I love devouring anecdotes and ‘bits’ of real stories as they feed into all sorts of experiences and writings. Serge Lutens creates wonderful perfumes and the ‘genesis’ tale of his Borneo 1834 perfume made me rush out and buy both patchouli and dark chocolate scent in order to try to recreate it. ( At a fraction of the cost of course!)
This tale below is far from the patchouli associations of the 1960s and 1970s when it was linked to hippydom and leather! I am sure that there is another vibrant long story there, just waiting to be told. Neil Gaiman would do something memorable I am sure!
Scent can be oxymoronic too with its range of combinations and conflicts. And like great books, great scents have layers of complexity that continue to interest and to endure. Think of Mugler’s Angel and Guerlain’s Shalimar for example.
Scent also inspires memory and affects our relations to each other and to place. We can feel chemically connected without immediately recognising why! of course we can also feel chemically disconnected and repulsed too! Think of the success of the Yankee Candle company whose candles remind us of clean washing!
POSTSCRIPT: And the name? Borneo 1834 refers to the place and the year when England and Europe were introduced to patchouli – the leaves were used in the packing bales of Indian and Chinese silk to deter moths. Apparently the gentry were so taken with the exotic herbal patchouli that they soon started using it in their homes, and wearing patchouli oil as scent.