San Francisco Marina District
March 15th marked the day of the Third Annual Taste TV Artisan Fragrance Salon, which takes place in conjunction with the Artisan Chocolate Salon, out in the picturesque San Francisco Marina District in an event space at historic Fort Mason. The sky was blue and the day was gorgeous; perfect San Francisco weather with a slight breeze. About twenty perfumers were showing their wares, some for the first time at the San Francisco event, and some for the first time ever.
Mario T. Gomez of Mario Tomas helps a customer
It was my pleasure to be working alongside my friend Mario T. Gomez, (who has been a Contributing writer for CaFleureBon) launching his perfume line, Mario Tomas, with three fragrances, Lo Mejor de Mi #1, Corazon Blanco, and Mi Poeta. Mario is an avid perfumista and is known as the Olfactory Ambassador. His love of making and sharing fragrances with his friends and family finally brought him to the Salon to debut his work, comprised of both natural and synthetic ingredients. Also making their debuts at the salon were Julia Jackson of Gnosis Perfumes and Kuniko Binet of Hexarom. Both are perfumers working in natural and botanical scents.
Meredith Smith of Sweet Anthem
Some brands that were new to me but weren’t launching that day were the fascinating Nomad Two Worlds Raw Spirit fragrances, natural perfumer Suzinn Weiss with Blooming Dreams, Tania Ruben’s Pure Natural Diva, and natural perfumer Olivia Larson’s La Fleure by Livvy. Heather Kaufmann of Jolie Laide showcased her natural scents named after French New Wave films, and Meredith Smith was there with her cute Sweet Anthem line. Lavender grower and perfumer Meshaz Munyan’s line of natural scents, Meshaz, was a standout. Meshaz gave a successful presentation on lavender that she said was a lot of fun. I look forward to exploring both the brand-new and new-to-me perfume lines.
Olympic Orchids Artisan Perfumes Display (photo courtesy Ellen Covey)
Of course, there was plenty of excitement from the brands that I know well. Shelley Waddington of En Voyage was showing three new gourmand fragrances (Indigo Vanilla, Cafe Cacao, and Captured in Amber), MIKMOI launched a fun new collection of solid perfumes: Ka, Do, Ki, Sui, and Kin (based on the five elements), and Ellen Covey of Olympic Orchids had two new perfumes, Sakura (cherry blossom,airy note and light musk) and the exquisite African Orchid (jasmine, ylang-ylang, birch, madagascar vanilla, spicy accord and musk) which will be released mid April 2014. It’s always wonderful to see the delightful Brent Leonesio of Smell Bent, who loves any excuse to come to town, with or without new fragrances. Paul Kiler has a new addition to his PK Perfumes collection called Dirty Rose Oud. I know I am leaving people out; because I was also working I didn’t get the chance to visit with everyone at length, but I did chat with Laurie Stern of Velvet & Sweet Pea Purrfumery, gave squeezes to Dannielle Sergent of Cognoscenti, Ineke Rühland of Ineke and Floral Curiosities, handsome Bruno Fazzolari, and Lisa Fong of Artemesia. I had a chance to visit with our lovely Contributor Elise Pearlstine who was there to meet the left-coasters. Also exhibiting was our friend Jane Cate of A Wing and A Prayer. I also met author Barbara Herman, who will be in town in a couple of weeks for a book signing for “Scent and Subversion”.
Perfume expert Hilary Randall worked with En Voyage and also gave a presentation of perfume history
Like any event of this nature, it was as much about the people as the perfume. I met burgeoning perfumistas new to exploring, saw friends from out of town, and talked to so many people I was hoarse in the morning. There were people who came just for the Fragrance Salon as well as welcome spillover from the Chocolate Salon. Everyone’s arms were coated with a variety of smells. I gave some friends a ride afterwards and my warm car was immediately filled with a miasma of wonderful fragrances from all of us. It was a great day, and I look forward to the announcement for the next Taste TV Artisan Fragrance Salon in San Francisco.
Tama Blough, Deputy Editor
Photo credit: Tama Blough except where noted
Note: Taste TV has put on Artisan Fragrance Salons in other cities as well, such as Los Angelese and Seatlle, so check their website to see if one is coming near you in the future.
Thanks to the generosity of Ellen Covey, whose Blackbird is nominated for Art + Olfaction's award, we are offering a sample set of African Orchid and Sakura to one reader worldwide, which will go on sale in April! To be entered, please leave a comment with what you found exciting or interesting about the 3rd Taste TV San Francisco event And which of the two Olympic Orchids sound like they would be your style. Draw closes March 21, 2014
We announce the winners only on site and on our Facebook page, so Like Cafleurebon and use our RSS option…or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume.