Lila

418 Lila

This attar has been a work in progress for a while. It was an offshoot of a bespoke attar I created for a customer 413b Spirit of Nature. Lila did not fit the profile desired for the customer, so it was shelved for a while. I kept adjusting it gradually over time, shaping it into something I enjoyed.

It began as a Rose, Jasmine, Violet blend, but Violet is a difficult material for me to work with. Violet absolute does not have a floral aroma, and finding that fantastical violet note is difficult in natural perfumery. I used a natural isolate called Beta Ionone, which smells like parma violets from the bottle, but I discovered this material is highly reactive with certain florals, it becomes overbearing, sharp and soapy. So it took a long time to tame it after adding this material.

I split the blend into 2 and started diluting and building it back to a scent I could see hiding in the blend. Splitting it allowed me to experiment a little more freely, and one of these started to become more interesting, as each were taken in slightly different directions.

This is a blend with so many materials, but it smells just like a handful. Lots of Ambergris helped, as well as continual small adjustments. It felt like procrastination for a long time, but I do find beautiful things come from patience and continual refinement. I often find myself in a state of mind where I feel like nothing is complete, then a period of time passes, I overcome the sensation and something really interesting to me emerges.

Smelling from the applicator, Lila has a fruity, Rosy aroma, with a juicy, Jasmine note. The Violet and Iris elements are there in the opening too, but soft and subtle, floating in the background.

This is a ghostly floral, it feels so out of focus, blurred to the vision, but slowly begins to take shape as you're in it's presence. Ambergris has this effect of blurring the notes of materials, smoothing them out and rounding off their sharp edges. I used a lot of Ambergris in this blend, coupled with Civet for extra effect. The Civet is quite a subliminal scent too, when used in the right quantity, it causes very interesting, subtle contrast deep in the core of the blend without disturbing the profile and structure. In short, Lila is an uplifting, smooth, floral with vibrant notes of Rose and Jasmine, and a soft musky background of Iris, Violet and Musks.

Smelling on the skin, Lila opens with a lush, bright and smooth wave of juicy Rose and Jasmine. It feels warm, refreshing and smooth. The juicy facets slowly transition to more powdery notes of Iris, layered with Ambergris and Civet. It is still surprising to me that this attar contains well over 100 materials. Because this took a long time to make, with gradual adjustments daily for months, I lost track of how complex it's past was, because it smells very solid as a blend.

After an hour the scent transitions to mostly powdery Iris elements with the warm Rose and Jasmine This also contains a Taif Rose and Mongolian Deer musk maceration I made around 7 years ago which really helps the florals glow.

I noticed a really pretty second wind the attar gets, as it seems to fade, it shines again with a really perky uplifting fruity floral note, this is the Lilac Co2 likely interacting with the Ambergris and Civet. This most recent Lilac Co2 I have gotten smells and acts differently to the last, with an interesting banana-like note that surprised me when it sprung up later in the wear.

I think due to the large amount of Ambergris, the nose gets easily dulled by the array of notes, but with a breeze or cleansing of the palette the attar can be sensed again.

Lila contains the following materials listed in approximate order of notes sensed when smelling.

Front Notes

Taif Rose & Mongolian Deer Musk

Anatolian Rose Absolute

Egyptian Jasmine Absolute

Iris Butter Concrete

Ambergris Absolute

Boronia Absolute

Pink Lotus Absolute

Turkish Rose Concrete

Lilac Co2

Damascenone Isolate

Mid Notes

Bulgarian Rose Concrete

Red Champaca Absolute

Osmanthus Absolute

Persian Rose Petals EO

Beta Ionone Isolate

Violet Leaf Absolute

Civet Absolute

Sa Kaeo Oud

Red Smyrna Absolute

Vietnamese Benzoin Absolute

Dragon Tree Leaves Absolute

Magnolia Flower EO

Back Notes

Buddhawood EO

Queen of Egypt Accord

Sacra Frankincense Absolute

Wildii Myrrh Absolute

Koh Chang Oud

Buoya Wood EO

Indonesian Sandalwood EO

Australian Sandalwood EO

Ambora EO

Araucaria EO