Scents of Spring – two fabulous boys and a catty treasure

Here in Great Britain, the seasons are certainly turning, and in the southern parts of our Isles, it would seem that the weather is positively balmy and spring-like. Here in the north, our days are brightened by early flowers, as we await the arrival of warmer weather! In this blog post, I would like to talk about the scents of three spring flowers – what they meant to our ancestors and their important role in contemporary perfumery. We will explore two ‘narcotic’ floral scents – narcissus and hyacinth – whose names are immortalised in Greek mythology. To the ancient Greeks, both symbolised the cycle of life, death and rebirth, or transition and transformation. Our third spring flower is that of the blackcurrant, and in this blog we will appreciate the significance of this trio in the classic fragrance Chamade, composed by Jean Paul Guerlain and launched in 1969.

We shall begin by looking at the myth of Hyacinthus – a beautiful youth, and lover of Apollo; Zephyrus, god of the West Wind was also a rival for his affections. Apollo taught Hyacinthus many skills such as archery, music, and divination, and throwing the discus. Apollo threw the discus and, trying to impress, Hyacinthus ran to catch it; however the jealous Zephyrus blew the discus off course, and it hit and killed him. Distraught, Apollo transformed his blood into the hyacinth flower, rather than have him descend to Hades. Sometimes it is said that the letters ‘ai, ai’ were traced on the flower, so that Apollo’s cries of grief would always be heard. Some versions of the myth suggest that the iris was the flower that represented his transformation; while other versions suggest that Hyacinthus was taken to the Elysian Fields by the goddesses Aphrodite, Artemis and Athena. His tomb was at the foot of Apollo’s statue at Amylcae, south west of Sparta, and in the Mycenaean era, a cult grew around him. Every summer, in Sparta, the three day festival of Hyacinthia was held; the first day was spent mourning his death, but the following two days celebrated his rebirth.

The hyacinth emerges from a round bulb; it has bright green lance shaped leaves, and spikes of very fragrant, bell-shaped flowers. Linnaeus the taxonomist and botanist called the hyacinth the flower of grief and mourning. However, as the related, but largely unscented, wild bluebell of the British Isles did not appear to have Apollo’s cries of grief written on it, the early botanists named it Hyacinthus non-scripta (Grieve 1992). Despite the fact that it does not have a scent, when in full flower, bluebell woods are very special places to be; they can impart the sense of being at the fringe of another world, and have inspired many faery tales and even fragrances. The hyacinth that is grown for its scented oil is Hyacinthus orientalis.This is sometimes called jacinthe oil, and is cultivated commercially in both Holland and France. The absolute is a dark greenish liquid that has a very powerful, sharp, green, leaf like odour, only pleasant on dilution, and only resembling hyacinth on extreme dilution (Jouhar 1991). At the time of writing, hyacinth absolute is very scarce; however synthetic hyacinth is easily obtained. There is a marked difference in the

Signs, Portents and Scented Transitions

Anyone who has read my posts will probably have realised that my love of scent is inextricably linked with the natural world, landscapes and seasons. I also find that we can glean valuable glimpses about how our early ancestors related to their world through the world of myths, legends and folklore. But also, because natural scents are unchanging, they are our only remaining tangible link with our predecessors. This is the time of year when we begin to emerge from winter; it is a time of seasonal transition, and so a time of observation. The ancient Celts and Gaels – like so many other cultures – would look for signs and portents.

In Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man, the last throes of winter and the first signs of spring were marked by the festival of Imbolc, which coincided with the emergence of snowdrops. This festival, and others such as the Welsh Gŵil Fair y Canhwyllau, celebrated the beginning of spring – held on the 1^st February, falling exactly between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. Apart from the snowdrop, Imbolc was also very much associated with

Osmanthus – the Scent of an Oriental Autumn

In Scotland, we have just enjoyed an uncharacteristically glorious summer, full of beautiful scents. Autumn can be wonderful too, but then it is more the rich pallete of colours that we appreciate – our visual sense tends to dominate the season. Here, if we are asked to identify the scents of autumn, we might think of fallen leaves, damp earth, pumpkins and gourds, bonfires, wood smoke, maybe coniferous forests. However, there is one beautiful scented flower that, in China and Japan, is very much associated with autumn, and that is osmanthus.

