One of the biggest challenges in perfumery is the continuous question of “How Do You Describe Perfume”.
Our noses can distinguish 1 Trillon different smells but we struggle to articulate the differences, character or nuances of a fragrance.
For this reason, the perfume industry has to a degree developed its own set of words, classification systems and various other aids to help in this task.
Here at Pairfum London we have created a brief introduction into “How Do You Describe Perfume” which we believe is ideal reading during National Fragrance Week.
After reading the article, you will feel much more comfortable with some of the terms you come across in the World of Perfumery.
When admiring the winning or commended photographs, we noticed how some of them created ‘fragrant images’ for us here at Pairfum and we wanted to share some of these ‘olfactive photos’ with you.
Protea Banks, KwaZulu
The image above was taken in Protea Banks, KwaZulu – Natal, South Africa by Pier Many (photographer) and he said this about his image: “Protea Banks is an underwater reef on the east coast of South Africa that is under consideration for protected area status. Amazing creatures such as this cephea (or crown) jellyfish live there. It was the biggest jellyfish I’ve ever seen, over one metre in diameter. Its purple head and yellow fuselage were simply amazing. With no background objects present to provide perspective, and wishing to exalt this crown jellyfish with its stunning colours, majestic size and dancing elegance, I opted to purposefully crop the jellyfish to fill the frame.”
For us this image created the vivid fragrance of the sea, with its aquatic & salty nuances, its marine minearals, the notes of sea weed and algae. We regularly incorporate these elements in our notes and we particularly liked about this image that marine notes are frequently only displayed a ‘blue’ images whereas this image is displays the most vivid colours.
Namib Desert, Namibia
Here are the comments of Tom Putt (the photographer) about his marvellous photo: “Flying low over the endless sand dunes of the Namib Desert, I noticed the cloud cover provided this interesting play of light on the landscape. When the sun heats up the dunes, it draws the black minerals to the surface. When I came to process the image, the stunning colours revealed themselves.”
We believe this image perfectly captures the essence of ‘oriental notes’, their warmth & richness, the depth of their accord and sensuous nature.
Storvatnet, Flakstadøya, Lofoten, Norway
This is what Daniel Laan, the photographer says about his image: “Stjerntinden is a sheer-walled 930m peak rising from the often frozen and snow-covered Storvatnet lake. Along its shoreline the ice is punctured by unyielding rocks, which create tiny ice caves. I decided to put my camera inside this particular one because its curvy roof and virgin snow complemented the inhospitable background so well. However, therein lay the main challenge. I put the camera in from the front, facing out, but had no idea of the composition. I carefully turned the focus ring each shot with a view to making a final focus stacked image. I then lifted the camera for the final frame to reveal more of the mountain and fill the entirety of the cave mouth.”
It conjures up the salty but beautiful fresh, clean ozonic note of ice and outdoor ions.
El Capitan, Yosemite National Park, California, USA
The comments of Alex Palmer (photographer) “Two climbers approach El Cap Tower on the The Nose route on El Capitan. I was taking a day off from the route that my partner and I were attempting on the West Face of El Capitan. We headed down to the meadow opposite the peak to watch the climbers on the wall and get some images. The hardest thing I’ve found about photographing this rock face is to get any idea of how vast it really is. I spotted two climbers* approaching the El Cap Tower feature and just started to snap photos. When I zoomed in to preview the images, I was really pleased with the scale and atmosphere they showed.”
Do stones have a scent? Have you ever taken the time to smell one?
Try it and you will be surprised by the variety of fragrances that you pick up. The sheer cliff face certainly triggered a memory of an earthy, sun-bleached rock face for us.
Grand Union Canal, Olton, Solihull, England
Chris Fletcher said this about his photo:”This shot was taken handheld using the diffused sunrise light to soften the subject and surrounding woodland. This helped to bring out the colour of the autumn leaves and of the boat. I regularly explore the canal network in the West Midlands and in autumn the atmosphere and colour of the waterways offer fantastic scenes to capture. The composition was made easy by the diagonal positioning of the canal and towpath, which gave me a natural rule of thirds image.”
