Just The Juice: Brief Fragrance Reviews – Voyage by Hiram Green

Welcome to Just The Juice. Why “Just The Juice”? I want to talk about fragrances that I’ve come across, both new releases and older ones, and I want to keep it focused on the perfume (what we perfume lovers call the “juice”) itself. So often I write about the background, the history, the sociological and psychological significance, etc. etc. of a smell or a perfume. But in the interests of pure perfume prose, in this series I’m going to write about the juice, in 300 words or less per perfume, and include relevant artistic/conceptual notes from the perfumer too, if I can. I hope to introduce you to some wonderful perfumes in this series.

Today I will be reviewing the recently released Voyage by Hiram Green, who I interviewed late last year for my Thirteen Thoughts: Perfumer Interview Series. Hiram is based in the Netherlands and creates perfumes entirely from natural materials.

Voyage by Hiram Green

Publicity material and sample of Voyage by Hiram Green

The photograph above shows the publicity material that I received for Voyage, which is identical to the information on Hiram Green’s website for the fragrance:

“An ode to the exotic mysteries of India, our new fragrance is as atmospheric and thrilling as a Mysore street market and as opulent as Octopussy’s floating palace on Lake Pichola.

Voyage is an intoxicating blend of fresh citrus top notes, a heart of warm amber and luscious suede over a smooth vanilla base.

Limited to only 250 bottles entirely natural eau de parfum.”
Source: Hiram Green website

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Where There’s Smoke There’s Fire: Musings on the Nature of Fire and the Smell of Smoke

I’ve had an interesting week and the smell of smoke has played a starring role. As the saying goes, “where there’s smoke there’s fire”, and this week there was indeed a fire, a 1,200 hectare fire (3000 acres) in fact, quite close to our house in rural Victoria. On a 39 degree, windy day, with grass and foliage as dry as tinder at the end of an El Niño summer, we watched a terrifying bushfire start in the nearby mountains and get out of control very quickly. Our adrenal glands were exhausted from the panic of that day and we are still recovering from the stressful evacuation that we chose to undertake. Though the fire was 18 kilometres away, across the dry grassy paddocks, fire can move at a speed of 60 kilometres an hour in the right conditions (trust me, it was the right conditions), and with the strong wind shifting to fan the fire our way, there was no way we were going to take any chances. We left.

Just The Juice: Brief Fragrance Reviews – Albino (A Study in White) and The Voices of Trees by Dawn Spencer Hurwitz

Today marks the start of a new series of brief perfume reviews called Just The Juice. Why “Just The Juice”? I want to talk about fragrances that I’ve come across, both new releases and older ones, and I want to keep it focused on the perfume (the “juice”) itself. So often I write about the background, the history, the sociological and psychological significance, etc. etc. of a smell or a perfume. But in the interests of pure perfume prose, in this series I’m going to write about the juice, in 300 words or less per perfume, and include relevant artistic/conceptual notes from the perfumer too, if I can. I hope to introduce you to some wonderful perfumes in this series.

Today I will be reviewing two recent releases by Dawn Spencer Hurwitz of DSH Perfumes, both in VdP (voile de parfum) strength.

Albino (A Study in White)

Dawn Spencer Hurwitz of DSH Perfumes says of her recent (2015) release Albino (A Study in White):

“What began as a fascination with the albino raspberry soon became an exploration from the real to abstraction.

What is it to be without pigment?  There seems to be a kind of quality; a luminosity and sense of lightness.  So then what?  “White” materials… and a questioning: what does white feel like?

Albino takes an abstract look at white from a synesthetic and textural stance.  The textures being crisp, pithy, and creamy; shifting from fruity crispness to pithy to a creamy feel, with blond woods, and musk at the final drydown.

Meet Albino.  He’s gorgeously unusual.”
Source: DSH Perfumes website

May the Froth be With You… Star Wars Apple Scented Body Wash, Childhood Nostalgia & Plans for the Future.

