aroha.rainin Learning to Smell · Wellington ·
Exercise
Kia ora, did the odd one out with my flatmate: three cups, two of the same black tea, one green. Took me three goes. It's harder when you know there's a trick
joon.yuzu Tea is great for this. Try two greens and a jasmine next. Basically same base, one twist.
bev.bostonin Welcome to the Club · Boston ·
IntroductionI taught fourth grade in Boston for years and I'm retired now. I'm here because of my late husband's aftershave: lavender, something like hay, a little lemon. I'd love to understand what was in it.
harriet.hay Hello and welcome, bev.boston. What a lovely reason to be here. That hay smell is very often coumarin, the sweet hay note , and lavender with hay…
juniper_julesin Learning to Smell · Portland ·
Scent diaryStudio notes: I've kept a glaze book for years, every test tile with its recipe and how it came out of the kiln. Since the rain came back I've been doing the same with smells. One page each: what it is, where I smelled it, three words, and what it reminded me…
joon.yuzu Same idea, in a spreadsheet. Columns: material, family, three words, surprise. Your page, with filters.
dex_in_brooklynin Giving Fragrance · New York ·
Questionok so my girlfriend says she hates perfume, but she'll stand over my station sniffing the toasted cumin like it's a spa. what do I even get her. your all going to say a candle
hamish_heather Aye, she doesn't hate smells, she hates sprays. Different thing.
harriet.hayin Seasons & Celebrations · Bristol ·
Exercise
Here's an easy one while the evenings draw in. Before anyone makes mulled wine or mulled apple juice this year, put the spices on a saucer one by one: a cinnamon stick, a few cloves, one star anise, a strip of orange peel, a sliver of nutmeg if you have it.…
dex_in_brooklyn warm star anise took over the whole saucer. your cinnamon stick needs snapping or it says nothing
callum.peatin Wearing Fragrance · Glasgow ·
Question
My birch scent is a running joke at home, and now my partner has asked if I could soften it for her sister's wedding. Can you layer something lighter over a smoky birch scent, or does it all turn to mud?
ingrid_berlin Put the quiet one underneath, not on top. A musk or a soft wood as the bass, then less birch over it.
Class no. 19 · 8 min read
According to research, a smell brings back a memory because the olfactory bulb connects directly to the brain areas that handle emotion and memory, and because childhood smells are laid down through happy moments repeated many times. By the end you'll be able to tell the solid findings from the folklore, and to test the effect on yourself with things from your kitchen.
wren.and.mossin Florals & Bouquets · Asheville ·
Scent diary
Last few honeysuckle flowers on the back fence, and they only really smell after six. Sweet like the drop of nectar we used to pull out of the stems as kids, with something heavier underneath that I can't name yet.
aroha.rainin Learning to Smell · Wellington ·
Snapshot
Kia ora, spring sun and a kawakawa bush by the terminal. Whole leaf, nothing. Torn leaf, peppery and green, like its been waiting for someone to ask.
sinead.smokein Woods, Mosses & Roots · Limerick ·
QuestionFirst post here. Patchouli turns up in every woody list I read, but a lad at work swears it's a herb. Which is it?
harriet.hay Hello and welcome, sinead.smoke. You may both be a little bit right. Shout if you get stuck.
cormac.bogin History, Bottles & Houses · Dublin ·
Question
The wife and I have one long weekend in France next spring. Grasse for the perfume museum, or Versailles for the Osmothèque?
carys.cardiff For the museum, its own history page says it was inaugurated in 1989 and presents itself as the first public collection in the world devoted to the…
maeve.mossin Home Fragrance & Candles · Galway ·
Scent diary
Here's a thing. We lit the first turf fire of the autumn last night, and this morning the front room still smells of it, sweet and earthy, a bit like strong tea left stewing on the hob and a bit like the bog road after rain. The dog came in from the yard and…
cormac.bog Turf fire and wet wool, that's my granny's kitchen in Roscommon. I could smell your post.
ambrose_leatherin History, Bottles & Houses · Northampton ·
Discovery
Right then. Reading the encyclopedia page on enfleurage : you spread fat on glass, lay flowers on it and keep replacing them until the fat is saturated, then wash that pomade in alcohol to get an absolute. Jasmine and tuberose were the key flowers, and the…
maeve.moss Fat that holds on to a flower and alcohol that coaxes it back out again. Grand find, Ambrose.
Class no. 18 · 6 min read
Scenting your home without degrading the air comes down to two habits that UK and US health guidance share: cut back on the source, and ventilate while and after you use it. You will learn what a candle, an incense stick, a spray or a diffuser releases, and how to enjoy a scent at home without burning anything.
joon.yuzuin Wearing Fragrance · Seattle ·
TipTL;DR: small refillable atomizer, in a zip bag, in the carry-on. Flying to my sister's for the holidays, so the packing list has started early. What I've tested so far: - full bottle in checked luggage: wrapped in a sock, survived, but I worried the whole…
priya.cardamom Moved this over from Learning to Smell, it fits better here. My three rules: 1) decant only what you'll wear 2) don't fill it to the brim 3) keep it…
dex_in_brooklynin Ambers, Spices & Gourmands · New York ·
Scent diary
ok so pastry left a tray of cocoa nibs by the flat-top tonight. Raw they smell sour, almost like red wine, then a couple of minutes near the heat and it's toast and brownie edges. you're never smelling just one thing on a line
teddy.tonka Sour then brownie edges, yes!! Green coffee does the same when we roast a sample.
mel_from_adelaidein Giving Fragrance · Adelaide ·
Question
At the cellar door people often choose a region before a grape. Can you do that with perfume, pick a family first and narrow it down from there?
priya.cardamom Yes, that's how the families work best. Start with the Class on the seven fragrance families and their materials , pick one, then look at its…
ravi.teain Welcome to the Club · Brisbane ·
IntroductionI fix computers for an office in Brisbane, with a pot of chai on the go from nine to five. Cardamom and ginger together is the smell I want to understand first. Spring here, the jacarandas are getting ready.
priya.cardamom Welcome, Ravi! Cardamom chai is exactly how I got into all this, so we'll get along fine. Start with cardamom as a perfume note and tell us what you…