Oct 1 2023 - Oud

 

I think most of us know the scent of Jasmine.  It is one of the top perfume ingredients.  I would have thought that rose is also.  And it shows up in various lists.  The lists have ingredients that are unknown to me.  Second on the list, for example, is this one: "Oud, referred to as liquid gold, is another expensive yet essential perfume ingredient. There is no in-between for the scent of oud - people either love it or hate it. The scent is derived from resin that results from fungus growth on the wood of the Aquilaria tree. Agarwood is another name for the resulting product with the distinct smell we know as oud. The oud scent is strong enough to influence other notes in a perfume. Fragrance experts take care in the selection of paired notes. Those who love oud find the smell to be irresistible and attractive with bittersweet and woody hints. The earthly tone is heady and sexy, meant for daring personalities. The longevity of the scent is dependent upon: type of oud resin used the duration of its aging the quantity used in a brand From an age-old perfume element in Arabic and Indian cultures, oud has made its way into the west as a high-demand item. Synthetic versions retain the woody and leathery qualities, yet the original smooth balsamic and warm touch of oud is only specific to the real ingredient." The fascinating list of perfume ingredients is HERE at the fragrances website. Thousands of years of work have gone into the making of such an extensive list and its underlying knowledge.    I wonder what fields of Jasmine would smell like.  These fields of roses are grown to be sold as plants and not harvested for their flowers.

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Sep 26 2023 - Autumn in the Air

 

I could never have predicted that Autumn in the Air would become the realm of Starbucks' Spiced Pumpkin Lattes.  Would you have guessed this?  What does Autumn bring to the air?  The smell of leaves, trees, and plants dying and rotting.  It is that slightly sharp, sweet smell. Unless you are under a Katsura tree and it is a strong sugary, sweet vanilla smell.   One article quotes an expert saying that the smell of leaves decaying is "a bit like chlorine or the exhaust of a dryer vent."  That's distinctive - we can give it a test in the next few weeks. What the cooler temperatures bring is a sense of "fresher" to us.  It makes the scent of decay stand out more clearly.  That's the specific and special smell of Fall.  That's it. There is much research on scent - it is a large component of the beauty industry.  But not here on the internet, where breezy, short, not much information "articles" hold the day.  Or autumn air fresheners tell you they are out of stock.  But persistence has led to an interesting person in the field of scent. Norwegian artist, chemist and smell scientist Sissel Tolaas was commissioned by the US’s Smithsonian Design Museum in 2016 to create a smell inspired by New York’s Central Park. So she did.  She has her own archive of smells.  Fascinated by humans’ complicated and often highly emotional relationship with the world of smell, she has even devised a “nose language” or “vocabulary of olfaction” that she calls Nasalo. It is based on an archive of more than 7,000 smells and 2,500 scent molecules that Tolaas has collected over the last 20 years. Housed in a lab in the artist’s Berlin studio, these are kept in hermetically sealed glass jars and aluminium boxes. Examples include everything from the smell of concrete and dusty brick to old graveyards, money and wet football.  Here's an article about her HERE.  And another more in-depth article HERE.  Wouldn't that be amazing to be able to experience all of these and distinguish them - the way we  do taste.  Smell has been left to chance for us. Here are some big-leaf Magnolia leaves.  These came from Longwood a number of years ago.  I will have to check out their smell this year - there's a garden nearby with a tree.

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Scentsation!

Scentsation is defined as an outstanding use of fragrance in applications other than perfume and cologne. It is said to be coined by PerfumeCulture as a scent and trend agency.  It has since made its way into the naming of flowers.  Here are a few. I mistakenly bought Honeysuckle "Scentsation."  It was a lucky error.  I thought I'd purchased Paul's Scarlett, but the blooms were not pink - they were yellow. I had thought I might have one of the invasive Japanese Honeysuckles.  Instead these were blossoms that lasted from mid-spring to late summer and has strong fragrance.  What are the notes in honeysuckle?  It is considered fruity and warm with hints of honey and ripe citrus.  There is a petunia that has been hybridized to have its fragrance back - just as roses lost and got back their beautiful scent via David Austin.  What is the fragrance in this blue Petunia "Evening Scentsation"?  It is described as having notes of hyacinth, sweet honey and rose and is stronger in the evening.  There is a series of miniature roses in the "Scentsational" series. "Overnight Scentsation" journeyed to space to aid in studies about the effects of low gravity on the smell of roses.  "Moonlight Sensation" is another one. What about finding the Camellia "Sweet Scentsation".  I would need to go to warmer areas of the U.S. for this. We know that Evening Scented Stock (Matthiola bicornis) is night-scented. It has a series named "Starlight Scentsation". This is a flower with strong notes of cloves and cinnamon. Others have nutmeg and vanilla scent. And there is a Tuberous Begonia that has the name Scentsation - it is a Blackmore & Langdon variety. Many of the scented begonias smell like roses. Many people don't realize the Cyclamen is a scented flower - they also have a Scentsation Series.  It isi considered light floral, clean, fresh, and slightly mysterious. And there is a Nicotiana alata mix "Scentsation" - it comes in pinks, purples and whites - that's interesting to me.  I will definitely find this one for this year's garden. The scent is considered similar to Jasmine. If we want to describe out floral scents, take a look at this website - theperfumeexpert.com/notes These window view pictures were taken at the Ringling Circus mansion.  All the windows have pale stained glass panes.

Magnolia Sieboldiana

The house at the corner has a very large Magnolia Sieboldiana.  This member of the Magnolia family is typically not hardy here (zone 6 in Toronto).  The hardy varieties, e.g. Star and Saucer, bloom before their leaves are out.  The Sieboldiana blooms in June, after the leaves are out, and over a long period of time - about a month.  The scent of these blooms is somewhat different than the other magnolias.  Their scent is a combination of melon and lemon - wonderfully refreshing.  The Sieboldiana has an additional floral element of lilac and jasmine. It is quite divine, so worth searching out!

Here's a portrait I did earlier in the week.