My Spring with Artisan Perfumers, Part II

                             
                                  As a perfumer, what is scented Spring for you?

Roxana Villa: I live in the Santa Monica Mountains of California. In the Spring all of our native plants bloom. My favorite scent this time of year is the sacred white sage, Salvia apiana. It is a beautiful perfume created by Mother Earth.

JoAnne Bassett: In Southern California all of the citrus trees start to flower and it smells wonderful. Lemons, Oranges, Grapefruit, and others permeate the air.

Dawn M. Spencer Hurwitz: Spring is my most awaited season; there are certain flowers and aromas that only come once a year at Springtime and I look forward to them every year. The apple blossoms, wood violets, muguet, hyaciths and lilacs are what mean the most and of course the scent of soft, wet earth and trees.  In Colorado, this wet aroma is especially rare (we have a high desert mesa climate most of the year) so a wet earth scent is only available in early Spring. How lovely!

Liz Zorn: Spring to me is about memory and immediacy. The memory of a childhood in the southern US, and my grandmothers gardens. Elaborate spreads of flowers of every kind. My immediate surroundings are filled with the flowers in my own gardens. Lilac, Lily of the valley which is in bloom now, Hyacinth, Peonies, Mock Orange. Rhododendrons, there are too many to list, I simply love them all. I try to clip fresh flowers from my gardens throughout the spring and summer, I love having a  fresh vase on my desk when I am writing.

Laurie Erickson: The scents I’m working on change from spring to spring, but the succession of flowers blooming in my garden is fairly constant each year.  Spring in my garden brings bright yellow daffodils with their delicate scent and then a month or so later the richly fragrant roses start to bloom. A few weeks later the heady pink jasmine and sweet peas begin, and then the star jasmine joins them.

I'm lucky to have scented bouquets all year, with paperwhites at Christmas and roses until I cut the bushes back in early January to force them into brief dormancy.  Spring for me is the time when the roses bloom the best, before the summer heat sets in, and it’s also a time to visit nearby nurseries and gardens. I'm rarely able to coordinate the scents I'm blending with the seasons though; I work on whatever I need to finish regardless of the season.  

Roxana Villa: My very favorite perfumes are those that are found in Nature. The perfumes most emblematic  of the Spring are those primarily of the floral and green fragrance families.

JoAnne Bassett: Josephine eau de parfum is a fresh green scent using bergamot and green mandarin from my Royal Collection.  It smells like fresh rain falling on grass, trees, and plants and everything comes alive.

Dawn M. Spencer Hurwitz: I think that Roudnitska's Diorissimo is a superb representation of "Spring time" in a perfume; he truly perfected the muguet interpretation.  I also feel that a fresh Mimosa perfume is spectacular to speak to the youthful feeling of innocence, renewal and vibrance of Spring as well as green pear scents.  I always associate the delicacy of soft pear with Spring and morning dew.

Liz Zorn: If you mean from our collection. I would have to say Marcco, it is bright and crisp, basil, ginger and mint with a light tuberose heart, similar to an eau de'cologne. Men and women both wear it. The inspiration for this scent was Marco Polo. The challenge that I put before myself was to create a scent that took from both the Mediteranian and the East. A story in a bottle.

Laurie Erickson: One scent that I think is a classic for spring is La Chasse Aux Papillons by L'Artisan.  It’s a happy, light-hearted floral scent that fits the mood of spring for me (I like both the regular and extreme versions, though the regular seems to be more popular).  

                                                   
                                                  
                                                    What is your favorite flower?
 

Roxana Villa: I adore Jasmine Sambac, Plumeria and Tuberose. Jasmine sambac is a green and earthy floral,  a bit more indolic than the traditional grandiflorum. Tuberose and Plumeria are also gorgeous, indolic florals that are heaven scent. As a botanical perfumer all three of these are in the palette of plant essences I work with.

JoAnne Bassett: Jasmine sambac from India. It has such erotic intensity and I use it in my perfumes often.

Dawn M. Spencer Hurwitz: My favorite Spring flower is a tie: sweet violets and lilacs. Ever since I was child, I have had a close relationship with violets and I await their arrival every year. Violets bloom right next to my home and when I am most lucky I can smell their sweet, candied powder aroma wafting in my kitchen window in the early evening. It is bliss!   

