Neela Vermiere’s Ashoka : Another Iris epiphany

August 7, 2015 by Lavanya

Iris is one of those strange notes that announces its presence by smelling like absence. I am not sure if that makes sense, but most of the time (like I detailed in this post), when I smell Iris- I smell ‘nothing’ and the smelling of that nothing, makes me aware of iris as a note. After some time, the smell of that nothing can get quite addicting. Like a magic trick you really want to figure out. Like most people, […]

Categories: History, Perfume Notes, Perfume Review, Scent • Tags: art, Ashoka Perfume, beauty, Bertrand Duchafour, fig leaf, Iris, Mimosa, Neela Vermiere

perfume as texture : a tale of mostly chypres

May 16, 2014 by Lavanya

It has been a really long while since I posted. I had sort of promised myself that I wouldn’t post or comment about perfume until I finished a certain piece of work that needed to be finished more than a year ago. I’m still not close to being done with that, but I found this post of mine in the drafts. It was written a while ago (so it doesn’t count as breaking my promise, does it?). But first I […]

Categories: Art, Memories, Perfume Notes, Scent, Science, writing • Tags: crossmodal, perfume, sensory

Perfume from Ancient Indian Texts : Brihat-Samhita

August 30, 2013 by Lavanya

My husband has this uncanny talent of ferreting out obscure sources related to many of his interests- the ones he is passionate about, that is. When I mildly commented that he doesn’t take an active interest in perfume, the way I do with his interests, he protested. It seemed like an unfair accusation since he does accompany me to all my sniffathons and is always ready to sniff my wrist or arm. Yet, every action is tinged with a slight […]

Categories: Art, Books, History, Perfume Notes, Scent, writing • Tags: Ancient Indian texts, Brihat-Samhita, History of Perfume, perfume-making, perfumes, Varahamihira

Perfume Notes : Tuberose and Tuberose Absolute

October 18, 2009 by Lavanya

Tuberose, or Rajnigandha as it’s called in Hindi, is my mother’s favourite flower. In Delhi, one of my father’s friends, when invited for dinner, would bring a bouquet of fresh tuberoses for my mother as a thank you. And then for the next day or so, a cool elusive smell would float in the living room – sweet, dewy and incredibly beautiful.That is my first memory of smelling tuberoses and it has been my favourite flower too, since. I have […]

Categories: Perfume Notes, Scent • Tags: memories, natural perfume, perfume, Serge Lutens Tubereuse Criminelle, tuberose, tuberose absolute