Here in Europe and London in particular, this image conjures up the memories of moist woody notes from walks in the forest in Autumn. Add to this watery, green notes of the canal and you can see how this images creates a beautifully complex note.
Wyming Brook, Peak District, England
Jay Birmingham about his shot: “I had gone to Wyming Brook in the Peak District to try to capture some landscape shots. Struggling to find any unique angles, I cast my eyes over the smaller features around me and spotted, in the middle of the water, a small mossy island with a solitary bonnet mushroom growing on it. Even better, there was a small waterfall just behind. I crouched as low down in the water as I could to position the mushroom in front of the waterfall, and then used a neutral density filter to capture the path of the water swirling through this beautiful micro landscape.”
“Oakmoss” is also known as ‘Mousse de Chene’ or ‘Treemoss’. For many people this terms does not trigger an olfactive memory and yet it is a very prominent ingredient in perfumery, such as “Mitsouko” by Guerlain, its role within the ‘Chypre Accord’ or its presence within the ‘Fougère’ Olfactive Group,
For us the image below captures the note of Oakmoss wonderfully: earthy rich, inky bitter, evocative of a sensually damp but woody oak forest, with hints of musky and amber.
Do you find that photos have the power to create ‘olfactive images’ for you? Which images are the most potent for you?
Rarely is a public bin (or trash can) being admired nowadays but seeing beautiful floral bouquets decorating these trash cans, one cannot help but hope to see more this type of bin freshener.
The designer Lewis Miller filled empty trash cans on the streets of New York with beautiful floral bouquets using the voluminous bins as vases to support the colorful blooms and lush greenery.
These decorative arrangements are made up of a variety of blooms:
pale pink roses,
branches of flowering azaleas,
bright sunflowers,
gorgeous exotic blooms, and
striking greenery.
“We are storytellers through the art of floral design, transforming an arrangement into a love song and an event into an indelible experience.” This is how the team of Lewis Miller describe the project in their own words.
The team noticed, how pedestrians no longer walk around the bins but are actually drawn to the floral installations to smell the beautiful flowers in their unique ‘vases’.
This is what we call an ideal bin freshener and we encourage more cities to adopt creative ways of turning smelling trash cans into pieces of art that draw crowds.
We invite all city authorities to call us here at Pairfum London, if they would like to realise a project in this field.
Have you ever seen ‘Flower Art’ with square flowers or leaves?
No, neither have we, which is why we enjoyed Baku Maeda’s novel artistic approach to flowers and leaves.
He created square flowers and leaves to challenge nature’s organic forms.
Baku Maeda calls them his ‘bit flowers’ and ‘bit leaves’ series. In this series he trimmed the petals of various flowers, leaves and foliage into square shapes, creating a juxtaposition against their typically organic, natural shape.
By contrast, the Japanese Artist’s typical medium is relatively humble: He transforms greenery and flowers into graphic visuals.
With his two ‘series’ of square nature, we believe he created a new form of ‘Flower Art’!
Art in Floristry usually focusses on unique combinations and presentations of flowers and greenery in novel bouquets or arrangements. Florists might curve a plant but we have not yet seen them cutting a flower (or plant) into a desired shape.
Baky Maeda might have started something new their.
Flower Art Idea
The next time you are buying a beautiful floral bouquet for your partner, a friend, a colleague or somebody very dear to you, stop and ask the florist whether she/he can cut the bouquet into your preferred shape.
We would love to hear the reaction of the florist. Do let us know what she/he thought of this form of ‘Flower Art’.
In the meantime, if you are looking for something artistic and square, why not look at our ‘Cube’ shaped Reed Diffusers?
Do you enjoy Niche Perfumery products and would you enjoy wearing your fragrance as a flower beard or a blooming peruke?
We all like new fragrances and wearing perfume is part of our persona.
In the search for new perfumes, many of us have become familiar with ‘niche perfumery’, ‘artisan fragrance’, ‘indie perfume’ and ’boutique fragrances’.
