Monday, March 29, 2010

April Aromatics - Interview with perfumer and owner Tanja Bochnig


TANJA BOCHNIG - APRIL AROMATICS

Since I became involved with perfumery I was blessed to be able to meet amazing people. Creative, good hearted, passionate souls that are sharing with me the great purpose of spreading & sharing knowledge about fragrances.
On March 8th we celebrated Women's International Day worldwide, and here in Brazil, the entire month is dedicate to all women's achievements in many areas. So to close this month with a golden key I prepared a surprise for my readers:
+ Q Perfume Blog brought Tanja Bochnig as a special guest and celebrate her life achievements.
Modeling for fashion since she was 18, Tanja traveled all over the world. Developing a very successful career, Tanja had the opportunity to be in touch with many cultures. In order to stay centered and fit, she began practicing Yoga and today she is a certified Yoga teacher.
Since her childhood Tanja was fascinated by the world of fragrances and well being. Today she made an old dream come true: to create her own brand of natural products, combining her passion for fragrances, Yoga and good health - April Aromatics.
Her beauty is just an expression of her soul. She is a delicate, giving, warm soul that is committed to celebrate nature is its natural form.
Being in touch with her, sharing her experiences (Tanja gave birth to a beautiful child) made me fresh and inspired.
She is far from being just one more pretty blonde in the fashion world going for the big bucks. She is intelligent, sensitive, willing to learn and willing to share.
So + Q Perfume Blog has been exchanging with her e-mails and finally managed to put together for my readers some of her insights, her ideas and a tiny idea of April Aromatics is all about.
So welcome Tanja! + Q Perfume Blog wants to thank you for accepting to be the guest of honor.
+ Q Perfume Blog:
April aromatics. I am curious to know if there is something special about the month of April, because to me it is a very special month. My son was born in April because I wished him to. It is the most beautiful month in Israel, where my son was born. It is also the month of Aries, which was a perfect combination with Leo. So, is there any story behind the name?
Tanja Bochnig:
April is my favorite month of the year, I was born on April, so yes I am an Aries too...(And you look like a lioness, with your hair). In April everything is new and fresh. I love the colors of April, the light of the sun and that all the strength of nature that is coming back to life. The plants and every living being are awakening into a new life and spirit. Also, the flowers have this fresh, clean smell. That's why I called my company April Aromatics.
+Q Perfume Blog:
Where does your interest in fragrances come from?
Tanja Bochnig:
Since I was a little girl, I had a very developed sense of smell. I loved the smell of coffee my mom made in the mornings, (even I never drank coffee in my life). I loved when my dad was baking at home and the scents drifted through the whole house. I loved walking through the German Christkindl's markets with its spicy, sweet smells, and the scent of cut fir trees lingering around.
+Q perfume Blog:
Childhood memories are so nice! Especially when we remember them vividly with the scents related to them! Do you have a special one?
Tanja Bochnig:
Yes, Christmas was a very special time in my childhood. It was also the time of the "oranges", when you could buy oranges in the stores...I do associate Christmas with oranges..funny...(Nowadays you can oranges at any time of the year, esp. if you live in the US, where they are being flown in from Florida).
But in every season there was a unique smell that accompanied my growing up. My mom was and still is very fond of celebrating the seasons, and I think that enhanced my heightened sense of smell.
+Q perfume Blog:
I see that your parents had a lot to do with it than?
Tanja Bochnig:
I remember my mom’s first perfume. It was Chamade by Guerlain. When she kissed me goodbye, before we left the house to go to school, I could feel her being with me throughout the day, smelling her on my cheek. I think I will always associate this perfume with my mom.
+Q Perfume Blog:
I remember my mom had Joy in her closet. I also remember Fidji and Opium. Do you remember your first fragrance?
Tanja Bochnig:
I remember my very first perfume that I was given by a friend of the family when I was 16 years old. A perfect scent for a young woman: L'air Du temps, by Nina Ricci.
+Q Perfume Blog:
I remember my first perfume – meaning the one that I purchased, not a gift from an adult, was First by VC & Arpels.
Tanja Bochnig:
Before I started my company and making "natural" perfumes, I was collecting all sorts of perfumes and I still do have a huge array of perfumes bottles, mostly vintage, in my collection. At the time I was modeling and traveling around the world, flying from one assignment to the next. There were moments where one could have blindfolded me at certain airports, and I could have recognized the city by the way the air smelled.
SPICE BLEND - NATURAL PERFUME
+ Q Perfume Blog:
Really? That is so interesting. Can you give my readers one example?
Tanja Bochnig:
For instance Miami: The air there always smelled lush, humid and somewhat salty and warm....other cities and airports had a rather synthetic, plastic, inorganic kind of smell.
And the same goes for people....there is a saying in German: "I cannot smell you". If translated literally, it means that you cannot stand the person. So if you do not like someone’s chemistry or scent, than that is a sign to rather stay away...and we should listen to those sings...early on..(I wish I had more often...:-)).
+ Q Perfume Blog:
In Portuguese we have expressions inserting the sense of smell too such as: Something is smelling bad – meaning the person or the situation is fishy. If you also say in Portuguese that you didn’t like someone’s smell, it means you didn’t like the person. But how exactly did you get involved with Natural Perfumery?
Tanja Bochnig:
During my modeling years, I had the great chance to study all that my heart desired and that was "natural healing", the world of plants and nature, aromatherapy, yoga and finally also natural perfumery.
I realized early on that the synthetic perfumes did not resonate well with me. Often I got headaches, even migraines and felt uncomfortable wearing them, whereas when I wore natural essential oils, I felt my spirit and mood lifted and certain happiness and contentment that is beyond words to describe.

