haven't been there since the 80s either. Now back in the 70s when I was first introduced to CB, probably in the company of Barb's family and later with Stan, I thought it was delicious. People would say "Casa Bonita, the food's not very good, but you go there for the experience." I didn't understand what was wrong with the food...compared what I was used to, it was quite a treat! Now I know why they say the food wasn't very good. It's not. You can't compare it to any family-run Mexican restaurant. But when you don't know anything better and your family never takes you out to eat good food, what have you got to go by? But yes, the experience is fun, even if it's just in a cheesey "oh, I remember that!" way. I feel so sorry for the "performers." I had no idea what was going on...some Black Bart and a She-Sherrif... really stupid act and horrible PA system that's probably not been fixed since the 70s. After that, Stan drove by his Grandmother's old homestead which looked nothing like how we remembered it, and we took the dogs for a walk on a bike path. We have to take the dogs with us on these long day excursions. Monty Burns and Co. are completely incapable of dealing with dogs in their house while we're gone longer than a couple hours. Of course we always have to kennel them in the basement, hell forbid we have them LOOSE in the house. On the way back, we found a greenhouse in Lafayette and Stan got some things there. After I got back to the prison, I added the essential oils to jojoba in empty vials. I used medicine droppers and rinsed the droppers out in a little water and that water smelled so good. Who would've thought the combo of those four oils would smell so great? Now I really want to try my hand at perfumery when I get home.

Wednesday, April 2: We'll go up to Bill's later. Thursday we'll see Stan's sister, and Friday, I think we'll split the scene. Not only does the weather look the best for Friday as far as travelling across the mountains on I-70, but I'm going stark-raving loonie here. Even though the TV will be loud in Montrose, and sometimes I really feel like an outsider there, at least there'll be a beautiful window I can gaze out of with a beautiful scene of the San Juans. Bill said he's fixing up a room downstairs, so maybe in the future Stan and I can stay here instead of at our cell at the Montgomery Burns State Penn. I guess we could chip in for propane, as Bill keeps the place very cold.

Labels: LOST, Scents, This Boring Life, Vacation

1) I had suddenly remembered where I had put my old solid perfume compacts from a couple posts ago, and found them inside my vanity (IRL they were not there, I checked this morning just to be sure). The scents were not the ones I remembered. I had a compact that contained 3 scents I never had, one was something called "Mandarin" (orangey, neroli-ish, I presume), another was "Caraway", which IRL was actually from the Herbs collection I never bought, and the third one might have been "Vetiver" but I can't remember precisely (mmm...Vetiver...yummy). They were rather dessicated and a lot of the scent was gone, but I was so glad I found them, yet puzzled about why I didn't remember buying the Mandarin/Caraway/Vetiver trio. (probably because I didn't buy it, and it didn't even exist). OK, that settles it, I will have to buy some Essential Oils and try a combination with those scents.

2) I was in an old university-type building, which I have reoccurring dreams about, like the buildings on Bascom Hill at the UW or around the Oval at CSU. I was standing on the steps at the front door, looking outside and waiting for a ride. A car pulls up, maybe a taxi, and the man in the back seat looks like Desmond from LOST. Then I realize he also looks like John, my former Boss from Kinko's over 20 years ago (IRL, I don't see any resemblance...John was taller, darker hair, different features, no resemblance). Then I start telling people who are there that it's no wonder why Desmond is my favorite LOST character, because he reminds me of my favorite boss. Truly odd. Actually, IRL Stan commented while watching a Larry King interview a few months ago with Eric Clapton (yeah, I know, odd, but not as odd as the Larry King/Snoop Dog interview probably was...I didn't watch that one in case you're wondering) that Eric circa the 1980s(?) resembled Desmond, and there actually is a resemblance there, but not with John my Kinko's boss.

3) I was in a reoccurring-dream mall, in a clothing store that usually has a lot of things I can find (in dreams, that is), but this time I couldn't find anything. I kept finding odd hats like maybe they'd wear in Western Asia. Then as I'm waking up from this dream, I realize that on the radio IRL they're talking about Tibet.

