French Lilac

French Lilac . The scent is not shrill, frilly, or fussy. Cool, with the enthusiasm of a recently melted spring stream, lilac evokes the sensation of the breeze it is usually carried upon. The scent colors are green and white, with the acidity of wood sorrel. It is soft and diffusive, like a soft focus lens or light during the golden hour. In large quantities, there is a hindquarter note of civet, also present in Parma violets.

 

A project I have picked up and put down for several years now is writing a language of smell. Not a universal language, but a personal record that does not rely on taste words for description (sweet, sour, bitter, salty), and that is not tautological ("a strawberry perfume that smells like strawberries"). I want to precisely describe the way things smell, as well as come up with words that encompass the specificity of odors. Sometimes it feels like a trivial, self-indulgent project only interesting to me and other smellophiles. But today my friend @re_user_jes sent me a recent nytimes article on covid-19 and the loss of smell. It's such a great read and re-inspired me to approach this project again.

 

Click here to see my lilac enfleurage.