OIL BASED PERFUMES - PRECIOUS WOODS
+Q Perfume Blog:
And how did you develop your skills from a personal experience and need?
Tanja Bochnig:
At that point in my life, I decided to explore this special world in more depth. I had the opportunity to study with some of the world best natural perfumers and botanists, with whom I went on several journeys to India and Turkey to explore the life the plants and to witness where they were grown and how they were harvested.
Eventually I started making my own products and it came so easy to me to sit down and make a perfume. I had to learn to write all the formulas down, so that I could reproduce them later on.
When I am blending I feel like I am in a different world, becoming one with nature. I also feel that it is something else that is taking over...almost like channeling...I channel a perfume and it comes to me more intuitively, rather than through my mind.
+ Q Perfume Blog:
What is the idea behind your brand?
Tanja Bochnig:
What is most important to me is what goes into a bottle of perfume. It is first of all the ingredients, being organic or wild crafted if ever possible. Knowing where they are coming from, where and how they were grown and if possible being handled at a fair trade.
Secondly, I feel even more important is the energy that goes into the making process. If I am not feeling well, I do not touch my oils...I believe that this energy is being reflected in the final product. I also infuse all of my oils with certain crystals and with color. I try to complete a perfume on a full moon.

CHACRA OILS SET - AROMA YOGA

+Q Perfume Blog:

You also have a special like related to Yoga right? Can you tell me a little bit about it?
Tanja Bochnig:
I have been passionate about yoga for almost 20 years. One day it just came to me, to combine 1+1 and out of my passion of scent+yoga, AromaYoga was born. Aroma Yoga combines and intensifies the holistic effect of yoga with the application of essential oils, creating the synergistic marriage of two teachings, which are seemingly perfect in themselves. I have developed aromatic oil blends harmoniously coordinated especially for the exercises of Yoga. These seven compounds are contained in two products, "the 7 Chakra Oil Set" and the "7 Chakra Spray Set”.
+Q Perfume Blog:
We all know that you have a new born in your life. How does motherhood affect the life of a perfumer?
Tanja Bochnig:
The most important gift my sweet smelling daughter has given me, is the inspiration of all new nectars and scents that I have never smelled before on anyone's skin. My next big perfume will be dedicated to her and it is inspired of the way she smelled when she was just born. There was and still is a scent on the top of her head, that is so pure and divine. It has a hint of anise, fennel and honey and it smells so good, it makes you forget about everything else...I guess that her crown chakra is still open and able to receive all the beautiful scents she brought with her from another realm... . My daughter is and will be my greatest muse. I feel so grateful.
+ Q Perfume Blog:
Thank you again Tanja for being here. I wish you all the success you deserve! I was very happy to meet you, and be a part of this continuous process of soul development that you have been sharing with so many people. May April Aromatics become a very strong brand worldwide, you can always count on me to publish your success sweety!
I invite all my readers to enter to her site and learn how beauty comes from inside out and not the other way around. To see how dreams can become true if you are fully committed. To be inspired by her like I am and to get to know all her products. They are really fantastic!!!

