Behind the Essence; The Stories of our L’Scents Parfum
Every scent has a story to tell and our L’Scents Parfum have been specifically crafted around a story; whether a person, a place, a time, the seasons, planets, spirit or the elements.
When Masey and I first spoke about creating a perfume line, we decided to make it artisan and boutique, but using the old-fashioned style of crafting scent. We chose to make Parfum first, as it’s our favourite being the strongest.
Masey and I both loved the name L’ Scents, as it has that beautiful French sound to it. After choosing L’ Scents, we had to talk about the names. I made some different perfumes some time ago, and my first one was dedicated to Masey. Most people who know Masey well call her “Mase”; hence, we decided on L’ Mase.
L’Mase
The story for L’Mase. Well, it was crafted by me (Maryka, Chief Perfumer). I had to think about Masey’s personality, scents that she had previously worn and the type of scent that reminds me of Masey.
She is a strong, independent woman. She looks feminine and loves some traditionally masculine activities, like driving speed cars at the raceway and building things at home.
Masey is warm, outgoing, persistent, reflective and passionate about things close to her heart. I wanted to craft a scent that reflected the perfect balance between femininity and masculinity at the same time.
L’Mase is a paradoxical fragrance, exhilarating and provocative. Like us all, Masey is a complex and unique being, so I wanted to create a scent that evokes a vast array of sensations and responses that are visible to the observers.
L'Mase is a perfume for those who love the citrus scent of bergamot, which reminds me of Masey’s vivacious nature at times. Other Headliners include hay, and cardamom, which makes sense, cardamom is a rich spice and hay adds a freshness, like a crispy, dewy morning. Masey spends a lot of time in the garden and becomes enlivened by the connection with nature.
Then, the Heart notes give L’Mase an added depth, rich and complex, like Masey. Jasmine, I couldn’t exclude this, because if you read Masey’s mum’s story L’Lew, there is jasmine in this, “The King of Flowers” the majority of luxurious perfumes contain jasmine. Jasmine is like a super fussy person who has high expectations from themselves and others and demands the highest quality (that is Masey), she has exquisite taste and an eye for details. There was no way I could miss jasmine. Also in the Hearts, oudh, speaks absolute grandeur, there is that depth of character. Elemi citrus, a burst of fresh woody citrus and Masey loves tobacco absolute in her favourite perfumes, so it was a no brainer for me, it had to have tobacco.
I finished off the Foundations with stronger notes because this is where the depth and persistency come in, leather, patchouli, musk and cedarwood, what an amazing combination to balance this beautiful perfume.
Why leather? Masey loves the leather scents, she loves the old chesterfield lounges and what better way to finish off a refined scent.
Patchouli is another strong aroma, I added this because, Masey is strong, enduring, independent and has so much integrity. Whether you love patchouli or not, it gives a perfume longevity and it has endurance to last hours on end. Cedarwood, is a perfect blender, it works well with so many other ingredients. I used this because it reminds me of how Masey has always had to adapt and overcome the multiple personalities of other people that she deals with daily and sometimes, you just need that right trait to balance everything out.
What can I say? L’Mase is a head turner and when I observe people who try it, I love their facial expressions, they always seem to be surprised or elated. It has been and still is so popular!
L’Lew
Masey asked me to create a scent for her Mum, who passed away in May 2020. This was an interesting challenge because there had to be a balance between the smells that her Mum liked and the scent that reminds Masey of her Mum.
So, I had to think about Masey’s Mum; What perfumes did she wear? What smells remind Masey of her Mum? What do I remember about her Mum’s scent? What were her key personality traits?
When I think about Masey’s Mum, I think of a floral, oriental scent. She liked Red Door and Opium. So, I created a scent, but it was not right, I thought it was, but Masey wasn’t really convinced. So, I let that one go, and I created another one.
When I think about her scent and the ones she would wear, they were definitely floral, she always liked flowers, spicy, alluring, like the soft floral oriental perfumes, glamorous & pervasive.
I perfected the second one which does remind me of Masey’s Mum. Masey said she wanted to honour her Mum by calling it L’ Lew because Lewis was her maiden name.
L’ Lew is soft floral opulence. When I think about Masey’s Mum, words that come to mind are expressive, persistent, cheeky, loving and adventurous. I always remember a particular photo when she had her hair done by Masey; she looked glamorous. I think she was a Queen in one of her past lives.
L’ Lew starts with a burst of blood orange, gardenia, to me gardenia is one of the most beautiful flowers, it has so much depth and is a headliner, heart and foundation all in one flower. Spicy clove, it goes without saying, clove adds pervasiveness and strength, which reminds me of Masey’s Mum, she was a strong lady and being hearing impaired she had the courage and strength to prevail life’s challenges.