I have a similar relationship with lilacs as I associate them with my childhood in the country and my grandmother who planted the lilac tree in our yard. Now, I am so blessed to also have a gorgeous lilac tree just outside my studio door which blooms the most lush, fragrant flowers anywhere.  I am seduced by those heady, honied-earth flowers year after year!

Liz Zorn: I really do not have a favorite flower. But will say that for it's diverse nature the rose. The breeding of roses has become such an art form that some smell like lemon, others have hints of chocolate and still others have a steely metallic edge. I also love the heirlooms, bourbons rugosas etc. With such a palette of smells to work from, one could spend a lifetime just constructing rose scents. I have many roses in my gardens. The old world varieties which only bloom once during the season, have the best scent. They are also great for making ones own rose water for summer spritzing.

Laurie Erickson: That’s a very hard question because I love rose, jasmine, and orange blossom all equally and probably above all other floral scents, though I also adore violet, tuberose, linden, gardenia, mandevilla, sweet pea, narcissus, and many more.  Of those top three, I'd probably have to pick rose but it's a tough choice.  I enjoy the rich variety of rose fragrance, from deep red roses to citrusy roses to spicy roses.  For me, roses evoke happy times in the summer sunshine enjoying the natural beauty of the garden.

                                
                                 What fragrance(s) do you wear during Spring?

Roxana Villa: Since I am a perfume artist I tend to wear no scent so that I can have a clear olfactive landscape while I work. When I go out to an event in the Spring I tend to wear Cimbalom, which is my signature scent. The fragrance features several types of Jasmine on an earthly bed of Labdanum and Patchouli.

JoAnne Bassett: My Josephine eau de parfum, my Le Voyage eau de toilette a lovely citrus floral, and my Versailles eau de parfum a sparkling citrus.

Dawn M. Spencer Hurwitz: For Spring, I tend to wear my own Mimosa perfume, hesperedic perfumes and Rose Vert (but I wear Rose Vert year round). I have also been wearing Lili (Linden blossom / Muguet) and my new Cyan (for it's soft mint and linden blossom notes) quite a bit this Spring. 

Liz Zorn: I am a perfect example of the phrase: "The cobblers children have no shoes" I rarely wear scent, because I don't want distraction when I work. But when I do wear it I tend to go for a greener type.  From our collection I wear the Marcco that I spoke of earlier. I also like Vintage Caleche, something that I have worn for many years. I am not one to divide sent by season. To me it is more about wearing what feels good. Regardless.

Laurie Erickson: I usually wear whatever scents I’m working on and don't get to choose scents by mood as often as I'd like, but when I do have a chance to wear spring scents from my wardrobe I enjoy La Chasse Aux Papillons, Creed Fleur de The Rose Bulgare, Patricia de Nicolai Temps d'Une Fete, Frederic Malle Carnal Flower, and my own Voile de Violette and Cameo. I also still wear woodsy scents in spring and summer, especially vetiver, cedar, and sandalwood blends, though I save most ambers for the cooler months. Lately I've been wearing various blends of Gardenia Musk while working on it.



                                 Suggest a fragrance for our readers and your fans.

Roxana Villa: For the Spring I suggest Lyra, it is one of our top selling fragrances and features several tropical florals in its composition. This fragrance is available as a perfume extrait and a solid version which is perfect for travel. 

JoAnne Bassett: Marie Antoinette eau de parfum is a very popular scent with Neroli - Orange Blossoms, Tuberose, Rose, Frankincense Noir, Lavender, Rhododendron which blooms in the spring. It is a great fragrance in organic grape alcohol.

Dawn M. Spencer Hurwitz: That's easy: d'Anjou. It's one of my most popular perfumes and is a fabulous choice for a Spring - Summer scent as it's light, fresh and delicate with notes of pear and soft Spring flowers. It's lovely and dewy fresh like the season.

Liz Zorn: Our Grand Canyon is a scent that is popular all year long. The eau de' perfume in the spray is lighter and easier to wear in spring than the parfum. A mix of green notes, herbal, spicy, wth both orange citrus and orange flower, and a warm base. It is also a scent that works well day or night and is not gender specific. 

Laurie Erickson: For spring fragrances, I'd suggest trying La Chasse Aux Papillons for a light-hearted spring floral or Temps d'Une Fete for an outdoorsy summer countryside with dried hay, delicate florals, and light oakmoss. From my line for spring, if you like violet you might try Voile de Violette and if you like rose you might try Rose Musc or look for Cameo to be added to the list soon.

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