Marina’s Holy Grail
 Dear Clement,  Before I begin my proposal, I wanted to thank you in advance for agreeing to create my very own perfume. I cannot describe how exciting it is for me to have this opportunity to work with you. I promise to try not to be a very difficult client. I want my scent to be spicy. I adore cardamom and saffron, and would love my scent to be centered on these two notes. These would be soft, velvety spices, as opposed to “red hot” and “dry”. To achieve that kind of softness, to balance the spices, I believe that iris, with its delicate, smooth, rooty quality, might be a great ingredient to use. I think that a little (and I really mean just a little) vanilla might also be necessary in order to achieve the kind of velvety softness I have in mind for this scent. I also would like the fragrance to have a certain sensual depth, that is why I also imagine musk as one of the notes. Again, this would be a soft, understated note, simply serving as a background for the spices. Finally, to complete and further balance the composition, the drydown would have notes of sandalwood and perhaps cedar. To sum it up, the notes in the scent would be: cardamom, saffron, iris, vanilla, musk, sandalwood, cedar. It might also include cinnamon and amber for added spiciness and “fuller body” as well as violet to enhance the iris note. But in this case, I would rely on your judgment whether these extra notes or any other notes might be needed. Velvety, warm, spicy, sensual are the descriptions that I would like for my scent to evoke. This would be a golden, candlelit perfume, enveloping the wearer in the smoothest embrace. I would love for this scent to be sensual and romantic, and, yes, sexy, but I also want it to be easy so wear, in other words I would like it not to be too heady, too heavy, too overwhelming ... too demanding. I am undoubtedly drawing inspiration from some of my favorite perfumes. I want a fragrance that would be sensually-musky like Musc Ravageur by Frederic Malle, sweetly spicy like Safran Troublant by L’Artisan, exquisitely floral like Attrape-Coeur by Guerlain, and velvety-woody like Bois des Iles by Chanel…all the most wonderful qualities of my favorite fragrances, combined in one glorious scent, my Holy Grail… And that brings me to the question of the name…I am a member of a wonderful site called Makeupalley.com. It is a place where perfume addicts like me meet and chat about perfumes and write reviews. On that site, a perfume that one considers to be the most favorite and/or the best of its kind is called a “Holy Grail”. For example, one would say something like, “Bois des Iles is my Holy Grail scent”. Or, “Musc Ravageur is my Holy Grail musk perfume”. Or, “Hermes Hiris is my Holy Grail iris”. So…I thought of naming my scent just that, Holy Grail. Thank you again! I would love to hear your opinion about all and any aspects of my dream fragrance. Best wishes, Marina |
14 Comments
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brooklyntbone
Ah, the ultimate oriental! Good luck with this. It’s so fascinating to see the difference in your and Katie’s approaches. I look forward to reading more about the progress.
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Marina
T,
Thank you! Aren’t they so totally different? Unintentionally, of course, but how fun is that?
“Ultimate Oriental”. That’d be a good name for a scent! -
heather
What a stunning proposal this blog is – love both you ladies, however on paper I think Marina I would gravitate toward your perfume concept – so so exciting.
Heather
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jenny
This is a nice discription of the perfume Marina. I’m so curious about the result, how long do we have to wait? I’m gonna make my own version of it and will compare it and hope to learn something. I’m curious what the perfumer will use for the Saffron note because the absolu and the chemical that is used for the note is restricted by Ifra and can only be used in a real small amount.
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Marina
Jenny,
See, I am already learning something. I had no idea about the issue with Saffron. Thank you very much for that information.
I don’t know how long it will take, we are hoping to have first “mods” (trials) pretty soon …as for the final scent…I really don’t know, and that’s the beauty of this project…it is developing sort of “in real time” in front of our eyes. -
perfumecritic
Marina – iris, saffron, cinnamon….these three alone sound exciting! Can’t wait to hear more!
Marlen
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Marina
Comment from Anya McCoy, Artisan Natural Perfumers Guild [I am posting it because Anya is experiences technical difficulties with wordpress]:
There is a saffron CO2 out of India that is exquisite in its dryness and slight vanilla note! It is made from the whole flower, not just the stigmas. I thought it would be brilliant if your perfumer could get a hold of some for your perfume, it would add another quality.
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Marina
“Dryness and slight vanilla note”…Oh my, that is incredibly appealing. Thank you very much, Anya!
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Patrica Wood
Your Holy Grail sounds a lot like what mine would be. I really love iris, so I want a hefty proportion of rooty iris in the middle notes. The inspiration for your suggestion to the maker are all my favorites, therefore they are “classic”. Your Holy Grail would no doubt become an instant classic and I would buy it myself. You’ve done all the research, the “heavy lifting”. I would just have to enjoy! Best of luck with your project.
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Marina
Dear Patricia,
Thank yous os much for your kind words and for sharing my affection for iris 🙂
I think all the “heavy lifting” is being done by Clement, the wonderful perfumer who is making Holy Grail.
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debra_b
Marina, your notes sound like a Holy Grail to me, too!