If you’ve read and been intrigued by parts 1 and 2 of the
Odiferess ‘Magnificent Perfume Making Experiment’ you’ll be aware of the brand
Plush Folly, who I’ve used for my synthetic ingredients purchases. Sally
Hornsey, founder of the company, is a certified perfume geek - a worshiper at
the fountain of niche perfumery and a creative lab fun maker. She also heads up
Plush Folly’s training school where amateurs and craft business owners study fragrance
and it’s application to perfumery and toiletries. At the launch of my
experiments I asked her a few questions about her experiences:
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Odiferess: Thinking about your own experience of making perfume,
what were the main notes of your greatest potion and what sort of mood did it
project?
Sally: To launch my book, we created a perfume as a panel,
partly as a learning tool for the Plush Folly staff to allow us to talk perfume
and learn from each other. The final result was fabulous and we called it
Es Belle. The main notes were fresh - cucumber, grapefruit, lime and
green fig. - and we then tinkered around with the formula and did a little
experiment by adding Iso-e Super - the results were spectacular. We asked
testers to wear the unadulterated version for a week and give us feedback on
the responses of their family, friends, colleagues and anyone who cared to
comment. We then asked them to wear the formula with added Iso-e Super
for a week and note the comments they received, as before. The feedback was
overwhelming in that the Iso e Super version drew far more attention and
received more positive comments, definitely carrying with it an undiscernable
feel-good mood with the addition of Iso-e Super's "va-va voom"
factor!
Odiferess: Tell us about your animalic synthetics, are they
truly skanky? What should we expect if we've never smelt isolated civet or
castoreum notes before?
Sally: Yes, skanky is a great word to sum up the aromas of
the animalic scents! They certainly linger - all the staff at Plush Folly
wear nitrile gloves when decanting these notes and dread getting any on their
clothing since the smells linger in the air like a bad fart. Conversely,
Ambergris is rich, sweet and delicious, whereas the Civet and Castoreum are
shockers!
Civet Cat, bringing the urine to feline.
Odiferess: Popular essential oils can smell a little 'tie-dye
shop' when blended together, can you recommend any synthetics that bring them
out of the hippie vibe and add finesse?
Sally: Vanilla Bourbon gives a burnt creme-brulee smell
that works well with everything! We love it. If you want something slightly
more subtle then Tonka Bean moves you from the tie-dye shop to the Starbucks
cafe! Our Salty Sea Dog adds a fresh ozonic, Whitby Bay, post-hangover
Sunday morning walk freshness.
Sally Hornsey
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The experiment
continues to enthral me and I’ve had some success with the addition of the
notes of Ylang, Bergamot and Grapefruit to my first concoction which have enabled me to progress towards that elusive ‘sparkly’ sensation. I'll be posting details of my ongoing recipe later this week.
