Summer 2016: The Plan

Two years later, this is as far as I've gotten on this one.

    In front of me on my desk are nine trials from a perfume I started working on about two years ago. I didn't intentionally set it aside but other projects kept coming first.

    Working at this desk I am enjoying the faint aromas wafting toward me from these small mixing pots. But for the next two months I won't be doing any more mixing for this project.

    This summer, when we left Walden for Cape island, unlike other summers, I left all my cans, jars, and bottles of aroma material behind.

    It wasn't accidental. I was looking for a bit of space in my head to store up new scent discoveries and just rest a bit. Here in Clarks Harbour I have everything I need to work on a perfume -- alcohol, bottles, smelling strips, mixing pots -- everything but the aroma materials themselves but this summer I’ll just be thinking about scent.

Cape Sable Light, seen from the Hawk, NS, Canada

    Our house here in Canada is full of beautiful fragrances. Some are ones I’ve made for my wife; some are ones I've purchased for her. Outside we have flower gardens and a sculpture garden; the ocean is a few footsteps away. Lots of inspiration.

    There is more to creating a perfume than mixing. You might start by thinking of your "market" -- the people with whom you want to share your fragrance. Or it might just be a personal project, some scent idea you're chasing to see what will come of it. Regardless of why you want to develop a particular fragrance, it is central to your project to have a scent goal, the wished for fragrance you hope to achieve.

    This takes some thought, some meditation, and some time to mentally distill what you hope to achieve.

    So this summer I'm thinking about perfume. Collecting ideas. Storing up scent memories.

    In the fall I’ll be mixing again.