Scented Snippets: Tigerlily Perfumery UNRELEASED Project / First Impressions

by: Ida Meister

I never do this, my friends.

I felt that, presented with 10 perfumes all at once—it might help if I jotted down all my first impressions.

To date, I have very few notes [those will arrive later, along with the video clips]; my instincts and nose are all I have to rely upon.

In this spirit, I'd like to offer you my immediate, unvarnished feelings about these fragrances.

Some have paintings affixed, in my mind. Others, songs, naturally. Verse creeps in as well, instantaneously as I smell these gifts from the hands of their composers.

Antonia Kohl's desire was for participant perfumers to deliver their raw, perhaps unfinished drafts of beloved scents. It seemed only fair that I furnish her, them, and you with the same. <3

N.B.: These are in the order of sniffage. No slight or oversight is intended; it is simply the random act of which came to hand first.

DAME PERFUMERY SCOTTSDALE SOLIFLORE GARDENIA

Gardenia as I wish to smell it, as I long to smell it: Bleu cheese, mushroom, green leafiness, lush floralcy.

Large as life and brimming with veracity. Not a hygienic, sanitized floral: flora with the faunal underbelly of the beast. Most similar to JAR Jardenia, minus Jardenia's ambery drydown which eventually sublimates the initial premise / intent: Gardenia as Goddess.

BRUNO FAZZOLARI SEYRIG

All in green went my love riding. Ashes and herbs, blossoms. Lethal sophistication writ in charcoal.

Charming poison in a vial, full of contrasts. Sublime elegance with a nod towards finer vintage at the outset. Softens over time without relinquishing its edgy chyprelike finesse. Fascinating, jolie-laide parfum de nature. Frigging brilliant.

AROMA M VOLUPTUOUS NOSTALGIA: SULL'ARIA

Possibly my favorite of Maria's to date—and I've smelled them all, purchased Many.

Such quality materials; you can smell the love in it.

Divine florals such as a Bernhardt would merit. Suavely feminine without cloying.

Haunting, gliding sull'aria. Utilize Mozart duet from Le Nozze di Figaro as illustration.

IMAGINARY AUTHORS AN AIR OF DESPAIR

I don't "despair"—I smell many favorite things: conifer, saffron, the soft cadence of footfalls in a cedar forest. Sylvan longings. Lying upon the woodland floor and gazing up at the cathedral-like canopy with awe, unity and a sense of smallness. Private, solitary pleasures. Tranquility and reminiscence.

Linear and lovely. There is no need for this to be anything but what it is, to go anywhere else. A place of solace, consolation, reflection.

EN VOYAGE PERFUMES THE 7% SOLUTION

Oh, Shelley! Sherlock Holmes!!!

This is a lovely, filthy little beast with an amber/woody/animalic growl to it. Boozy, too. I smell flowers as well, but they're integrated into the perfume whole smartly. A comfort scent for those who love the change of seasons. As a transplanted New Englander [43 years, but who's counting?]who came from Yonkers, it appeals hugely: blooms in the heat, comforts in the fall, lasts forever, clings to your clothes...cocoon of love from an Earth Mother who's forgotten more than we will ever know.

Alchemy.

I PROFUMI DI FIRENZE FIOR DI LOTO

Dolci fiori!

Narcotic sweetness at its full potency. Not for a fainthearted damsel or knight—you have GOT to love flowers, or you are dead in the water.

I love flowers, and so it is. Apply carefully.

My first impression is that of Waterhouse's Hylas and the Nymphs (above). The perfume gentles as it dries down, revealing limpid and ambery facets. Being lured away, abducted via seduction.

Second reference: Odysseus in the Land of the Lotus Eaters, Samuel Butler's translation:

"I was driven thence by foul winds for a space of 9 days upon the sea, but on the tenth day we reached the land of the Lotus-eaters, who live on a food that comes from a kind of flower. Here we landed to take in fresh water, and our crews got their mid-day meal on the shore near the ships. When they had eaten and drunk I sent two of my company to see what manner of men the people of the place might be, and they had a third man under them. They started at once, and went about among the Lotus-eaters, who did them no hurt, but gave them to eat of the lotus, which was so delicious that those who ate of it left off caring about home, and did not even want to go back and say what had happened to them, but were for staying and munching lotus with the Lotus-eaters without thinking further of their return; nevertheless, though they wept bitterly I forced them back to the ships and made them fast under the benches. Then I told the rest to go on board at once, lest any of them should taste of the lotus and leave off wanting to get home, so they took their places and smote the grey sea with their oars."—The Odyssey

[This is how my mind/world works. Immediate musical, cadential, literary segues, 24/7.]

Dolce far niente. Languidly floral perfume for serene settings.

INEKE HELLO, STRANGER

Oooooh, this is good. Leather love, sueded iris, but better. Reminds me of opera-length gloves my mother's friend gave me: smooth, supple, velvety, soignée. This is an envoûtant parfum de peau. Powder with grace.

The comfort of an old friend echoes in here, but that's selling it short: only if you have an impossibly elegant old friend in whose company you can utterly be yourself.

The good news: perhaps, if you don't have such a companion at present [and if Ineke decides to sell it], you can buy yourself one.

PAPILLON ARTISAN PERFUMES BOHEMIAN VANILLA

Yes, it is. Let's frolic in our secondhand thrift store finery and burn some incense!
Summer of love, 1969. Headshops, hookahs, granny glasses [I wore them, out of need ;-) ], maryjane.

Rolling about in the grass, secretive assignations along the riverbed. Long wet stolen kisses on brutally hot days [in the haystacks!]. Hitch-hiking on dirt roads in bare feet.

Flower Power.

Liz Moores, you're too young for your perfume—but I'm not.

Scott Mackenzie: “If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair.”

TAUER PERFUMES DARK MYSTERIOUS WOODS

Woo-hoo, Andychen.

Owls perched on singed birch branches call out plaintively at sundown. Are you afraid of the dark? Don't be; I'm not. We'll guide you through the Forest Primaeval, have no fear. Raw, primal and lusty, like a Centaur. Longevity like Methuselah, as is often the case with Andy's compositions. I'd love to see him interpret this on canvas or paper; he's so accomplished in both arenas. The birch tar element is comforting to me, as it usually is—signaling the original self born of fire, not water.

Cradle me by the campfire and sing to me, rock me to sleep in my hammock slung between two venerable oaks.

Sing to me as I sang to our sons.

YOSH WILD ANIMAL

Diana the Huntress, Giampietrino

(Yosh is blissfully unaware [But of course! How could she know?] of the double entendre here: my childhood nickname was a play upon words. Vilde Chaya means "Wild Animal, life, or creature."  I was a wild thing then, as I am even now, despite my adult responsible nature, damn it all.)

This gorgeously green, vital essence of Yosh's is full-bodied, lyrical, and savage in the noblest manner.

We cavort on beds of herbs and woods; where's Diana, Artemis? What is it, WHO is it that we seek, where the light breaks through in shards? Fleet of foot, nimble in the forest amidst the verdant shadows? Perhaps our true nature summons us to this very spot where the horizon is obscured from our view. Flowers linger in the undergrowth, tender and still. This is the holy place, HaMakom ["The Place," or "Omnipresent," one of the many names for the Divine in Hebrew].

Release yourself into its healing embrace.

I am gobsmacked and grateful to Antonia Kohl of Tigerlily Perfumery, Jeffrey Dame, and all the perfumers who have so generously given of their time, creative energies, and devotion.

I feel incredibly privileged to have been asked to participate in this project ... And there's more yet to come!

Please, stay tuned.