I know, I know, it’s a tough question. Whenever we’re asked to choose any limited number of something, we feel anxiety as if someone would hold us to that choice. But bear with me, there is a twist.
Saturday Question #110:
What Would Be Your Signature… Note?
Imagine that you have won an unusual price: for the next 5 years, one perfumer of your choice will be creating one bespoke perfume for you per year (so, totally 5 perfumes). You have a complete freedom to choose what ingredients those perfumes will have or allow her/him a freedom of coming up with compositions… as long as today you can lock in a single ingredient, your most favorite note, that will be present in all five perfumes. Perfumes won’t be soliflores, but the note you choose will be taking center stage in each of them.
A bonus question: who will be your perfumer?
My Answer
You would think that since I came up with the question, it would be easy for me to answer. It is not. I’ve been thinking about it since a comment exchange with Brigitte in the recent Scent Semantics post. And no, I haven’t won anything, it is a theoretical question…
I think I would choose as my Signature Note linden blossom. Why? I love this scent in nature; it has an emotional connection for me. And while I’m not sure that it is my most favorite scent in perfumery, I have at least a dozen of great renditions of several other notes that I love (I will not cheat and name them here, even though I’ve been tempted to do that). But even a couple of linden-centric perfumes that I love and wear do not come close to how linden blossom smells in the evening after a hot day. And I would hope that maybe in five tries we might get closer to that aroma I love so much.
And the perfumer I’d choose… I need to sleep on it. I’ll update this post with the name tomorrow.
How about you?.
Undina's Looking Glass 
Tricky question!!! Lol. I think I would chose lilac because I already have a bespoke perfume featuring a creamy lilac and I don’t have many lilacs in my collection right now. I would be curious to see what Diane St Claire would make for me…or Laurie Erickson, if she was still in the business.
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Great choices of perfumers! I bet Diane St. Clair could create a gorgeous lilac, as they flourish in New England where she is based.
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She does wonders with florals so I bet it would smell fantastic!!!
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Ooh yes, that’s a great idea. It would be very special given the Laurie or Diane treatment.
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Yes indeed!
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It was you who inspired me to come up with this question! :)
I like lilacs as well but I think that I have enough of it in my collection, so I wouldn’t want 5 more.
Good choice with perfumers!
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I am happy to inspire you ;) . You know that I have been a huge fan of Diane from the very beginning. Looking forward to hearing which perfumer you will pick.
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OOOOHHH! Such a good question Undina.
It’s easier knowing I’m not being held to this because my mind would change by the hour.
Galbanum. I love how many ways it can help display green, cool aloofness. While those personality traits elude me yet, I can smell like I might be.
Perfumer? Patricia de Nicolai. She’s the bomb.
Portia xx
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Ooh, galbanum! I was going to say oakmoss, but mine might be galbanum too. I love it.
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YAY! SNAP OH!
That’s cool. I love that there are a few galbanum lovers in the house today.
Portia xx
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I, too, like galbanum!
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YAY RR! We are kindred spirits. XX
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Thank you, Portia.
Galbanum was one of my top 3 choices! I didn’t think anyone else would name it :)
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HA! You’re welcome Undina.
There were so many I thought of. Amber, Rose, Vanilla, Narcissus, Fig, Lavender and MORE!
It is the galbanum that I really crave. Especially paired with oakmoss. They seem to blend and make a thing so breathtakingly beautiful.
AH!
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Cool question Undina!
My note, no argument, real oakmoss. There is nothing else that gives that dark, structure & vegetal cloak to a perfume. I miss it dearly.
The perfumer? As this is a fantasy, may I choose a talent who is no longer with us? If so Bernard Chant, a master in the use of oakmoss
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Both brilliant choices!
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Thank you, alitykescents.
I like oakmoss in perfumes but never thought about it as a central note.
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I chose to start with the skeleton & will drape it in the flesh & accessories as we go
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Definitely the oakmoss king. The way he did leather too. So genius.
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Great question! Yesterday I happen to think about a note that is present in the perfumes I feel most ‘at home’ in. The note is, like Portia, Galbanum. I don’t know why, it is just present in all my favourite perfumes.
To come to one perfumer I find much harder. Vero if she would still be alive. I just tried a few of Dusita’s perfumes for the first time, and loved them all. I already have lots of perfumes of favourite perfumers like Tanja Bochning, Hiram Green and Isabelle Doyen. So for the coming five years it would be Pissara Umavijani.
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As I wrote in my answer to Portia, galbanum is my favorite note as well, and I didn’t think anyone else would mention it! :)
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Which perfumes with Galbanum do you have in your collection?
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Woo Hoo! Fellow galbanum lover. Glad others are giving it a gong today.