Labels: Dreams, LOST, Rock and Roll, Scents

I've probably mentioned the term "Rosebud" in this journal before, my appropriated term from "Citizen Kane" meaning anything from my past that I lost, forgot, abandoned or threw out, that I crave for and, with luck, find again. Or a reasonable facsimile thereof. I've been rosebudding with scents and perfumes lately, and today I got part of my "Rosebud" collection that I never actually had.

Scent is the strongest sense when it comes to memory, as they say, so it would only be natural that something we crave from our past is a scent itself. It's the closest we can get to time traveling. Unfortunately, there are some scents that I'm afraid I will never smell again, that were too much a part of their era and wouldn't translate to the here and now in terms of product profitability. I remember two liquid perfumes I got when I was around 15, around the time of the bicentennial. Their packaging and graphics were hippie 1776--if you can imagine--with a round plastic ball on top and a plastic stick applicator. I'd used them up a long time ago, but somehow their empty yet still somewhat scented vessels found their way here, to Wisconsin. And stupidly, just a few years ago, I threw them out. I can still see one of them sitting on a small cabinet in the bedroom. WTF was I THINKING?!?

I won't dwell on that unhappiness. There's a bright side too. Around that same time, 1976, I also acquired some fragrances from Coty (brands meant nothing to me then) called "Sweet Earth." They came either individually or three to a compact, related scents in little rectangles. Coty released about 7 varieties of them, unfortunately, I only had 3 of them (THIS WOULD BE UNHEARD OF TODAY) and one single fragrance (hyacinth, I think). The ones I had back in the 70s were Woods (Sandalwood, "Amberwood" and Patchouli--which isn't a wood, but is often included with wood-related scents), Grasses (Clover, Gingergrass and Hay), and Colonial Garden Flowers (Peony, Lemon Verbena and Lavender). I can still remember how they smelled, all of them. I remember how the Grasses almost had a slightly grainy yet very soft quality to the wax, and how all Colonial Flowers smelled lemony, as all the Woods smelled woody, sometimes indistinguishable from each other. I loved them all. But I have no idea what happened to them.

In a newfound/renewed interest in fragrance lately, Google is definitely my greatest ally. I can't remember the exact search terms I used, but I managed to find a message board of like-minded 40-something women who were longing for the EXACT same thing! And on the message board was a link to a store, the purveyors of retrophenalia, Vermont Country Store.

My parents bought from their catalog before. They got me some nice soaps for the holidays once, and some English licorice candies (Licorice Allsorts) that I like a lot. But nothing in their catalog really hit me that much...old people clothing, outrageously expensive food that, according to my parents, disappointed them and was not to the quality of the item that they remember from the pre-technological era. But most of their items were geared toward the over-50 crowd, or even the over-70 crowd like M & P. Make that the over 100 crowd, over $100,000 year in income, that is. Some of the food they sell is OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive. But they also seem to be cashing in on the under-50 crowd too, and their updated versions of three of Coty's Sweet Earth Fragrance sets hooked me in.

The other week I noticed that their "Rare Flowers" collection--Tuberose, Jasmine and Mimosa, became available, so i ordered it and received it today. I'm adding it to my other two I ordered last month, "Flowers'"--Hyacinth, Honeysuckle and Ylang Ylang, and the abovementioned "Woods." It's odd that I now have three fragrance sets, just like when I was a teen. But only one of them is a true Rosebud, the Woods, which also happened to be my favorite. The fragrances seem a bit different, perhaps not as strong as the original 70s versions, but still enjoyable. A reasonable facsimile.

I do hope Vermont Country Store decides to put out the four other sets, the "Grasses" and the "Colonial Garden Flowers'" that I used to have, as well as "Colonial Wild Flowers" and "Herbs" that I never had. I remember looking at the Herbs set when I was young, wanting to get it, but not having the cash. I missed my chance. I will stalk VCS often, just to see if they add a new scent to their repertoire. Some people want things they used to have, and then there's those of us who want things we never had.

