Here is some information regarding Cinquième Sens’ Olfactory Training Sessions in New York City. The following is from Laura, at their Madison Avenue location:

Cinquième Sens is a well-known perfumery school, based in Paris just near the Eiffel Tower. Our New York training center is located at Midtown East, near to the Grand Central Station and we propose small group workshops for anyone who wants to learn about fragrances. Our method of work is interactive and we carry a particular attention to the quality of our trainings and the interactions between participants.

Would you like to test your sense of smell? Identify the different raw materials? Understand the vocabulary of fragrance? Gain knowledge about the perfumer’s work?

If so our trainings are designed for you! You’ll have the opportunity to work with our Olfactorium® which is a compact version of a Perfumer’s Palette and contains 48 raw materials and fragrances.

We currently propose 2 trainings depending on your needs and interests:

-          The Perfumer Palette September 16^th (3 hours): an introductory session to measure your olfactory abilities and acquire methods for memorizing odors.

-          Introduction to Technique and Language of Perfumery September 22^nd and 23^rd (2days): an introduction to the universe of perfume from raw materials to fragrance classification.

Please contact Laura for more information, you can reach her at (212) 686-4135 or laura@cinquiemesens.com

posted by ~Trish

Has a perfume ever brought you to tears? Maybe it conjured up a beautiful or heartbreaking memory. Or maybe the fragrance itself was so overwhelmingly glorious that it overtook your emotional dashboard and the floodgates opened. I entered Enfleurage this past week with Jessica from Now Smell This and found myself in one of those moments. I had never met Jessica before that day, and was not keen on bursting forth with emotional lability in front of her. But when I took my first whiff of the boutique’s Tuberose Enfleurage Butter, my heart was full of longing, and indeed I wanted to cry.

We’ll delve into the longing part in a minute. Let’s have an Enfleurage orientation first. Enfleurage, the boutique, is in NYC’s West Village and is filled with fragrant distilled oils, moisturizing oils, body butters, teas, soaps, incense, etc. (For a detailed description of their offerings see NST’s review here). Enfleurage, the process, allows flowers to release their oils into a fatty pomade, typically over the course of several days, while being pressed between glass plates. Trygve Harris, the boutique owner, uses organic palm oil from Colombia as the fatty medium, and offers this as a fragrant moisturizer in butter form. Tuberose, gardenia, rose and rose glory bower (chiclé is the nickname) are the current varieties.

Indeed, the Tuberose Enfleurage Butter took my breath away and put a skip in my otherwise steady heartbeat. And if I had been alone inhaling this for the first time, my emotions would most certainly have gotten the better of me. I am attempting to figure out why this particular tropical white flower concoction created, and still creates, such a visceral response in me. I suppose it might be the utter purity of the butter. It’s simply solidified oil and tuberose oil. (Of course the painstaking process to render the oil from the tuberose is costly and time consuming).

The purity lends itself to a fragrance all together different from what I experienced in Carnal Flower at the Frederic Malle boutique. While Carnal Flower is most assuredly beautiful and very true to tuberose’s lush, green nature, Enfleurage’s Tuberose Butter is, well… more buttery. With its hint of plumeria, this tuberose is like buttery sweat dripping down a stalk of Hawaiian sugar cane. Salty, sweet, creamy, and oh so very tropical. Unbelievably gorgeous. It made me wistful for unattainable sultry breezes and warm sand in between my toes at summer’s end. But most of all, it was so darn overwhelmingly glorious. And the Gardenia Butter? It’s drop-dead gorgeous too.

Before Jessica and I left Enfleurage, with a jar of Tuberose Butter in hand of course, Trygve poured some frankincense oil from Oman on my arm. This was after I had dabbed on a tiny bit, and she said “Oh honey, that’s not nearly enough! Here you go!”  I balked at the amount she bestowed upon me, but as we walked into the hot and sticky city air, I realized Trygve knew exactly what she was doing. This frankincense is no ordinary frankincense. The oil is water extracted in a copper distiller and the result is refreshing and uplifting. I could not believe I was experiencing frankincense. Menthol, pine and camphor mingle in the opening. Minty woods unfurl in the heart; and a mild, decidedly non-churchy incense peeks in at the end just to remind you that this really is frankincense you anointed upon yourself. I had to go back two days later to get a vial, this time accompanied by Lucy, the creator of one my favorite blogs, IndiePerfumes, and her compatriot in scent, Leah, of Asking Leah.

I also had the chance to smell blue lotus which was an enlightening opportunity after wearing and loving Mandy Aftel’s Lumiere for many weeks now. It was fascinating to experience the essence on its own and realize just how present it is in the top notes of Lumiere. It’s very moody and tannic, and less floral than I would have imagined, never having smelled it alone.

This summer at Blunda, Strange Invisible Perfumes, Le Labo, Caron, Frederic Malle, and Enfleurage, has been delightful and educational commiserating with fellow scent lovers, shop owners and fabulous sales associates while broadening my own knowledge of natural perfumes, one note at a time. 

Enfleurage; 321 Bleecker Street in the heart of Manhattan’s West Village

Trygve’s Facebook Page. Trygve’s Blog.

photographs by ~Trish

posted by ~Trish

Did you notice the new banner? It was designed for Scent Hive by Hadley Hutton. Here’s a little bit about this amazing artist.

                                                                        pansy perch

Hadley grew up in a home filled with color, with a mother who felt that humanity’s greatest invention was the color wheel. Hadley recalls her mom changing wall colors as often as other people change the sheets. Being surrounded by a vivid palette profoundly influenced her. But rather than paint walls, Hadley’s outlet for her hereditary color addiction is her easel.

On the day little Hadley met an artist who painted for his profession, she formulated her dream of becoming an artist. Her exact words were, “People get paid to do this?” She soon encountered a major obstacle on the path to realizing her dream: the bunny incident. At the tender age of seven, Hadley was unable to draw a bunny as beautifully as her friend Monica. She threw a Richter-scale tantrum, screaming “I can’t draw!” Somehow Hadley found the resolve to keep drawing despite the nay-sayers (including, most notably, herself). She continued to draw, and on and on she drew, right through her graduation with honors from the San Francisco Art Institute. Today Hadley lives her dream working as an illustrator and artist in her hometown, Portland, OR – where she has yet to perfect the bunny.

Hadley’s work is a blend of traditional painting and modern design. She draws inspiration from Asian patterns and motifs, Victorian die cuts, and geometric designs. Her work explores nature’s beauty, people’s influence on their surroundings, and the environment’s influence on people. The works are layered with colored pencil and watercolor pencil drawings, ink, archival digital media, pastels and encaustics.

Hadley’s Philosophy: Less is more. (Except in the case of art supplies – where too much is never enough.)

Please visit Hadley’s website and etsy shop.

Posted by ~Trish

You all are going to benefit from my mistake. I inadvertently wrote that I would be announcing the Vintage Naturals Rosebush winner on June 1st when I meant to say May 25th. Well, I announced it, and then saw my mistake. So…I will be giving away another 15ml bottle to take care of the confusion. For those of you who entered the Rosebush giveaway, you will be automatically re-entered (except of course Sharon who won!). For those of you who were waiting to comment, or for anyone else who wants to enter, feel free to comment and you’re in!

This giveaway will be for Vintage Naturals Geranium. I have not tested this, so the bottle is brand new. The notes are listed as Lavender, Geranium, Patchouli and Cedar. Just make any comment; why you like geraniums, are happy for summer, or just say hello. This time the winner will be announced on Monday June 1st. Good Luck!

The winner has been chosen!

Posted by ~Trish