Petrichor Scents, a Wild Veil sample set of 7 natural fragrances that feature notes of geosmin, rain, stone, wet earth, minerals, mitti, stone, and baked earth. Petrichor, the scent arising from the earth with rainfall, is not a universal smell. The scent is caused by falling rain agitating molecules on plants, organisms, and surfaces. Some of these molecules are scented and include those of dead/dying bacteria, plant terpenes that have accumulated during a dry spell, and latent dried out chemicals, say, on pavement, buildings, and concrete in cities. When rain causes these molecules to move, they release their scents simultaneously, generating the intense scent we associate with after-rain. Although we all recognize this scent, petrichor varies according to the climate, environment, and biome. Petrichor in a city smells different from petrichor in the jungle. Petrichor in the desert stands apart from petrichor in the taiga, woodlands, coastal regions, and on and on. Like terroir, it is specific. But since the human nose is sensitive to petrichor (and its sibling geosmin, being able to detect its presence in trace amounts: 5 parts per trillion), we know petrichor when we smell it, because humans have always sought out sources of water.
Included in this collection: the Monsoon Fixative, Geosmin Turn, Taiga Fog, Annabel Sea, Poppy Tears, World, and Rain on Butterfly Ginger, Poppies and Clay. Descriptions follow:
The Monsoon Fixative (solid) - The monsoon fixative evokes the smell of wet earth, rain after a dry spell, geosmin, petrichor. It features my homemade absolutes of clays and soils I have tinctured for their unique aromas. These include: Multani Mitti clay from volcanic ash, Rhassoul clay from the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, and sod (topsoil from my Vermont gardens). The sod from my garden has a mysterious agarwood note that becomes prominent after the soil has been upturned and left in the sun, and which I like to think of as an earthworm musk.
Geosmin Turn (solid) - The scent of freshly turned soil. Dank but crystalline, with hints of metal. You might pull out notes of garden roots hugged by topsoil, herbs, and a little foliage. Gender neutral.
Taiga Fog (solid) - The scent of morning fog on mountain conifers: wet, dank, stirring, camphoraceous, and even fruity. Mist will smell differently according to the particular biome since its aroma depends on aromatic terpenes from local plants being released into the air. This is my interpretation of mountain fog in Vermont's taiga and hemiboreal forests. Gender neutral.
Annabel Sea - Feminine ode to ambergris set in attar and oud. While a siren's scent of blood orange forms the bright top note, Annabel Sea is mostly heart and oceanic depths. Sparkling sugandha kokila dances in a bay of tropical vanilla Madagascar and chests of labdanum powder. Petrichor and patchouli bring rain and earth from attar mitti (baked earth attar) and leaves. Dry roasted seashells and musky dehnal oud (agarwood attar) mingle with seaweed absolute in a beach pyre. Precious ambergris extends the dry down, leaving your skin as touched by a lover warmed by the brine and sun. A deep sea bride floating in a mourning tide, a monument of sun-bleached driftwood. ~ tomb by the sounding sea ~
Poppy Tears - Opium poppy natural perfume from handmade tinctures of Papaver somniferum* and bushman candle (Sarcocaulon mossamedense). The Garden of Ether. Fog, petrichor stupor, geosmin, mist-succored hills. Breadseed vapors and opium milk for the suckling gas. Seed to earth to flower to liquid to breath to pod to seed. Vegan and gender neutral, Poppy Tears is a composition from my own extractions, based in high proof organic alcohol.
* Ornamental opium poppies like those used in this perfume contain little or no opiate alkaloids. Even so, my tincture is of the flowers, not the seed pods. The formation of seed pods occurs after the flowers go to seed, and seed pods are the part of the plant that produces the alkaloid-containing latex from which opium is derived. In other words, this poppy tincture does not contain opiates.
World - Elemental aroma of earth. Petrichor, the electric note of stones anticipating moisture, and soil after rainfall, rises in wet vapors from sandali mitti (baked earth attar). A rumor of wet flowers + fossils. The feeling of stepping on musky damp peat in a forest. This harmonic elixir centers on the fullness of the cosmos, synthesis, and astral digestion. For any gender. Vegan.
Rain on Butterfly Ginger, Poppies and Clay - This petrichor perfume captures the scent of butterfly ginger, poppies, and baked earth clay having just drunk in the rain: a small patch of garden breathing after rain. Botanical fragrance from homegrown tinctures, set in organic plantbased alcohol. Vegan.
Each liquid scent comes in a 1ml clear glass perfume vial with an applicator cap (color may vary). 1ml of each solid fragrance comes in a hinge top pod. These are samples of approximately 20-25 drops, enough for 4-6 wears, per perfume. All fragrances will have handwritten labels, and they arrive nested inside a gift box filled with flowers, mosses, and plants that I have pressed and dried.
Photos: my organic gardens after rain.
r a w ☽•☾ m a t t e r
Wild Veil natural perfumes are composed by me, Abby, using homemade, wildcrafted and organic aromatics in Vermont. These include my handmade enfleurage, tinctures, enfleurage extraits, absolutes, resinoids and concretes, and floral waxes. I spend as much time growing plants and foraging as I do composing perfumes.
l i q u i d ☽•☾
Wild Veil oil perfumes are suspended in an odorless base of organic MCT coconut oil. As they do not contain water, liquid perfumes do not expire, and may improve with age. While the volatile top notes (the ones that hit your nose first) will fade after a year or more, the base and heart notes will deepen and grow more complex.
s o l i d ☽•☾ b e e s w a x
In solid perfumes this silky transparent base (above) mingles beautifully with the earthy, honey musk of organic beeswax. Raw beeswax traps the aroma molecules, releasing them over time for an intimate experience.
h o w ☽•☾ t o ☽•☾ w e a r
The best way to experience a natural perfume is to apply it to well-moisturized skin, without rubbing in (absorption only shortens the wear time of fragrance) and without scrubbing off. Natural perfumes are dynamic and take a minimum of 2 hours to reach their final stage, or dry down. Enjoy the alchemical changes as they unfold from the initial intensity of top notes, to the warmth of the heart, to the depth of lower base notes.
☽•☾ Wild Veil ☽•☾ alchemy between earth and ether ☽•☾
☽•☾ All aesthetic material copyright Abby Hinsman 2019 ☽•☾