Osmanthus fragrans is a woody, evergreen flowering shrub. In China it is known as kweiha, and the scent of the blossoms is loved and renowned; and indeed has been described as the quintessential scent of China.  It has been cultivated for hundreds of years, and is often found at Buddhist temples, where it is planted in groves. Osmanthus is very much considered to be

The ancestry, symbolism and scent of the rose

Staying loosely with a seasonal scent theme, I had been planning to blog about the fragrances of summer flowers, but a strange string of coincidences over the last couple of days has prompted me to focus on just one – the rose – and all because of my family ancestry! Here is how it came about… Correspondence with a new colleague in the aromatherapy world mentioned, by chance, a family connection with geology at the University of Edinburgh. I too have a connection there – my great great grandfather (on my paternal grandfather’s side) was Alexander Rose, who was the ‘founding father’ of the Edinburgh Geological Society. I was fortunate enough to have inherited an old book about him and his grandson Robert Traill Rose (an artist) from my father, who had done some research of his own about this side of the family. I have just spent a rather emotional time pondering genealogy, re-reading this old book – and thinking about its author, Mary Stoddart Tweedie Rose, also an artist and the wife of Robert. I am left wondering if many of my own passions and interests are, in some way, her legacy… Anyway, with this rather tenuous link, let’s explore another aspect of the ‘Roses’, not my ancestry, but their ancestry, symbolism and scent.

Roses have captivated mankind for thousands of years. A quick look reveals just how

Scent Branding: What do you smell like?

As mentioned by both Leigh Durst and Linda Tischler, scent is becoming more and more the most popular and innovative key attribute among brands. 

‘Scent Branding is a discipline of sensory or experiential marketing. It has been promoted by Gerald Zaltman and many others including the Scent Marketing Institute and has become a 14 billion dollar global market for retailers and marketers looking to enhance brand experience.
Some may think “scent marketing”

May Day

Continuing with the theme of scents in the natural world, it feels right that this should be linked, where possible, with natural seasons and cycles. In our contemporary world, it might seem that our day-to-day lives are less connected with these natural cycles than they were in days gone by, when seasonal celebrations marked the year. May Day, the 1^st of May, is just one example. It is a celebration of the coming of summer, and falls exactly six months on from Samhain, now marked as

Google Nose: Lights on the sense of SMELL!

Google Nose – Are you ready for it?

Have you tried it yet? You know what I’m talking about, can’t you smell it?? It’s Google Nose! The newest feature launched by Google that allows you to add scent to your Search experience. Amazing, isn’t it?? Such a shame though, as.. it’s just

Meadows and Hedgerows

Going back to my first blog, we explored ‘peak experiences’ in the natural world; the times when any boundaries between you, the observer, and the environment, or what you are observing, become blurred or disappear altogether, and a sense of wellbeing is experienced. Since then, we have looked at some of the scents of the natural world – the forests and woods, and the seashore. This time we will consider the beautiful fragrances of the hayfields, pastures and hedgerows. These scents are often described as ‘agrestic’, meaning that they are reminiscent of the countryside.

One of the most popular and pleasing fragrances is

Something for Everyone at ScentWorld 2013

As January draws to a close, we are rapidly approaching ScentWorld 2013, the premier scent and sensory marketing event in the world. The conference is taking place February 6-8^th at the Marriott Downtown New York City and it is already exceeding last year, in number of attendees, number of exhibitors and sponsorships.

 

The growing awareness of the benefits of scent and sensory marketing combined with the reality that companies are facing economic

Time for New Year Resolutions

Lemon (Photo credit: Moyan_Brenn)

The new year provides a chance for us to evaluate ourselves, to consider what we do well and what we need to work on.  I love this tradition. I like the opportunity to make small changes (or big changes) every year.  Sometimes the resolutions stick and sometimes they only last for a few weeks but every January we have the chance to look squarely at ourselves and try to be better people.

This year I wondered, could scent help people stick to their new year resolution?  If so, how?  Here are some common new years resolutions and how scent can help.