423 The Fool

The Fool, often symbolizing the soul's beginning or the inner child archetype, represents innocence and the start of a profound journey of self-discovery and integration.   

This journey, known as the Fool’s Journey, involves stages that reflect the evolution from a state of naivety and recklessness to one of wisdom, balance, and wholeness.    

The Fool is closely related to the child archetype, characterized by a lack of a developed persona and a reliance on instinct rather than societal norms or rational thought. This connection to the child archetype signifies a state of openness and trust in the universe, sometimes referred to as the "Divine Madman" who acts without fear.

423 The Fool is a complex and unusual blend that I was compelled to make. Having been on the path of The Fool, it serves a great purpose to me to make something symbolic of this long journey of growth and understanding.

I would consider all of my work is alchemical in nature. Transmuting feelings and ideas into ephemeral olfactory art. The Fool especially is an evolution of my work an I've learned many important lessons from making this, which is an alchemy in itself.

This was a very difficult blend to finish, testing my patience, as it acted quite differently from other blends I have made, seeming to absorb materials without displaying much change in it's contrasting profile. It also took a longer time to bond because of this extreme contrast.

It contains one of the darkest, deepest materials I have smelled; coleus root Co2. It has a very interesting dark, woody, rooty aroma, exactly what I wanted for The Fool, but it also made the lighter elements very hard to balance.

Smelling from the applicator, The Fool has a unique profile, dark, smoky, leathery tobacco with faded out yellow floral notes, like a worn old oil painting. It has a spicy character, with zesty notes that emerge from the dark, resinous depths.

It has a jungle medicine kind of feel. Unusual woody and rooty notes dwell in the base alongside dark copal, vetiver and spiced musk.

This may be a difficult blend to understand from it's materials, as it has been on a long journey, carefully shaping it's profile, often a single drip at a time. It has a lot of nuances and hidden facets and can't really be processed well in a few sniffs I think.

The contrasting light and dark seem to cause the brain some confusion initially, but stick with it and smell in an open space and it will begin to unfold it's secrets.

Smelling on the skin, The Fool has a surprisingly joyful aroma. It is not as heavy as it seems from the applicator, and has an unusual but very interesting smoky, floral leather scent, with elements of citrus, spice, roots and musk. It's hard to encapsulate this attar in a short blurb, but it has the character of a jester. It is confusing and obscure, but uplifting and intriguing.

As I was wearing this, I noticed it had a tea-like character, so in some post detailing I added rooibos absolute to accentuate this. I delayed many times releasing this, as I felt there was just something more missing, after lots of deliberation and further detailing, I have reached a point where I am satisfied.

The Fool contains so many materials, it will be confusing to read, but i'll abbreviate it here:

Front Notes:

Frangipani Absolute

Pineapple Melange

Zdravets Absolute

Hydrocarboresin (Labdanum extract)

Coleus Root Co2

Oriental Tobacco Absolute

Bulgarian Tobacco Absolute

Cade EO

Choy Loban EO

Ginger Absolute

Civet Absolute

Castoreum Absolute

Clary Sage Absolute

Secondary Notes:

Spikenard Co2

Mongolian Deer Musk

Guggul Absolute

Brown Ambegris Tincture

Chang Rai Oud

Thai Khao Yai Oud

Sylhet Oud

Voatisperri Pepper Absolute

Pink Pepper Absolute

Priprioca EO

Canaga EO

Henna Absolute

Copal Negro Absolute

Greenheart Wood EO

Somali Myrrh EO

Benzoin Tobacco Absolute

Cardamom Absolute