Status Updates From Essence and Alchemy: A Book...

Eroticism, like perfume itself, is a constructed reality. Women do not want to smell like a flower; they want their perfume to radiate an aura that is sexually alluring. So a truly aphrodisiac perfume is one that triggers our unconscious memory of our animal nature in all its erotic manifestations. It is neither a return to our animal nature nor an attempt to cover it up, but rather an exalting of it.

“The sandalwood tree has a vampirish way of thriving. It is a hemiparasite, which means that it gets some of its nutrients through photosynthesis, but must siphon off the rest from the roots of neighboring trees and plants via octopuslike tentacles, bringing a slow death to the host.”

“The decline of natural perfumery was not only a material loss but also a spiritual one. Natural perfumes evolve on the skin, changing over time and uniquely in response to body chemistry. the most basic level, they interact with us, making who we are—and who we are in the process of becoming—-part of the story.”