Gardenia of my mind

"White flower aficionados cherish a gardenia note in their perfume for its unique,  glowing, full and rounded beauty.  So very special.  Less known out in the perfume universe is that all gardenia perfumes are creative fantasies from the perfumer's mind.  Gardenia in its natural state is one of the few flowers for which fragrant essential oil can not be harvested and extracted from the plant for use in perfumery.  Squeeze a rose...perfumed rose oil.  Squeeze a gardenia...nada.  So then by default all the gardenia notes and full-fledged gardenia perfumes out there in the world created are with the perfumer's imagination using sophisticated aromachemical molecules and extracts of other similar white flowers to re-create the impression of gardenia.  Fascinating really, which is why rose perfumes generally exude a specific recognizable character and gardenia perfumes have an olfactive effect which journeys all over the place.  Come walk with me, I'll show you, for my gardenia perfumes all follow their own unique paths of beauty."
Jeffrey Dame

Such a racket.

"As the new year cascades in with pervasive racket my mind drifts back to 1980 and my time working at the flagship Neiman-Marcus store in downtown Dallas at Main & Ervay Streets.  Mr. Stanley Marcus was still a constant presence and he  led the debate as to whether the store should allow electronic cash registers in store.  At the time the cash wrap stations on each floor had a wooden cash drawer with bills and coins inside to make change.  Each sale was hand written in a book with a copy to the customer.  The concern was that electronic registers would create a distracting "humm" sound in the air plus all those beeping buttons, printing receipts and the cash drawer banging out...so noisy and vulgar.  It was a quiet time, but of course modern registers won the day [and soon after UPC codes - which I'll have you know was the death knell for pure perfume] and the racket began.  I'm struck today in 2023 not so much by this tale of progress, but more-so an enviable thought that at one time store management was so intensely focused on the best customer experience that a plugged in machine was not progress, but rather an intruder."
Jeffrey Dame

Warm my heart

"There's something very comforting when the color of a perfume closely resembles how the scent actually smells.  One look at the bottle on your bureau and you feel intuitively the entire fragrance fragrance experience.  This came to mind as I hand-filled bottles of my Duality Woman EdP today.  The deep amber color of the fluid and the complementary waves of warm scent floating up into the air are a perfect match.  Such symbiosis is not necessary in perfumery, but it is rather nice when it does occur."
Jeffrey Dame

Not to be trifled (truffled?) with

"So in addition to my theory of 'Perfume People', there are also those of my customers who are fiercely devoted to chocolate perfume - henceforth noted as 'Chocolate Perfume People' who are not to be trifled (truffled?) with.  Their taste in perfume includes special love for the delicious scent of chocolate. My 'Chocolate Perfume People' are already with me.  If you're not quite there yet I offer for your consideration my new Chocolate+ Rose EdT as an entree into the world of chocolate.  How can you miss with a glorious rose scent and a dollop of chocolate?.  Allez, viens!"
Jeffrey Dame

Something to be cherished.

"I've spoken of my affinity for perfumed hair oil, the luster it provides and the enchanting trace of scent which surprises for hours on end.  Perfumed body cream reaches a similar level of unexpected pleasure, the quiet and ever so personal fragrance sensation upon application and the enjoyment which comes forth, something only you know.  Back in the day selecting body cream to complete a perfume experience was second nature.  These modern days perfumed body cream usage is relatively rare, but like all rarities it is something to be cherished."
Jeffrey Dame

My appetite rises every fall.

"Ahhh, a jacket is needed today...it must be fall.  Time to go deep on my cool weather scents so here's to Black Flower Mexican Vanilla, Juste Filthy and Chocolate+ EdP.  So I smell well yes, but I also like to read and shop well, and I know my friends at Park Road Books here in Charlotte always take care of me, and indeed they have for my early fall reading list which includes Ian McEwan's new 'Lessons', a mushroom-free re-read of an old favorite from my 1970's hippie days in 'The Teachings of Don Juan' by Carlos Castaneda and my most anticipated new fall book of all Jacques Pepin's latest 'Art of the Chicken'.  I am hungry for them all."
Jeffrey Dame

There are perfume people.

"One of my special life pleasures is visiting stores for personal appearances and talking with customers one-on-one about their own perfume loves and sharing the perfumes I have on offer for them to explore and enjoy.  Over these many years of appearances I've concluded that there are 'Perfume People' - those for whom perfume gives special joy - and then there are those who just do not derive pleasure from scent.  It's something in human DNA and I'll guess the split is 50/50.  This works fine for me as it means every other person I meet in store is ready to talk perfume, so I am a happy man."
Jeffrey Dame

It's like falling in love I guess.

""It's like falling in love I guess. You know... first you see someone, then it keeps growing, until you can't think of anyone else. The way I think of things, that's all art is. Every painting, if it's any good, is a love affair."  Edward G. Robinson to Joan Bennett in Fritz Lang's 1945 film Scarlett Street."
Jeffrey Dame

I'm an oversprayer

"I'll admit it, at times I am an oversprayer...especially with my everyman colognes...and most particularly with my new Pinyon Pine Man Cologne.  No special technique required, just spray spray spray away.  Overspraying is not an approach I'd take with my more full-bodied perfumes, but all the everyman colognes lay low and smell wonderful.  Easy to wear, easy to love; just what I need for a glorious day."
Jeffrey Dame

Perfumes that make me go mmh...

"When I develop a new perfume formula, I know the final recipe is complete and done when I smell the fragrance on skin and the scent causes me to say out loud to myself one of three things:   [mmh], as with New Musk [~oh~] as with the new Chocolate+ Rose. or [whoa!] as with my new Pineapple Musk.  Months or even years later when I wear these same scents my response remains the same....mmh or ~oh~ or whoa!.  Beauty rises."
Jeffrey Dame

A treasured respite

"The simplicity and repetition of hand-filling perfume bottles for an hour or two is refuge from the noise of the day, a calming and treasured respite.  Music and scent float in the air and my mind drifts to a place of peace."
Jeffrey Dame

Out of my dreams

"Hold bottle two inches from nostril, close your eyes and inhale.  Ask your heart what you really want, and wait for the answer."  Shirley Jones Out of my Dreams Oklahoma.
Jeffrey Dame