This is followed by a floral Heart of orchid, which is another gorgeous flower, it speaks luxury and opulence. Jasmine, such a beautiful flower, adds the royalty factor, think Queen, Jasmine is the “King of Flowers” remember. Then a spicy black pepper, supported by a Foundation of musk (Masey’s Mum loved musk), vetiver and amber which adds a beautiful subtlety (Masey’s Mum was quiet, but bold), and finally, chocolate. What a great way to finish off, everyone loves chocolate, sweet, rich and delightful.
L’Blanche
It just so happens that my Nan loved perfume, and in 2020 she asked me if I could make her one that didn’t smell like “old lady.” Bless Nan.
She has passed away now and was just over 100 years old. Nan shared all of her collected perfume bottles with Masey and I one day when we were visiting her. Apparently, back in Nan’s early days, perfume was a real luxury, and the bottles were somewhat a collector’s item.
Suffice to say; Nan had some beautiful little bottles from many years ago. So, I went ahead and created L’ Blanche.
My Nan has a rather unusual name. Most people remember Blanche from the TV show “The Golden Girls.” You could probably say that my Nan was a Golden Girl; she maintained a great outlook on life and had her fair share of grief and challenges; however, she always said that life is about working through the tough times and never holding grudges.
L’ Blanche is best described as aged, sophisticated and charismatic.
It starts with bitter orange, grapefruit & raspberry. Nan had a love of grapefruit for breakfast, she loved oranges and raspberries, especially with icing sugar and pure cream on her raspberries.
The Hearts of L’ Blanche are very special, like Nan was; neroli, jasmine, nutmeg & violet.
Why did I choose these? Neroli is sweet, strong, sophisticated and expensive. Jasmine, the “King of Flowers” is an essential for luxurious scents. Nutmeg, adds that lovely spiciness and violet, well, this is a beautiful aroma and Nan loved all flowers.
This is all supported by a persistent Foundation of blonde woods, patchouli, honey & musk. Nan always had a lot of trees and flowers, so woods are essential, patchouli, because it smelled so good on my Nan, honey and musk, because honey is sweet and Nan was always sweet to me and musk, because an opulent scent is beautifully balanced with musk.
My Nan had always been the Matriarch of the family, and she always wore this parfum well. Nan told us that she took it to her Dr. on a visit and showed him the perfume, she said to him that it was especially made for her. Nan told me that she was very proud to tell people about her perfume.
L’Maur
Masey and I decided that it would be nice to make a scent for my Mum, who passed away in 2000. This one was easy for me because when I think about Mum, she was always wearing rose, geranium, loved incense, frankincense, ylang-ylang, and the house always had a spiritual smell about it. A bit like walking into a spiritual shop, with the incense going and the meditation music playing. Mind you; she did like the odd rock song as well.
She was also complex and had a diverse range of hobbies and favourite activities. Mum taught my sister and I about essential oils and blending and many a time, there would be new concoctions brewing in her kitchen.
My Mum’s name was Maureen, so we called this one L’ Maur.
This is an interesting scent, I love it, but it is unique, perhaps, specific. It is not one that a broad spectrum of people would love.
It starts with the energising grapefruit and blood orange, gives an enlivening feeling, this reminds me of mum, when she was inspired to create, she became uplifted. Then geranium & saffron, which gives the scent an odd twist. Mum did love her geranium and had quite a lot in one of her gardens. Followed up by rose, when I smell roses, it reminds me of when I was a child in one of our homes, there were beautiful roses. Then we have the amazing floral, lilac & spicy cinnamon, you can sense the unique twist, Mum was more on the quirky side.
Supported by a heavy base of tonka bean, incense, patchouli & amber. The funny thing about patchouli, you either love it or hate it. Mum loved it and in the 70’s when I was a child, I remember patchouli in the house.
You can almost imagine being transported into a spiritual shop right now. It reminds me of a scent used in ritual practice, but first & foremost, it reminds me of my Mum. On a side note, my Mum loved lavender and a funny anecdote about that. I remember one day, Mum had macerated some lavender and made an oil. She thought it might be a novel idea to have a small amount of the lavender oil and ingest it, so, my Sister tried some with Mum, luckily, I was too young to try it. My Sister said that it tasted terrible and all she could taste for ages was lavender. They both never did that again, but there were many other things made. There were some very funny days in Mum’s kitchen, fond memories that I hold dearly
Keep coming back as we continue to add the remainder of the L’Scents Parfum’s and the stories as to how they came into existence and as to why I chose to use the scents that make up their essence.