I guess I could always get the essential oils and construct my own scents, but there's something about finding a Rosebud that can't be replicated.

Labels: Scents

Somehow, after trying to search for something online, I managed to end up on a message board for perfume (they've got a message board for everything...everything except what I wish I could find *free* message boards for...but more on that later...maybe...sorry for the early digression).

Thinking this might be fairly interesting, a discussion of making your own perfume, a discussion of what kinds of fragrance oils and ingredients to use or something more heady, I looked at one of the forums and found a topic that caught my interest. It was about having one's scent pirated. I naively thought it was about perfume designers (there's probably a term for this, but I don't know it) who have had people steal their original creation, either by someone simulating it, or by someone buying it, diluting it or selling it cheap. No, it was about *wearers* and *consumers* of perfume who seem to think an expensive yet mass-produced scent readily available for public purchase is somehow their "own signature scent." How alpha bitch! I'm sorry, but how on earth can someone claim something as "theirs" when anyone in the world willing to shell out the $$ for it can, and is entitled to, wear it. Look, I've had my original art work and web design copied and pirated, a legitimate complaint. The perfume designer who has had his/her scent copied and pirated would also have a legitimate complaint. But complaining about someone else starting to wear Opium after "you wore it first" is like me complaining that other people are purchasing Photoshop! It's just absurd.

Sorry, honey, if a scent follower (I cannot use the term "scent copier" ... copier implies copyright, and you have no dominion over a scent that you did not create) chaps your hide, you must have a really cushy life.

This is why I do not hang out with women (plural).

Speaking of scent...

A few days ago I was at the post office, and boy did it stink! I didn't know if it was the young man in front of me or the old man behind me (there's something very philosophical about that statement or image, but I don't know what it is, really). It was that horrible alchemy of really bad B.O. combined with cigarettes which creates a demonic entity all its own. Fortunately, I was freshly-scented with Cassini, one of my most favorite scents. I started sniffing my wrist, where the perfume was the most concentrated and easily accessible to my nose. I probably looked odd, standing in line, wrist stuck to my nose, but I didn't care--life's too short to breathe bad air.

And that is why I do not hang out with men (plural).

Labels: Scents, This Boring Life

Why is it so hard to find wood scents anymore? Like with candles? I got a gift card from Tim to World Market, so I bought a Teak Candle with it. It smells great, and it seems like scents like that are really hard to find anymore. Everything smells like sweet food and fruit. And although I love Yankee Candle (got their catalog today with scented pages...much fun), they're really lacking in the musky, spicy wood scent department.

When I was in Junior High I got some perfume at Walgreens that came in little compacts. It was waxy and you rubbed it on. I had three different sets, each with three different scents....the lemony flower scents, the grass scents and the wood scents, which I liked the best. It had patchouli, sandalwood and amberwood... or something.

I have this reoccurring dream that I'm walking "home" and pass a drug store in midtown Fort Collins (I know exactly where this is, and there's no drugstore there). I go inside and there's all these costume jewelry rings, nothing expensive, so I buy some. It's this weird liberating feeling, like I wanted to do it a long time ago when I was young, but wasn't able to. This probably explains why I have a ring collection. Things once denied are now a source of indulgence, like food.

From now on, we will have a supply of sushi from the grocery store on hand for emergency monday night sushi cravings while watching Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. I get so damn hungry watching that show because he's always eating something exotic and intriguing, and usually seafood oriented which reminds me of sushi (I thought I heard him say Sea Urchin when asked what his favorite fish was, but maybe I just thought I heard that because that's what I wanted to hear). Last night he was eating geoduck (which looks like an overgrown schlong in a shell...literally) and both Stan and I got so hungry (and this was after eating a dinner of yummy scallops!) that we raided a bag of Cheetos. How pathetic is that? Fortunately, the week before I had some left over mussels so I was able to eat those while watching. Next week, we have to be prepared ahead of time.

Labels: Scents, This Boring Life