It is an expanding part of the perfumery market known to be very creative and personal with its fragrances and ingredients but also the product forms themselves, i.e. not just a spray.
With this in mind, we enjoyed these flower beards and head pieces composed of flowers.
Flower Beards by Geoffroy Mottart
Geoffroy Mottart decorated famous busts in belgium with the floral beards you can see in the photos below.
He wanted to reinvigorate often overlooked, historic busts found in parks and public spaces across Belgium with his floral touch.
Statues depicting historic figures such as Leopold II, Hermes and the Goddess of Bocq are adorned with blooming hairstyles and botanical beards.
“This idea came to me because I realized that most people pass by these statues without paying attention to them,” the artist says.
Vibrantly coloured flowers are arranged to mimic the silhouette and shape of the bust or sculpture, thereby adding a touch of humour.
In the process, the historic busts acquire a new life and persona.
“By putting a floral note in places or on objects, spectators pay attention to my work and rediscover what surrounds it.”
What is Niche Perfumery?
We believe the terms Niche, Indie, Boutique and Artisan Perfumes describe, broadly speaking, something similar, as all of them typically have these features in common:
in-house perfumer
no mass marketing
limited quantity & availability
unusual fragrance notes
Head over to our online boutique for some wonderful niche perfumery products for your home and yourself.
What do you think, should we include a flower beard or a blooming peruke within our Niche Perfumery Collection?
What are the Other Fragrance Types?
Knowing Niche Perfumery, the question obviously arises of what the other fragrance classes are.
Here is how these are normally classified:
Prestige Fragrances – perfumes from Designer & Couture Houses such as Chanel, Dior, Estee Lauder, etc.
Celebrity Fragrances – fragrances launched or endorsed by celebrities. These can range from Rihanna over Beckham to Tom Ford.
Mass & Masstige Perfumes – the fragrances you would find in Drugstores and Supermarkets with a variety of ‘own-name’ branding.
Did you know that these beautiful flower nests are made by a special type of bee for their larvae?
We all associate bees with building bee hives, being a colonial organisation and having a Queen Bee.
However, an unusual bee species called ‘osmia avosetta’ creates beautiful flower nests made from flower petals to protect their larvae.
The mating females, without the help of worker bees, create these wonderfully colourful homes for their young.
During the course of 1 – 2 days, the mother bee sources petals from various flowers to create the nest and then places a single bee egg inside this new ‘Flower Home’.
The bee bites off the petal from the flower, flies back to its new nest and applies a thin coat of mud between each new layer of petals.
The larve is then placed inside and the nest is sealed.
A few days later the egg hatches into a larvae and spins itself a cocoon inside the beautiful nest, i.e. quasi a home inside a home.
“It’s not common for bees to use parts of plants for nests,” says Dr. Jerome Rozen of the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH).
“There’s a demand for biologists to know bees nowadays, … they are the foremost animal pollinators of plants, and tremendously important for maintaining ecosystems — not only crops but also for conservation.”
Read more about this phenomenon that Dr. Rozen researched extensively here.
To turn your home into a cocoon with beautiful flowers, why not treat your ‘nest’ to one of our wonderful floral fragrances?
At this time of the year and fitting with the theme of ‘bees’, we recommend ‘Orangery Blossoms‘, as it contains a warming honey-note in its base.
When the weather outside is cold & miserable, we can find ourselves dreaming of a holiday.
Especially after Christmas and the New Year, our thoughts easily turn to the next holiday.
We have a wonderful fragrance here at Pairfum London to get you into the ‘holiday spirit’.
Start your vacation early with an ‘olfactive’ holiday!
Fragrance your home with our perfume called ‘SPA’ (candle, diffuser, spray) and allow your ‘mind’ to travel ahead to your next dream destination.
We have all experienced how perfume can bring memories that we treasure and the fragrance ‘SPA’ can send you back (or forward) to the last time you were swimming in an infinity pool, lounged beside the pool or floated in the ocean.
Head over to our online boutique to book your next vacation.
