Belle Starr the person was a mixture of gritty legend and more polished reality. Belle Starr the fragrance, created by Lisa Fong of Artemisia Perfumes for the Outlaw Perfumes project, reflects that duality in depiction of her namesake from the gritty “outlaw” jasmine to the polished “legal” rooibos Belle Starr shows off both faces in memorable fashion.
Sometimes the more I like a perfume the harder it is to write about. It’s because I want to do it justice- to the perfumer, to the creative process, and to the creation itself. During this Natural Perfumer’s Guild Outlaw Perfume Project I have felt a little intimidated by 2 perfumes, firstly Mata Hari by Dawn Spencer Hurwitz, and secondly by Rose of Cimarron by Bellyflowers Perfumes. I enjoy Rose of Cimarron for the lovely scent creation that it is, and for the historical link, again to a famous outlaw.
If the pungent scent of a freshly rolled joint lights your fire then you will be tickled by Dupetit’s Cannabis Eau de Toilette that sports real cannabis absolue. Yes, it smells like the real thing because it IS the real thing. And we have a draw..
The idea of having a perfumer take us “Behind The Bottle” and the concept of The Natural Perfumer’s Guild Outlaw Perfume project are almost a match made in Heaven.
That is why I chose to ask JoAnne Bassett to describe her creative process in the composition of Amazing. In the material she sent out with her samples of Amazing she stated that she started off with a foundation of oakmoss and over the course of ONE afternoon of blending ended up with Amazing. I had to find out the story
Dawn Spencer Hurwitz has channeled the character, become the character, and put forth the character, captured as a perfume. Dawn Spencer Hurwitz has created a Masterpiece with her perfume Mata Hari. Within Mata Hari we have echoes of ‘reference’ scents such as Mitsouko, L’Origan and L’Heure Bleue
While the list of “outlaw” ingredients is as long as Santa’s “Naughty or Nice” list there is really one ingredient that has been restricted by IFRA that has caused the most angst among perfumistas, oakmoss. One of the things I was looking forward to when I heard about the Natural Perfumers Guild Outlaw Project was seeing one or more of these talented perfumers assay an oakmoss fragrance. JoAnne Bassett is one of those talented perfumers and her submission is called “Amazing” and her beginning point was oakmoss absolute.