Saturday, March 27, 2010

La Chasse aux papillons EDT - L'Artisan Parfumeur

LA CHASSE AUX PAPILLONS EDT
Launch:1999
Lançamento:1999
Perfumer: Anne Flipo
Perfumista: Anne Flipo
Notes: bergamot, pink pepper, linden, lemon tree and orange blossoms, tuberose, jasmine and ylang ylang
Notas: bergamota, pimenta rosa, flor de laranjeira, tília e de limão, tuberosa, jasmim e ylang ylang.
Gender: feminine
Sexo: Feminino
Olfactive family Floral - Orange tuberose
Família olfativa: floral - laranja tuberosa
Description by the brand It is the scent of white petals caught with the butterfly net.
Descrição da marca: É uma fragrância de pétalas brancas presas numa rede para pegar borboletas.
Description by + Q Perfume Blog: DELICATE, FEMININE, BEAUTIFUL
Descrição por + Q Perfume Blog:/DELICADA, FEMININA, MARAVILHOSAMENTE LINDA
Rating:✪✪✪✪✪♥
Nota:✪✪✪✪✪♥
Where/onde:
✪✪✪✪✪ - outstanding blossom florada excepcional
✪✪✪✪ - full bloom florada completa
✪✪✪ - nice bloom florada interessante
✪✪ - itchy flowery flor que dá alergia
✪ - plastic flowers? flores de plástico?
BUTTERFLIES
BORBOLETAS
La Chasse aux Papillons EDT
A whiff of beauty comes from this perfume. As a butterfly kiss tickles the cheek, a combination of citrusy notes and pink pepper introduces the fragrance tickling the skin. Glorious greenery comes to remind us of mother nature. Fresh, joyful, and vibrant. Like little kids playing in the yard, running after birds, butterflies and looking for ladybugs.
A bouquet of white flowers blooming in spring will fully develop to enhance the beauty of this amazing fragrance.
TUBEROSE
TUBEROSA
Tuberose in this juice is found playing around us just like butterflies flying around flowers looking for the sweetest nectar. A night blooming plant, used in many ritual, weddings ceremonies and garlands. The flowers are waxy and very fragrant. In perfumery is always used to compose middle notes. Here in La Chasse aux Papillons EDT it is composing an exuberant feminine accord with both narcotic and aphrodisiac jasmine and yang ylang.
SEGUY INSECTS ILLUSTRATIONS
ILUSTRAÇÕES DE INSETOS DE SEGUY
With spring time almost on the corner I could not think of a better choice than L'Artisan Parfumeur. The perfume is fragrant as the spring blooming. It has a fresh green touch of the rebirth of nature, that happens only during spring. It has a playful and joyful aura just like birds, insects and other animals, making love dances to mate during springtime. And it is special because it has the same delicate touch of butterflies' wings, or of the paintings by Berthe Morisot and Homer Wislow.
BERTHE MORISOT - CHASING BUTTERFLYES
Berthe Morisot - Perseguindo borboletas
THE BUTTERFLY GIRL BY HOMER WINSLOW
You will find the same quality and beauty in Un Matin D'Orage by Annick Goutal, with orange blossom, tuberose and jasmine. But La Chasse aux Papillons EDT has a lightness and a pleasantness that is unique to this perfume.
It is a fact that butterflies are amazing. It is a fact that spring brings joy and happiness to all of us. It is a fact that we all love La Chasse aux Papillons, by Berthe Morisot, by Georges Brassens and certainly, by L'Artisan Parfumeur.
Versão em português:
Uma borrifada de beleza surge com esse perfume. E assim como beijinhos de borboleta fazem cosquinhas no nosso rosto, a combinação de notas cítricas com pimenta rosa também fazem cócegas na nossa pele. Um verde vibrante e glorioso aparece para nos fazer lembrara da mãe natureza. Fresco, alegre e vibrante, como criancas pequenas brincando no jardim, correndo atrás de passarinhos, insetos e procurando por joaninhas.
Um buquê de flores brancas surgirá florindo como nunca para acentuar uma beleza que já foi proposta.
Tuberosa neste perfume vem rodeando outras notas, assim como borboletas voando sobre as flores, procurando o mais doce dos néctars. Uma flor que solta seu perfume somente a noite e que é usada em muitos rituais e cerimônias (como casamentos - em guirlandas). Levemente encerada, ela possui um fragrância muito apreciada na perfumaria internacional. Sempre usada em acordes de notas de coração. Aqui, La Chasse aux Papillons EDT traz uma tuberosa exuberante, combinada com notas narcóticas e afrodisíacas de ylang ylang e jasmim.
Com a primavera chegando no hemisfério norte, (e aqui, com um outono com cara de primavera) eu não posso pensar num perfume que combina mais com esta estação do ano do que esta fragrância de L'Artisan Parfumeur. Tão perfumado quanto as floradas de primavera. Tão alegre como a aura da estação, na qual todos os animais, insetos e pássaros fazem suas danças de acasalamento. Um perfume verdadeiramente especial e único, pois traz a delicadeza das asas das borboletas e de pinturas como as de Berthe Morisot e Homer Wislow.
Você também encontrá a mesma qualidade e beleza no perfume Un Matin D'Orage de Annick Goutal, com notas de flor de laranjeira, tuberosa e jasmim. Porém, La Chasse aux Papillons EDT tem uma leveza e um suavidade que é única.
É um fato que as borboletas nos fascinam. É um fato que a primavera traz alegria e prazer para todos nós. É um fato que nos amamos La Chassea aux Papillons de Berthe Morisot, de Georges Brassens e certamente de L'Artisan Parfumeur!

