terça-feira, 16 de dezembro de 2014

Coordinating Scents with the Festive Season


by: Elena Vosnaki

One of the characteristics of Obsessive Compulsive behavior is hoarding. Another is constant checking. Yet another is intrusive thoughts. Without meaning to belittle or treat lightly what is a serious and life-affecting disorder from which many people apparently suffer, doesn't it strike you that we perfume lovers engage in some of these behaviors in relation to our favorite hobby? And curiously enough, we find our lives getting richer and more nuanced thanks to it. So, what I'm trying to say is, you're going to read a manifestation of exactly this kind of behavior, matching things to other things, checking, hoarding materials and having recurring thoughts about them. But stick around, it's not going to hurt anyone but your grumpy inclinations and some of the, psychologists say widespread, ennui with the holidays. Who knows, it might also collaterally please others too!


To want to emulate the Christmas tree is a desire that, irrational as it may seem, has crossed the minds of a scent hobbyist or two, I'd wager. The rich fir scent, the cold ringing air with the snow, the piney air, the lovely greenness and orange-smelling tonality of it all is enough to warm one's heart, even if we ultimately decide against a natural tree in the house and opt for artificial one instead. Even non-Christian-doctrine-practicing individuals with a penchant for scent agree that the aroma of the Christmas tree is lovely. Specifically, the Concolor Fir tree, a variety that when its soft, blue-green needles are crushed between index and thumb releases the most delicious orange resin scent. Ever wondered why orange is a classic wintery theme in home scent? Now you have a new reason.
It goes without saying that enhancing that natural aspect—or adding it, if we're talking about an artificial tree—involves orange. Slicing oranges in thin slices and laying them out to dry is easy: if you have a dry, sunny patch in your veranda or windowsill it is best, or else hang them from thread where they will not be touched and won't drip much. When ready they're a lovely decoration for around the home, either in strings of multiples, hanging from decorations or set in bowls with other winter-time scented things, such as spices!

Spices don't have a specific "sign" to attach to them semiotically as clearly as the molecular odor profile of the fir tree, but they do lend themselves nicely to the festive season because so many desserts and dishes of the holiday season use them, so the association is there. From gingerbread cookies—and their Netherlands delicious equivalent Speculaas—to lebkuchen via melomakarona (small Greek honey cookies), spices such as cinnamon, cloves, star anise and ginger alongside the rich, fatty scent of nuts and the intense, herbal and at once animalic depth of honey, aromatize the season. Coquito, the PuertoRican eggnog, has a flavor of coconut and rum and a sprinkling of—yes—cinnamon, while Swedish saffron buns are succulent with the individual quirky scent of saffron stigma. Bûche de Noël, the traditional French Yule log cake, is filled with buttercream and chocolate ganache, while the Québécois meat pie called tourtière reprises the spices and apples of mulled wine, that very popular drink throughout the Northern Hemisphere around this time of the year, alongside sherry and kirsch.
If your appetite has been whetted but you're not so keen to get in the kitchen for hours on end (or you simply do not cook, period), there is no need to despair. At least some of the delicious aromas of the seasonal food can be easily replicated with no more knowledge and skill than knowing how to bring something to a boil.
Simply take a pot, fill half of it with tap water and add your favorite spices and dried fruit or fruit rinds, combining to your heart's and taste's content. Cinnamon sticks, whole cloves and star anise plus a few slices of oranges and mandarins produce a very traditional Christmas-y aroma. Dried berries and lemon rind plus cinnamon give a fresh, tangy twist. A sliced-in-half vanilla pod plus grated ginger and a drop of rum liquor creates a succulent, sensuous scent that should fill your home (and your mood) with the promise of decadent pleasures. If you're a little more adventurous, slice some apples, pour a bit of sherry on top, coat them in honey and put them in a greaseproof sheet on a baking tray in the oven at low temperature. They might even end up munchable to accompany your mulled wine if you don't over-bake them!

But apart from raiding the kitchen cupboards you can do plenty with ingredients found elsewhere. Soda bicarbonate (used apart from cooking also in house-cleaning) can be aromatized with a few drops of a favorite essential oil or a blend and then placed into small ceramic or glass jars and scattered around your home. Fir essence, alongside pine and orange, creates a fresh and welcoming atmosphere. Frankincense essence and allspice is a great wintertime combination, both centering and exhilarating. Sandalwood and vanilla with a dash of bergamot create a cozy, warm atmosphere. White fir and cypress give a very woody scent.
Reed diffusers are also another idea to scent your environment without the overwhelming stench of plug-ins and cheap scented candles. Although there are many excellent ones on the market by brands such as Archipelago Botanicals, Molton Brown, The Body Shop or Pacifica, among many others, you can also make your own. All you need is a handful of bamboo skewers, a glass vial with a narrow opening, 1/4 cup of carrier oil (I recommend sweet almond oil or fractionated coconut oil), 1/8 cup of vodka (to help evaporation and "traveling" of the scent through the sticks) and your favorite essences/essential oils/aromatic oils. Mix the carrier with the vodka and the essences in the glass vial and dip the sticks in it. Flick the sticks every few days to refresh the scent and keep them away from children and animals.

Finally, you might want to actually pick a personal fragrance according to the festive atmosphere of the season. It's no accident that Nuit de Noël by Caron is named exactly after the Holy Night; a rich soft scent with a delicious marrons glacés base which is referenced in the 1952 novel Invisible Man. Roja Dove, luxury perfumes entrepreneur and author, has been wearing it for many successive years on Christmas Eve. The idea of matching your scent to the festive scents around might appear too matchy-matchy for most folks, but I thought it might be fun if you're light-hearted about it and not too serious. Obviously perfumes and colognes which reprise some of those elements, such as spices, warm cozy scents such as amber and sandalwood, wood notes of fir and pine and sweet citruses (mandarin/tangerine/clementine, orange), feel the most festive-appropriate. This usually means picking things from theOriental (especially Oriental Spicy and Oriental Woody), Chypre Fruity (especially those with candied fruits), Woody and Woody Spicy and Citrus Gourmand families. It might also be a great opportunity to bring out some of the grand occasion perfumes, since the holiday season is traditionally the time for elaborate parties, downtown entertaining and attending big spectacles.
Some of my own suggestions for festive fragrances for the holidays include the following.
For the ladies:
For the gentlemen:
Feel free to share your own ideas on festive scents and tips in the comments!
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