Happy New Year! I hope you’ve all had a wonderful holiday season and a fresh, bright start to 2016! I’m back. After a few weeks off I’m itching to go again and I have a fabulously long and fun to-do list waiting for me. It’s going to be an exciting start to 2016: there will be reviews of recent indie perfume releases, profiles of fragrance houses you mightn’t have heard of yet, more exciting articles in the Smell and Sound and Smell and Synaesthesia series, more Thirteen Thoughts interviews, and some book reviews too. Phew. That’s a lot, so I’d better stop prattling on here and get on with it…

But before I sign off, I want to introduce you to Yoda the Apple Scented Body Wash. I’ve not yet seen the newest Star Wars movie, so please, no spoilers! As a child of the 70s and 80s I get abnormally excited about Star Wars. I saw the original movie in the cinema at age three. Standing on my mother’s thighs so I could see the screen, I fell in love with Luke Skywalker and decided I wanted to be Princess Leia. It’s one of my earliest and fondest childhood memories. Through the 80s I enjoyed watching the other two movies from the original trilogy on clunky VHS hired from UFO Video, our local video library, or in the cinema with school friends. So, having a soft-spot for all things Star Wars (the original trilogy, not the prequels, mind you), when I spotted this little fellow for sale in the supermarket a few weeks back, I couldn’t resist.

Yoda Apple Scented Body Wash

Summer Series Part 2: Shalimar Showdown

Welcome to Perfume Polytechnic’s Summer Series. I’m taking a break over summer from writing new posts, but instead of stopping publishing altogether, I want to share with you some of my favourite posts from this year and earlier. I hope you enjoy reading them; you may even come across something you missed the first time round!

Today I’m sharing a post of mine from early 2015, Shalimar Showdown: The Originals and The Flankers Battle it Out, in which I compare and review eight different kinds of Shalimar (vintage, contemporary, different strengths and flankers) and one vintage Emeraude. It was fun to write and I hope you find it fun to read!

Shalimar Showdown is my most read post on Perfume Polytechnic. It’s interesting to read if you like Shalimar but don’t know which one to buy, or if you’re interested in collecting many of the different Shalimars, or even if you just want to find out what some of the differences are between them all. Obviously I haven’t reviewed every Shalimar there is: I do hope in a future post to review a few more of my vintage bottles and also the Shalimar flankers that have been released recently. But for now, pour yourself a cuppa, find a comfy chair, and enjoy the journey that is Shalimar Showdown…

Merry Christmas & Thanks from Perfume Polytechnic

Pub Santa

It’s been a very busy year here at Perfume Polytechnic, with the writing and publishing of 70 blog posts, and a very busy month in particular. In the past four weeks I’ve written, edited, submitted and/or published over 16,000 words about perfume. That’s about as many words as I wrote for my Masters thesis! No wonder I’m tired. It’s time for a break.

Over the next few weeks I plan to re-publish a selection of my favourite, already published articles, reviews and/or interviews from my blog while I take some time off writing. Blogs aren’t the most navigable websites, and this is my way of sharing some of my older posts with you that I think you’ll enjoy!

Thanks to all of you for reading Perfume Polytechnic over the course of 2015. It’s been a huge year, and the blog has grown in readership enormously, from an average of 25 views per day in December 2014 to around 100 per day currently. I’m really chuffed and I intend to grow and develop Perfume Polytechnic even more in 2016. I have some fabulous ideas for posts coming up, including more Smell and Sound Series articles, investigations into the use of olfaction in art, book reviews, cross-sensory explorations, reviews of wonderful indie and niche perfumes from around the globe, and of course, more Thirteen Thoughts interviews.

I want to also thank all the wonderful perfumers that I’ve connected with in 2015 – I’ve met some of the most wonderful, interesting, multi-talented and intelligent people I’ve ever come across. I really feel like I’ve found my tribe and have forged some genuine friendships out of these connections, which I’m very grateful for. You’ve all inspired me so much to explore, create and learn. Thank you.

And so, I wish a very Merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate it. I hope it’s a happy and safe time for you all. The urge to connect is strong at this time of year, and it can be a loaded and difficult time for those who don’t have close friends or family to be with, or for those with difficult familial relationships. I urge you all to check on your friends and family and make sure they have been included in Christmas celebrations. A phone call, a drink, or even Christmas lunch, can make all the difference to someone who feels lonely at this time of year.

Lots of love to you all. See you in 2016.

Polly Technic

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