Portia xx
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Watch this space for my other choices 😉
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HA! Yep
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For me – definitely amber (which doesn’t really count as a single note, so probably labdanum?). But cardamom would be a close second…. For perfumer – the dream option would be Patricia de Nicolaï- many favorites from her house. (More realistic and on my bucket list – having Dawn Spencer Hurwitz create a bespoke perfume for me, although if I delved into her catalog more deeply I might find she has already created something with all of my favorite notes…)
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Had I thought about that question in winter, I would have probably chosen amber too. But now I have Spring on my mind.
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Love the question! My note would definitely be narcissus because I love how it can be used in such a huge variety of ways highlighting its floral or animalic aspects. I never get tired of finding new scents that utilize this versatile note.
As for the perfumer, Vero Kern would be my fantasy choice but to be more realistic I would choose Spyros Drosopolis (Baruti) because I think he creates some of the most unique scents and is such a kind person. Undina, if you haven’t tried his Linden Blossom scent you really should, it’s amazing!
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I like narcissi! Many of my favorite perfumes contain this note. I considered it for a while, but some other notes were higher on my list.
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So many notes, so little time! Like some of you, I gravitate toward galbanum and oakmoss. If I have to pick one, I’ll go with galbanum. And for a perfumer, I’m copying Brigitte and choosing Diane St. Clair. I’ve already experienced what she can do with galbanum, in her wonderful Gardener’s Glove: https://scentsandsensibilities.co/2018/06/15/fragrance-friday-st-clair-scents-gardeners-glove/.
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P.S. Diane St. Clair does actually create bespoke scents, so this isn’t a complete fantasy: https://www.stclairscents.com/bespoke-scents
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Do you know how many times I have looked at that? It’s awfully tempting, right? But right now for me its college expenses and vet bills
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I’m so surprised that three people have chosen this note! Love it too.
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I thought yours would be LOTV! I know that’s a floral that you enjoy.
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I was going to put LOTV or rose, but when I saw others listing galbanum, I had to acknowledge that a number of the florals I enjoy are combined with galbanum. But let’s face it, I like most floral or green notes, lol.
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Iris iris and iris. Did I say iris?Why iris? It is versatile from the standpoint that it could go from earthy to wispy and everything in between. As to the perfumer, I would go with AbdesSalaam Attar (fka Dominique Dubrano).
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Also jumping on the iris bandwagon, although I do feel I already have a good selection. Maybe a selection of Iris + [Note I’ve never warmed to]? Rose or musk or chypre. Bet iris, the the right hands, could make everything just fine.
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Iris was my “runner up” note. But I have more than five great Iris perfumes in my collection already. So, I’d just have to see if a perfumer I would end up choosing could come up with a great linden-Iris combination :)
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Iris was my choice as well. It’s quite versatile and has a grounding effect on many florals, I find.
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This is a tough one! I’m going to go with a tea note, as it’s so versatile and is in several perfumes I love. Not sure which perfumer, as each perfume I’m thinking of is by someone different…
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I love tea (as in drink) and do not mind any of its renditions in perfumery, but somehow I’ve never thought about it as a leading note.
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Perhaps it hasn’t been the leading note in the perfumes I like, even though they are “tea-like.” I’m sure it would work out in my fantasy perfume!
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Rose. No perfumer of choice. I don’t really follow perfumers just houses or fragrances. I do love Ted Lapidus. Maybe that would be a good thing. A perfumer who does NOT usually do that note. Like I love Annick Goutal and Isabelle Doyen but they do roses to death. I don’t want a rose perfume like a rose perfume I already have by someone who already made it. I love Andy Tauer and DSH, too, but their takes on rose already exist. Maybe a new, unknown perfumer? An indie person.
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Rose was my other note of the top choices. But, as with other notes, I have a lot of great perfumes prominently featuring it. But I wouldn’t mind smelling those created for you ;)
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I have probably dozens of rose perfumes and keep buying them. They all are different. My most recent rose purchase was by Neil Morris. Years ago, I wore every rose product I owned including about five perfumes, lotions, you name it. I was very fragrant. Rose comforts me. I wear it when I need to feel safe and comforted.
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Iris, without any doubt. Maurice Roucel.
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If you get him to make iris perfume for you, I’m first in line to smell it! :)
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Ooh, am going to go with ylang-ylang, of which I never tire. And will give the brief to Bertrand, who can turn his hand to anything, as we know!
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I need to find a sample of this note “live” because I’m still not clear of what exactly that scent is: all the perfumes with it that I tried smell different, so I cannot “deduce” the aroma.
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What a great question,Undina ! Mine would be tuberose 🥰
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Iris. Nathalie Lorson would be my perfumer. She does beautiful iris compositions.
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