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Elementary my dear Watson - Back to Black By Kilian

To Michael, with a huge kiss.
Review by + Q perfume Blog
...Listening while writing ♬♫♪♩
[click on the notes to get inspired too :-)]
BACK TO BLACK BY KILIAN
Launch: 2009
Perfumer: Calice Becker
Olfactive notes of: Bergamot, blue chamomile, geranium, cardamom, coriander, honey, cedar, olibanum, patchouli, gingerbread oil, benjoin, ciste, amber gris, tonka, vanilla, cherry stone, raspberry.
Gender: unisex - more masculine
Description by the Brand: a tobacco aroma with sweet undertones of honey. A pure aphrodisiac.
Description by + Q Perfume: SWEET TOBACCO
Sillage: good
Fixation: long
Rating:✪✪✪✪
where:
✪✪✪✪✪ - Tobacco delight - I could get addicted
✪✪✪✪ - Nice blend to smoke now and than, if Downey is present
✪✪✪ - disguised beauty
✪✪ - elementary
✪ - irrelevant to any case
Where to find By Kilian Fragrances: Aedes de Venustas/Luckyscent/By Kilian on line shop/Bergdorf Goodman.
As fast as a villain could disappear through the London fog in Sherlock Holmes adventures, so does the opening notes of bergamot and blue chamomile of Back to Black. Which is a pity because blue chamomile is a rare fragrance to find in perfumery today. I would love to keep this apple - flowery note a little bit more. There is a herbal green - ish undertone probably from patchouli and bergamot, that did not succeed to bring a citrusy note this perfume.
In 221B Baker Street, tea is served with gingerbread cookies, while Holmes lights his pipes and reads the morning paper, surrounded by the mess of documents, artifacts and curiosities he keps in his office. As Watson looks at him perplexed by his habits and the chaos he lives in, villains are planning rituals of sacrifice and perfume bloggers are reviewing niche fragrances.
Lets put aside the fact that Sherlock Holmes was not exactly fond of baths, that he did have a cocaine addiction (among other drugs he used) and rather questionable mental health - Back to Black By Kilian is indeed a Sherlock Holmes perfume. The idea of a rather arrogant English man, holding a classy pipe, wearing a 3 piece suits, solving mysterious cases and fighting pugilists half naked, is as charming, as interesting and sexy as Back to Black By Kilian.
Magritte
Although Robert Downey Jr., in this new version of Holmes (for the big screen) sometimes looked just like the character he played in Chaplin, I think he also has a lot in common with Holmes. If Downey Jr. would have spent his summer with the Hennessys in their Chateau to refine his manners and his taste, he would certainly be chosen to be the face of this fragrance.
ROBERT DOWNEY JR.
The formula of this fragrance is also revealed by the brand, but although almost all the clues are beautifully displayed, one cannot really solve this mystery completely. Traces of coriander play on my skin but cardamom is so well hidden that I could not find it. Probably Holmes would with his chemistry lab paraphernalia.
The formulae
