Possets Blog
Grunge and Elegance: Jasmine and New Orleans
It’s not just temperatures that change with the seasons. Everything changes with the seasons—people’s attitudes, their moods, clothing fads and shoe selections, plants, and along with plants the natural smells that saturate the atmosphere. The first time I went to...
Training the Nose with Herbs and Spices
The sense of smell provides an amazing way to take in an environment. It helps to set the scene, it creates memories, and it even provides a sense of identity through scents that we wear on our bodies. Aromatherapy can help heal, and being able to smell things like...
The Scent of Rebellion, Part 2
In my last post, I gave some background on one of the perfumer’s classic tools: musk. This base note can add a mysterious depth and a strong staying power to a scent. But because this is a scent that’s strictly synthetic these days (actual musk comes from the musk...
The Scent of Rebellion, Part 1
Musk is one old-school scent. Its history stretches back thousands of years, during which time it was used not only for its smell but also for medicinal purposes. The intense smell of musk might call to mind anything from a mother’s perfume cabinet to a walk in the...
Cambienne: An Ever Changing River of Perfume.
The French word for change is Cambienne. "Cambienne" is also the name that Fabienne gave to a series of perfumes that began in 2007. Each year's Cambienne began in the first quarter of that year. It is made only once. After so much of that first Cambienne is sold, the...
Cheers to Tapputi
I have a lame excuse that tends to keep me from following through on ideas: someone has already done this thing, and surely much better than I. Unfortunately, I think a lot of people find themselves in the thralls of similar thought processes. Especially in today’s...
Finding Scent, Light, and Well-Being at the Krohn Conservatory
This past Thursday I made my way to the Krohn Conservatory for the second time in three days. It was 3:23 p.m. when I arrived, and the late afternoon lighting gave the greenhouse a significantly different feel than that of my 1:30 p.m. visit two days prior. It’s one...
A Rose for St. Fabian’s Day
What does holiness smell like? If you turn to Catholic tradition for your answer, you’ll find that it smells floral. At least, that’s one of the biggest notes often used to describe the odor of sanctity, an alleged smell given off by the body of a Saint who has...
The Sexy But Obsolete Method of Enfleurage
Tom Robbins’ novel “Jitterbug Perfume” spends part of its narrative following a perfumer named Madame Lily Devalier. She and her assistant V’lu are in New Orleans attempting to craft their comeback perfume as part of a plot that follows a handful competing perfumers...
Better Than Gold: What Makes Frankincense and Myrrh Worthy of Holy Gifting
Since I grew up going to a nondenominational church, Christmastime always had some religious undertones. There was never a Christmas season that lacked a reading about the birth of Christ. I’d heard it so many times that as a child I tended to zone out a little. But...