Here is an ‘olfactive’ description of what you can expect to experience on your olfactive vacation with SPA by Pairfum.
This period over Christmas is also known as Twelvetide, where “Christmas Day” is considered the “First Day of Christmas” and the Twelve Days are the 25th of December to the 6th of January (Old Christmas Day).
Most people look forward to Christmas and spending time with their family, but it is a busy and often a hectic time of year..
So if you do find yourself getting stressed out about it, as we all do at times….
Just spare a thought for the unfortunate person in the song – The Twelve Days of Christmas
What! between getting a Pear Tree, that needs pruning and watering, with a Partridge that needs feeding….
To Two Turtle Doves, Three French Hens, Four Calling Birds, by day four you already have an aviary to look after.. and you have not even got the Turkey yet!
Then just when you think that things may be slowing down on the avian side, because after all you had received – Five Golden Rings…
It was just a case of them lulling you into a false sense of security…..
Along comes.. you may already have guessed where this is going… Yes, that right – Six Geese a Laying…
Just when you think it can’t get any better! – Seven Swans a Swimming arrive on the scene – hopefully not in your garden pond….
Now hold on to your hats, because if you thought you had sorted out all the feeding, cleaning, and housing of half the avian population..
Eight Maids a Milking arrive… milking what we don’t know? but it will mean an extra eight people for dinner…
By now, any sensible person would have moved house, gone on holiday or simply broken off the engagement….
However in the case of true love, Nine Ladies Dancing arrived and had to be added to the guest list for Christmas Dinner.
Along with – Ten Lords a Leaping, Eleven Pipers Piping, 12 Drummers Drumming, at this stage the aviary is starting to look like a place of sanctuary…
So however or where ever you plan to spend The Twelve Days of Christmas this year….
PAIRFUM London, wish you peace, happiness, patience and lots of restfull sleep xx
The Twelve Days of Christmas:
On the first day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
A Partridge in a Pear Tree
On the second day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
On the third day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
On the fourth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Four Calling Birds
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
On the fifth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Five Golden Rings
Four Calling Birds
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
On the sixth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Six Geese a Laying
Five Golden Rings
Four Calling Birds
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
On the seventh day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Seven Swans a Swimming
Six Geese a Laying
Five Golden Rings
Four Calling Birds
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
On the eighth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Eight Maids a Milking
Seven Swans a Swimming
Six Geese a Laying
Five Golden Rings
Four Calling Birds
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
On the ninth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Nine Ladies Dancing
Eight Maids a Milking
Seven Swans a Swimming
Six Geese a Laying
Five Golden Rings
Four Calling Birds
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
On the tenth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Ten Lords a Leaping
Nine Ladies Dancing
Eight Maids a Milking
Seven Swans a Swimming
Six Geese a Laying
Five Golden Rings
Four Calling Birds
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
On the eleventh day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Eleven Pipers Piping
Ten Lords a Leaping
Nine Ladies Dancing
Eight Maids a Milking
Seven Swans a Swimming
Six Geese a Laying
Five Golden Rings
Four Calling Birds
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
On the twelfth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
12 Drummers Drumming
Eleven Pipers Piping
Ten Lords a Leaping
Nine Ladies Dancing
Eight Maids a Milking
Seven Swans a Swimming
Six Geese a Laying
Five Golden Rings
Four Calling Birds
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
Just spare a thought for the unfortunate person in the song – The Twelve Days of Christmas
Try Natural Niche Perfume
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We are honoured & proud that Pairfum London is available for you to enjoy at CRYSTALLINE in Abu Dhabi.
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Try Natural Niche Perfume
Special Offer: Get a Full Refund when you later buy a full-sized bottle.
We value and respect your personal data and privacy. By submitting this form, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
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CRYSTALLINE in the UAE
We are honoured & proud that Pairfum London is available for you to enjoy at CRYSTALLINE in Dubai & Abu Dhabi.
CRYSTALLINE LG-110- LOWER GROUND THE DUBAI MALL, DUBAI, UAE Tel +971 4 3398 897
