The idea for smelling pairs came while evaluating HydroxycitronellOL. I was struggling with how hard it can be sometimes to evaluate a synthetic or an isolate individually especially when they are as weak as HydroxycitronellOL. I felt like I was pulling at olfactive straws with this one. I began seriously thinking of another approach that could help with these evaluations that could give greater depth and meaning to the profiles of synthetics and then it came to me: smelling pairs! That is, evaluate them paired with a natural and note what influence they have on each other. The idea has merit but it had to be a simple process — simple is king for me these days!
Just as smelling pairs can help with cooking, a flavour can rise to surprising heights just by pairing it with something that on its own would be totally forgettable and unimpressive, the same holds true for synthetics, I think. For me it happens with chicken broth and bay leaf, the broth is somehow lent a whole new depth that it can’t achieve on its own and so I never make soups without adding at least one bay leaf. And seeing as how we have been gifted with a ginormous bay laurel tree on our yard I feel it my duty to practice putting it to as many uses as my imagination can possibly concoct.
So beginning with the next post on HydroxycitronellOL you’ll see me pairing it with one natural to see what happens and I’ll be doing the aroma profile along side it just the same. The profile will be much more indepth and the pairing will have to be, well, “pared” down; I won’t follow it for the full 24hrs either, only 10hrs with this profile.
And as a bonus I’ll be presenting them with some watercolour pairings this way I get a double work out of learning about colour combinations and aroma combinations. Totally a win-win! It’s also a wonderful opportunity to compose perfumes using the other senses, in this case, sight, as I ask myself the intriguing question: what does the smell of sandalwood absolute look like to you and what would it look like to you combined together with Nerolidol? This is a total olfactive workout, guys!
This week watch as I profile HyrdoxycitronellOL and pair it with Rose absolute from Marocco on Wednesday and then on Friday a profile on Nerolidol along with a pairing with Sandalwood absolute.
I love it when inspiration strikes! But the saying is true however that inspiration is more likely to appear when it finds you working 🙂
In-joy,
MC
Her Two Scents 