Book Review- An Introduction to Perfumery

An Introduction to Perfumery, 2nd ed., by Tony Curtis and David G. Williams, Port Washington, NY: Micelle Press, 2001 (reprinted 2007 and 2009 with corrections).  ISBN: 9780960875283 (USA) 9781870228244 (UK)

This is a textbook- not light reading, and while it's called an introduction, it's pretty intense for someone who might want a few ideas of things to blend to make a perfume. A lot of it is about working at a perfume house, and if you're anything like me, that's not happening. It goes over things like the chemistry and business of perfumery, including the things you might not want to think about, such as the household cleaners that need scenting. A lot of the experiments talk about using a lab, and if you're just sitting at home reading this, chances are you won't be able to do a lot of them.

I wanted to start with that so that no one invests the money in this book who won't find it suitable for their needs. For me personally, this was a great book, though not always the most fun to read. It covers many aspects, including the aroma chemicals and essential oils that might want to learn about, plus experiments on creating floral bases, such as lilac, rose, and gardenia. If you're interested primarily in natural perfumery, this book is probably not the best for you, since it doesn't go in depth into how to use the naturals.

I liked how it covered the chemistry aspects of perfumery, though those sections were sometimes daunting. The applications of perfumery sections were useful in learning exactly why chemistry is so important- not all scents are suited to all applications. It was a bit silly the way they talked about fragrance and some products you don't associate with fine perfumery, but products like laundry detergent and dish soap have their scents developed by perfumers.

As someone who thinks about top, middle, and base notes, it was also interesting to think of how some products don't need an evolving scent- for example, candles need to give off the same scent throughout their burning.

While the business sections of the book might be interesting for someone, they're more focused on big businesses rather than small, independent perfumers. It covers things like marketing, management, operations, and product development.

While I would not recommend this book to most people, I do think anyone who has a serious interest in all aspects of perfumery and fragrance might be able to useful. While I was certainly bored at times while reading the book, overall I'm glad I read it.

Librarians and Books

For my day job, I work as a research assistant as part of a law firm's library. I do not have my Master's in Library Science, though I had applied and been accepted into a program. I had a few reasons for not pursuing me degree, the primary one is that so I could focus more on my business, which would be hard with a full time job and classes. But I had other reasons as well. This has probably been going on for awhile, but since I started my job, I have seen all sorts of libraries cut back on their staff, so a library degree didn't necessarily feel like a path to job security.

This gets a little political, but I don't think it should really offend anyone. The governor of California, Jerry Brown, has appointed a journalist to the position of state librarian. This person does not have his degree, though he claims he will take some classes. No experience either, making him less qualified for this position than me. It angers me that there is so little respect for librarians, and I hope his appointment does not go through. I'm considering how to get my opinion best heard, and I hope any Californians reading this do as well.

While many people feel libraries and their employees are becoming obsolete, they really are a valuable resource. While there are many times you can enter a few words into Google and get the information you want in your first page of results, there are occasions where that doesn't work. A librarian knows the various resources out there, and can help you find the information you need- whether it's in a book, or buried online in a place not even Google goes (and there a many places it doesn't- paid databases, for example).

This might seem a little off topic for this blog. As someone who has spent years working in a library, and has spent a lot of time in public libraries as well as my college's library, I want people to realize that librarians do have value. It is a profession that requires an advanced degree for most positions.

Now getting back to normal things. My love of libraries sprang from a love of books. I have read a lot of books pertaining to fragrance and other products I make, and will start including book reviews from time to time. I don't review books elsewhere, but I feel this is a natural fit, and hopefully I can guide some readers to some helpful books.

Product Spotlight: Monoi Lotion & Massage Bars

Spotlighting a discontinued item might seem strange, but I want to call attention to these wonderful little bars while they're still available. They won't ship well over the summer- there's a good chance they'll melt if they're left on someone's hot doorstep or if they spend a long time in a hot USPS truck. I might bring them back next fall, but with a few changes to the formula and possibly in tube of some sort, for easier usage.

So what is a lotion/massage bar? It's a combination of oils, butters, and waxes melted together and poured into a mold. The result is a solid bar that melts with your body heat- I find it easier to use my hands to get it to melt, but it can also be rubbed directly into the desired areas. When used as a lotion, the ultra rich formula is great for dry skin, and is best used right after you towel off from your bath or shower. This will help lock in the moisture. The oil it produces can also be used like a massage oil- since it's in solid form, you don't have to worry about oil spills like you would with traditional massage oils.

I started with Monoi de Tahiti- coconut oil that has had tiare (gardenia) blossoms steeped in it. A lot of Monoi de Tahiti on the market has added synthetic fragrance to it, since the natural scent isn't very strong. The one I use has no perceptible floral scent to it, so each one is scented with natural essential oils. As some of you may know, coconut oil has a low melting temperature- it can be solid or liquid depending on the temperature of the room it's in.

Shorea butter and mango butter firm the bar up a bit, and add moisturizing qualities. Rice bran wax, which maintains some of the benefits of rice bran, keeps it solid. Each one is scented with a single note or a blend of essential oils.

Our Monoi Lotion & Massage Bars can be found in our Etsy shop sales section, along with a few other items.

Flowers

When I started this blog, I used the description "Flowers, fragrance, beauty." I just changed it to "Fragrance, beauty, and business," since that more accurately reflects what the blog is about. I had hoped to write more about flowers, and I still do, but mostly in terms of their fragrance or use in a product. But now I won't feel like I'm feeling so deceptive- I don't want someone to see flowers in the description, and expect to see posts with photos and words all about flowers.

I'll still right write about flowers, at least hopefully, from time to time. That will include today.

When I was young, I would sometimes walk with my grandmother through her yard (really, my father's yard) and her neighbor's yard, looking at the flowers. She would tell me their names, and then I would try to identify them on future walks. These weren't particularly fancy flowers, but I still enjoyed learning about them. She was frail throughout most of my childhood, and these walks were probably good at getting her out for a little bit. She and my father both died when I was eleven, but I believe the walks ended some time before that.

My mother's house had flowers, too, of course, but I don't remember those as well. There was rose bush by the driveway that was eventually cut down so it would stop scratching the cars- at least I think that's why it was cut down. There was a big lilac bush on one side, at least I think it was lilac. It had large clusters of purple flowers, and I know it wasn't wisteria. We moved to a place with lots of trees and shade. We grew hydrangeas along the path to the front door, and I remember little crocuses popping up through the snow as the first sign that spring was coming.

Living in college dorms and various apartments, flowers were of little importance. I had nowhere to grow them, though I sometimes had a bouquet in vase. When my husband and I bought a house with a yard, I was excited about having lots of flowers, and would look around the neighborhood for inspiration. But I had a black thumb and we never replaced our yard with drought tolerant plants and flowers (though we didn't water the grass either- my apologies to those who had to look at my yard). Lavender was the thing I could grow best, and by grow best, I mean it was the thing I could ignore and it would still thrive. Giant white calla lilies would also show up when the rainy season started with no effort on my part, along with a few other random flowers the previous owner had planted. But I never did get well at adding flowers to the garden, or keeping many of the other plants thriving.

I'm now back in an apartment, with a little house plant. It's over a year old, and the flowers are blooming again. Such a nice little plant- it seems to do fine with little attention.