Posted by Erin
on
12 June 2009
There is a story in our family about my first grade parent-teacher interview. The excellent, jolly woman who taught my class reported I was doing well, but confessed to my mother that she experienced considerable anxiety when introducing what she called “controversial topics”. Mom, a teacher herself, did not ask which first grade topics these could possibly be, and she did not encourage the woman to elaborate. She was already familiar with what my brothers later named “the squinty face”. She knew well my favorite phrase: “Now, wait a minute…” (No doubt this was preferable to a tic I developed later: “You mean to tell me…?!”) Most importantly, both my parents had learned to avoid being drawn into discussions on, say, the vagaries of English spelling, the habits and duties of Santa Claus, or the basic road safety rules a young lady of six might be expected to follow. For years, I described myself as a contrarian. Now Christopher Hitchens has tried to make it hip to be a young contrarian, and I’ve decided to start taking popular, rather non-committal stances on current issues. It’s hard to get rid of the squinting, though.
Old habits die hard, then, and in the interests of both truth and disagreeing with people, I have found myself defending Perfumes: The Guide on points of accuracy and style in various online forums. Still, this sentence from Luca Turin’s review of Caldey Island Lavender gives me pause: “Lavender is summer wind made smell, and the best lavender compositions are, in my opinion, the ones from which other elements are absent, and only endlessly blue daylight air remains.” Well, despite having never sampled the Caldey Island Lavender, I must disagree. (I have found that to properly enter into the spirit of arguing, you must be prepared to dispense right away with proper research.) Leaving aside the blue air — surely wind can’t be blue? And air is merely stationary wind? — I fail to see how Guerlain Jicky would fit into his best lavenders category. And any best lavenders category that excludes Jicky cuts no mustard with me. Let us discuss a list of other surpassingly wonderful complex lavenders, just to be difficult…
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Posted by Robin
on
31 March 2009
Now available at Aveda: the 2009 Light the Way candle. This year’s model, which honors Earth Month and the Aveda brand’s 30th anniversary, features soy wax and a “French-inspired stress-relieving aroma exclusively comprised of Ecocert certified organic ingredients, including lavender, lavandin and clary sage”.
100% of the proceeds from the candle will go to support Aveda’s Earth Month partner, Global Greengrants Fund…
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Posted by Robin
on
30 October 2008
For years, "the nose" of Aveda has traveled the Amazon River in Brazil, the flower fields of Corsica and the banks of the Nile in Egypt in search of his aromatic holy grail: a lone, elusive ingredient that just might defy mother nature.
But more often than not these days, Aveda's chief perfumer Ko-ichi Shiozawa has returned from his quests empty-handed. His frustration is apparent in the way he rubs his temples and raps his knuckles to a drumbeat of discontent at his vial-strewn desk.
— From For Aveda, the problem with common scents, a fascinating account of perfumer Ko-Ichi Shiozawa's quest for organic materials. Many thanks to Emily for sending this in (it was originally published in August) after reading yesterday's announcement of Aveda's upcoming Ancient Attar perfume.
Posted by Robin
on
29 October 2008
In November, Aveda will launch Ancient Attar Pure-fume (above left), a new all-natural fragrance for women celebrating the brand’s “30 years of aromas featuring pure plant and flower essences”…
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Posted by Kevin
on
9 May 2007
I remember when Aveda produced a wide variety of perfume blends (inspired by places and cultures around the world) that were sold in small dark-brown spray bottles. I wore several of those scents and was upset when the line was discontinued. I haven’t paid attention to Aveda perfumes (or should I say “Pure-fumes”) since the demise of those light and pleasing colognes, so when I was in an Aveda salon recently, I tried the brand-new Yatra.
Yatra means “pilgrimage” or “spiritual quest” in Sanskrit. In Yatra’s product announcement, its aroma-therapeutic use is said to “balance mind and body, enhance meditation and contemplation.”
Yatra was created by chief Aveda perfumer Ko-ichi Shiozawa…
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