big_dan_vetiverin Woods, Mosses & Roots · Leeds ·
QuestionGot a smelling strip of Iso E Super from a mate who collects raw materials. Everyone says it's woody and velvety. I sniff it and get almost nothing, then twenty minutes later my jumper smells like a pencil case. Is that normal or is my nose broken?
ingrid_berlin Normal for me too. It sits under everything like a bass note you feel more than hear.
shona.whinin Florals & Bouquets · Aberdeen ·
QuestionI read more than I post here. I've been reading about Grasse and can't work out whether the jasmine in perfume still comes from there, or whether that's the postcard version. Does anyone know?
bev.boston I always assumed all of it does. Isn't that the whole point of Grasse?
ingrid_berlinin Learning to Smell · Berlin ·
DiscoveryAt a workshop they passed round a strip of Hedione. Jasmine, but with the window open and no heavy part. The article on methyl dihydrojasmonate , its chemical name, says a Firmenich chemist characterised it between 1957 and 1962. It is the reverb of jasmine…
jess.in.philly Jasmine without the heavy part sounds exactly like my thing.
joon.yuzuin Citrus & Fresh · Seattle ·
Scent diary
TL;DR: green, black and oolong tea brewed side by side smell like three different materials. - green: cut grass, a bit of steamed spinach - black: dried fruit, honey, a little smoke - oolong: flowers, almost jasmine The club's tea page, on the molecules tea…
kasia.berlin I drink black tea with lemon, like at home in Poland. Now I will smell it before the lemon goes in.
joon.yuzuin Citrus & Fresh · Seattle ·
Exercise
TL;DR: I blind-tested myself on four citrus peels and got two right. Setup, if you want to copy it: - four peels: lemon, grapefruit, mandarin, sweet orange - each one folded over a paper strip, number on the back - my partner shuffled them, I smelled with my…
aoife_mint Did it with my housemates. Three out of four, I mixed up the lemon and a lime someone threw in to be smart.
kemi.cocoain Seasons & Celebrations · London ·
QuestionI'm hosting Christmas dinner for the first time and I've started planning far too early. I want the flat to smell right when everyone walks in. Is it the roast, the gravy, the pudding? And do I light a scented candle or leave it?
dex_in_brooklyn onions in butter, every time. first thing anyone smells in a kitchen, even if you're roasting a whole bird
Class no. 17 · 8 min read
Sandalwood, oud and cedarwood come from very different trees, and several are under pressure: Indian sandalwood is listed as vulnerable by the IUCN, every agarwood-producing species is covered by CITES, and Atlas cedar is endangered. You will learn where each wood comes from, what scarcity changes in a perfume, and what the words sandalwood, oud and cedar on a label can and cannot tell you.
orla.citrusin Welcome to the Club · Belfast ·
QuestionNew here, from Belfast, where I count other people's money all day. Citrus and clean musk are what I reach for, and I couldn't tell you why. Do I need to learn anything before I start posting, or is it fine to just say what I smell?
harriet.hay Hello and welcome, orla.citrus. Just say what you smell, that's the whole club. When you want a map, the Class on the seven fragrance families puts…
mo_from_leicesterin Seasons & Celebrations · Leicester ·
Snapshot
Diwali orders are in at the shop. Ghee, cardamom, a tin of saffron behind the till and marigold garlands by the door. Everyone who comes in stops and sniffs.
amara.oud Our corner shop in Birmingham smells the same right now. Best time of year to pop in for milk.
kemi.cocoain Everyday Smells · London ·
ChallengeChallenge from my classroom: I sharpened a whole pot of pencils for Monday, and the children have to describe the smell without saying wood or pencil. Best so far, from a seven-year-old: a new ruler that's been in the sun. Your turn.
hana.neroli A cold classroom with the window open, and somebody next door sawing a fence. Maybe that's the real answer: the cedarwood note says eastern red…
joon.yuzuin Learning to Smell · Seattle ·
Scent diaryTL;DR: the cardamom strip was gone by dinner, the vanilla was still there at breakfast. Did the blotter exercise from the Class on top, heart and base notes with kitchen stuff: - a crushed cardamom pod rubbed on one strip - a drop of vanilla extract on…
maeve.mossin Florals & Bouquets · Galway ·
Snapshot
Here's a thing. The heather along the bog road has gone from purple to rust and it still smells of honey when the sun gets on it, and the dog won't leave it alone and neither will I. A bit of dust in it too, like an old hymn book. Grand walk this morning…
hamish_heather Ours on the Pentlands is the same rust now. Heather honey and a wee bit of dust, exactly.
ambrose_leatherin Woods, Mosses & Roots · Northampton ·
Memory
Right then. A lady at the autumn craft fair had a tray of smelling strips, and the birch tar one sent me back to the factory floor before I'd put it down. Not every hide smelled like that, only the dark ones for heavy boots, smoky, and it always put me in…
maeve.moss A railway sleeper in the sun and the welt long after the last was out, and I could smell your floor from here, so I could.
Class no. 16 · 6 min read
Musk, ambergris, civet and castoreum came from a musk deer, a sperm whale, a civet and a beaver, and perfumery has replaced nearly all of them with synthetic molecules since the late 19th century. You will learn where each material came from, which molecule took its place, and what "musk" means on a list of notes today.
harriet.hayin Learning to Smell · Bristol ·
ChallengeA weekend challenge for anyone travelling: when you get back, stop in your own hallway before you put the kettle on, and write down what your home smells like. Your nose files the smells you live with under background, so the moment you walk back in is the…
jess.in.philly Back from my mom's: coffee, radiator dust and the cat. I had no idea about the radiator.
bridie.hobartin Welcome to the Club · Hobart ·
Introduction
Hello from Hobart. Saturdays I'm behind an apple stall at Salamanca, and right now the orchards are in blossom, soft and a little like honey. Add the lavender farms in summer and the cold sea air all year round, and I've never had proper words for any of it.
mags.lavender Hello, Bridie. Lavender farms! You'll have to tell me alot more. There's a lovely page on lavender as a perfume note if you fancy a read.
kemi.cocoain Home Fragrance & Candles · London ·
Tip
Parents' evening tonight, so before I left for school I put apple peel, a cinnamon stick and a few cloves in a pan of water on the lowest heat. The whole flat smells like crumble with none of the work. Turned it off before I went out, obviously.
dex_in_brooklyn ok so that's the back of my station all fall. cinnamon hits first, clove sneaks in after. your doing kitchen perfumery.
priya.cardamomin Seasons & Celebrations · Toronto ·
ChallengeThread of the week: an advent swap for noses. December is still a way off, but anything involving a coffee date across town takes planning. 1) Pick one of four weeks: kitchen, outdoors, shops and churches, or summer, for everyone south of the equator. 2) Post…
kemi.cocoa Kitchen week, please: cocoa powder and cinnamon in a pan of milk. Saturday mornings in my mum's kitchen.