Tripatini contributor Fyllis Hockman writes:
"There I was in my white lab coat, examining 40 vials and trying to determine which combinations to mix to get the best outcome. Admittedly, I wasn’t performing some important scientific discovery or creating a medical breakthrough, but it felt almost that significant. What if I screwed up, made ridiculous choices as to the most effective ingredients and came away with an awful smelling product. Yup, I was making perfume at the Tijon Parfumerie & Boutique on the French side of the Caribbean island of St. Martin. The other half, St. Maarten, is the Dutch side, and the two together form the smallest land mass in the whole world to be shared by two countries, France and the Netherlands.
Tijon is a study in sensory overload: a cologne colony. There are more than 300 individual oils to choose from in the making of your own personal perfume. As an amateur “nose” – someone who uses oils to create new fragrances – I learned to combine top notes, middle notes and base notes to fashion “an accord” that will constitute a pleasing perfume.
Becoming a chemist is no easy task. There are a whole series of intricate steps to follow in the search for perfection First, I chose three bottles from a series of 12 pre-mixed oils. Then nine other oils – for three perfume creations -- from that selection of 300. I randomly – because really, how else can you do it? – chose "Beach," "Cashmere," "Grass," "April Rain," "Vanilla Oak," "Sunflower," "Amber Musk," "Aqua Spa, and "Rose." After a while, I didn’t know whether I wanted to eat the flavors, bathe in them, or plant them in a garden.
Then, using beakers and droppers – because yes, this is a lab experiment of sorts – I diligently combined the different options into three potential bottles of perfume. Once I determined which of the final prospects I liked the best, I added a number of other chemical properties to solidify the process. Upon completion, my creation was beautifully bottled and placed in a classy cloth carrying case. And of course, it all ends with a champagne toast because, remember, you’re still in France. Voila! You are a perfume-maker. And every time you use the perfume -- which by the way, you have also named so that it is uniquely yours – you will remember St. Martin.¨
Read more in her post Savoring Cheese, Rum, and Perfume on St. Martin/Sint Maarten.
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