Posted by LAURIE STERN on September 04, 2013 · Leave a Comment
Fir-ever Young is a limited edition – I couldn’t possibly recreate it the same way again. I added bits and pieces of this and that for the last 10 years. There is nearly every kind of tree in it, so to speak, and these elements will never be the same again. Here’s why: Natural essences have their own
terroir. A French word used in winemaking to describe the influences land has on the taste of grapes, in natural perfumery terroir implies that natural elements have a “somewhereness” that you can detect in their scent. For example, the land conditions that existed 10 years ago when I began crafting Fir-ever Young will likely never occur again. Those land conditions influenced the scent as it exists today. And, I have aged this scent, so its natural essences have really softened and mellowed with time.
Naming Fir~ever Young
When I discovered fir absolute 14 years ago, I fell in love with its rich, woodsy scent and decided to use it as a base for a perfume for men and women. For a decade, I added to it, creating a perfume that grew more and more complex and wonderful but was never quite done, because as hard as I tried, I just could not think of a name. I decided to invite my customers to help me name the new scent. I sent out hundreds of samples for inspiration and received more fun, beautiful, moving ideas for names than I could use in a century of perfume-making--suggestions like
Forest of My Imaginings,
Tree of Life, and
Purr. But when I read the entry from Kyoto Jackson of Berkeley, I knew my perfume at last had found its name.
Fir~ever Young captures all the elements perfectly for me. Youth, adventure, wildness, cavorting in the woods, celebrating the majesty and power of the ancient forest. The name also connects me to the Bob Dylan song "Forever Young," which spoke to me profoundly when I was a young hippie gazing in awe at the forests of Big Sur and still expresses for me the innocence and hope of that time. For all its sensuality and earthiness, this perfume really does call out a sense of openness and wonder and brings to people that sense of passion we know so deeply when we're young.
Fir-ever Young is a limited edition – I couldn’t possibly recreate it the same way again. I added bits and pieces of this and that for the last 10 years. There is nearly every kind of tree in it, so to speak, and these elements will never be the same again. Here’s why: Natural essences have their own terroir. A French word used in winemaking to describe the influences land has on the taste of grapes, in natural perfumery terroir implies that natural elements have a “somewhereness” that you can detect in their scent. For example, the land conditions that existed 10 years ago when I began crafting Fir-ever Young will likely never occur again. Those land conditions influenced the scent as it exists today. And, I have aged this scent, so its natural essences have really softened and mellowed with time.
When I discovered fir absolute 14 years ago, I fell in love with its rich, woodsy scent and decided to use it as a base for a perfume for men and women. For a decade, I added to it, creating a perfume that grew more and more complex and wonderful but was never quite done, because as hard as I tried, I just could not think of a name. I decided to invite my customers to help me name the new scent. I sent out hundreds of samples for inspiration and received more fun, beautiful, moving ideas for names than I could use in a century of perfume-making--suggestions like Forest of My Imaginings, Tree of Life, and Purr. But when I read the entry from Kyoto Jackson of Berkeley, I knew my perfume at last had found its name. Fir~ever Young captures all the elements perfectly for me. Youth, adventure, wildness, cavorting in the woods, celebrating the majesty and power of the ancient forest. The name also connects me to the Bob Dylan song "Forever Young," which spoke to me profoundly when I was a young hippie gazing in awe at the forests of Big Sur and still expresses for me the innocence and hope of that time. For all its sensuality and earthiness, this perfume really does call out a sense of openness and wonder and brings to people that sense of passion we know so deeply when we're young.
