Rainy winter update

New Scents: The last ET tester, labeled 1-16-1, has too much cistus in it because I had tried increasing that when I decreased the musk. The cistus got too heavy so I am putting it back to the way it was in the previous tester, which was labeled 12-30-4. I’m trying less musk in that version though, and possibly less guaicwood too because when I decrease musk the guaiac seems to come out too much. I’m doing more testing and adjusting before sending out any more samples. The good news is that my orris should be in next week so I will be ready to start making batches as soon as the formula is done. I’ve been busy with orders and haven’t been able to get back to Bouquet Blanche yet, but I did get out bottles of the green notes I’ve been contemplating as additions to it and am doing some sniffing and thinking.

Bottles: I’ve ordered the new one ounce bottles and am excited about that. They will have the permanent crimp style sprayers and that introduces some challenges, but I think the trade-off is worth it. I already offer half oz and 5 ml bottles for those who want small, economical decant sizes or splash caps so most people really don’t need to decant my scents, and I could offer TPP and TPC special Boston round packaging for their decanting if they prefer that to crimped bottles. The screw cap bottles are just not as high quality as most crimp style bottles and I really want to upgrade for the larger bottles. These new bottles are much better made, with heftier and prettier glass, nice edge details, and the ability to take a shorter, nicer spray pump. There’s just no comparison. I’ll be getting a small hand-operated machine to help put on the pumps. It’s hard to find bottles in the 1 oz size because the standard for so long has been 1.7 oz or 3.4 oz, so I felt lucky to find these. I’ve noticed a trend towards smaller sizes in stores though, so maybe the 1 ounce will become easier for perfumers to get as time goes by. I hope people like these bottles as much as I do! I think it’s the right thing to do.

A Lesson in Non-Customer Relations: I’ve been stuck on dial-up internet service for most of the last 10 days because our high-speed provider, whose transmitting tower is located at the top of a nearby mountain, frequently suffers power outages and equipment damage in the winter. We have no DSL or cable available where I live because our population density is too low to make it worth the cost of running lines to us. The only options are dial-up, or a satellite company with high monthly fees and many complaints against it, or this service that offers a broadcast from an antenna on the mountain. Today I inquired about the status of the repair since it has been over a week now, and I was told we should feel lucky to get any service at all in the winter because the environment is so tough on the mountain. I did not say any of the things that came to mind because I know they are doing their best, but goodness that’s not an appropriate thing to say to a customer who is paying $56 per month for an internet service that can’t seem to be provided as promised. I sure don’t tell someone they should feel lucky to get their packages in the winter, lol, because USPS has a hard time delivering in storms. And when I signed up for this service they did not say “by the way your service will go out a lot in the winter, ” but instead they advertised their fast connection speeds. They do not offer any break in charges when they cannot provide service for periods of over a week, though I guess that would be a nightmare in paperwork. There are worse things in life than being temporarily stuck on dial-up and I’m very thankful to have the back-up access, but it makes tasks like printing shipping labels take ten times as long and sure gets tiresome.

On the up-side, the sun came out for a few hours this afternoon and it was nice to see some blue sky! We’ve had so much rain that we are very soggy here, though I’m up on a hilltop out of flood danger. I have some fun new samples to sniff and will get into more of those soon, but I’m concentrating on ET and BB for now.