Gingerbread is very pronounced on my skin as if someone had spread cookie on me. A pinch of nutmeg, a pinch of cloves, a pinch of cinnamon, a pinch of ginger. And just when all the facts were leading me to one path...here comes blue chamomile again to indulge my senses... like the villains in every movie...when you think they are already dead, they raise again to try the final strike.
Sherlock Holmes tobacco from the Sherlock Holmes shop
Notes of cedar and olibanum bring a smoky woody touch that blends so well with the tobacco-for-pipe accord. Mostly, this perfume is about it. Like Love is about Nargila molasses, Back to Black is tobacco for pipes. See a pattern here?
Maybe we should all sit around the fire, sip a brandy or a cognac by fine brands such as Hennessy and conjuncture about the sweet - tobacco addictions.
Honey, benjoin, tonka and vanilla are mouth watering notes, but here they are just composing the tobacco fragrance.
Once the pipe rests on the table, we can appreciate the fruity notes of cherry and raspberry. Deliciously fresh, sensual and sweet with a woody touch in the end.
I have to be honest and ask where is the aphrodisiac concept of this fragrance? Because of amber gris and honey? Elementary my dear readers! Although I tend to disagree. It did not awaken this kind of feelings on me. Maybe it is because I have never had a fling with men who smoked pipes...
Although said to be unisex, I think in the first hour this perfume is very masculine. Ciste, cherries and raspberries are as adorable as Miss Adler, played by beautiful actress Rachel Mc Adams in her cherry - raspeberry - pink silky dress, and her cherry lips, trying to seduce Mr. Holmes, thinking of lost cherries in the past... Ciste indeed gives a nice feminine touch to this perfume.
HENNESSY COGNACS
So Downey Jr. playing Holmes will come home, will take once and for all a good bath, will spread Back to Black by Kilian on his neck, dress in his silky robe, will sit near the fire, light his pipe, serve me and Michael a glass of the finest his Hennessy Cognac, and the 3 of us will have a very interesting long night, without the violin.
Click HERE to watch a extremely handsome, bathed, well dressed (as always), "selling soap" Downey Jr. in D.L.

Henrique Brito para + Q Perfume Blog:

"A cor negra é uma cor de muitos significados. Representando tanto a sensualidade como a introspecção, a cor negra pode trazer sofisticação clássica, básica, o drama, o teatral, a sensação de intensidade difícil de ser expressada. Muitas grifes tentam capturar a sofisticação e a intensidade de tal cor, e transformá-la em uma composição aromática, mas poucas conseguem capturar a complexidade e intensidade dela. Back to Black By Kilian é uma das propostas que com sucesso consegue transmitir a sofisticação e a intensidade mencionadas. Inspirado em Amy Winehouse, a controversa cantora da atualidade que, musicalmente, nos traz um som intenso, marcado por influências blues, Back to Black intepreta a cor, a intensidade sensual do preto, inspirado nessa ótica mais blue e dark. Ao borrifar Back to Black na pele, somos carregados para uma atmosfera densa e meio retrô. O cenário que se impõe pelo aroma nos transporta ao um clube noturno da década de 40."

Christina Aguilera - um vídeo Black inspirador escolhido pelo Henrique.

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