Precious Woods invites us to take a walk in a forest. German perfumer Tanja Bochnig was inspired to make this fragrance when she scented an Indian forest after the rain. I believe she succeeded very well in passing us the scent, image and experience of an actual walk in a wood. It is a scent I tend to use when I would like to wander in a forest but I am not able to, especially during a cold winter. Which is interesting as I have never been to an Indian wood but still get the impression my need of a walk is fulfilled by using this fragrance.
According to the official April Aromatics website Precious Woods is made of 100 percent natural extracts. I have used natural perfumes before which either did not last at all or gave the simplistic impression of just putting two or three essential oils together on a kitchen table. Fortunately I have no longevity problems with Precious Woods nor do I get the impression everyone could have made this fragrance.
What does it do ?
Wearing it makes me feel very down to earth and grounded. I find it a very appropriate fragrance to calm me as well. Looking at the ingredients this is not surprising as one of the main ingredients is sandalwood. Sandalwood fragrance has been used by all Indian spiritual traditions (Brahmin, Buddhist and Hindu) to induce a calm state of mind.
Precious Woods edp is worth a try if you like woody fragrances, are looking for a calming fragrance or more natural fragrances.
Do you use a fragrance to calm you ? Does it work ?
Ingredients according to the April Aromatics website: 100% natural extracts of Sandelwood/India, Sandelwood/Neukaledonia, CederwoodVirginia/USA, Cederwood/Himalaya, Cistus Vetiver Bourbon, Patchouli/Indonesia, Buddha Wood, white Sage, organic alcohol.
April Aromatics Precious Woods edp was made by German perfumer Tanja Bochnig in 2012. April Aromatics is a natural perfume line, all ingredients are natural and no artificial essences, petroleum or mineral oils are added. Tanja Bochning very kindly agreed to answer a few questions about Precious Woods. When asking her about the origin of Precious Woods, she explained Precious Woods was birthed after her first travel to India. Both the Mysore sandalwood oil that she smelled and the cedar wood distillery in the mountains in the north of India inspired her. There, she scented the wet, earthy air, while walking through a lush forest, after a rain storm and she was inspired by the smell of it.
Reading the official ingredients I was intrigued by Buddha Wood and asked Tanja Bochnig why she used this in Precious Woods. She choose Buddha Wood in Precious Woods Eau de Parfum, because it beautifully blended with all other woody raw materials that she used in this fragrance; sandalwood, cedarwood, vetiver. Also the name Buddha wood fitted perfectly to this Indian inspired perfume. In natural perfumery Buddha Wood can be used as a general fixative, precious woods accord, incense perfumes, forest notes and sacred essences.
According to Tanja Bochnig Buddha Wood oil is very effective for meditation and for creating a layer of protection around your aura. This oil is also very relaxing and sedating. For the physical body it is anti-bacterial, anti inflammatory and a stimulant for the immune system. It has a beautiful woodsy scent.
Tanja Bochnig continued to explain that the essential oil of Buddha Wood (Eremophila mitchelli) is also known as “Desert Rosewood” from Australia. It is a copper-red viscous liquid displaying a soft, rich deep, sweet, balsamic, precious woods (cedarwood-guaiacwood-sandalwood complex) bouquet with a delicate mossy-leathery-creamy undertone of good tenacity. It is distilled from the heartwood of the tree.
All April Aromatics fragrances contain little transparent crystals. I asked Tanja Bochnig if all her fragrances contained the same gem stones or differed ones for each scent. Tanja explained that she uses Herkimer diamonds for each of the stock bottles that all of her perfumes ripen in, (sometimes they ripen for at least 6 months). Each 30ml bottle of perfume contains about 10 rock crystals. She only uses different gems stones in her chakra oil collection, one for each corresponding chakra.
The healing power of the stones take care of the activation. She does not do anything. That is the beauty about the crystals. They are powerful on their own. By adding the stones to the essences the bouquet of the fragrance becomes complete. There is a special power in each perfume and the wearer can definitely feel it.
Give away: our world wide give away is an official 2,5 ml Precious Woods sample, provided by April Aromatics.
Draw: Leave a comment and tell us why you would like to win a sample. If you sign up for your newsletter or on Instagram you will be entered twice in the draw. You can enter until 1 March, 12 pm CET, Central European Time (Berlin, Germany).
A winner will be announced on a special post on this website and on Instagram. You have until 15 March to contact April Aromatics for your price, otherwise the sample will go to the following winner on the list.
Official ingredients in Precious Woods according to April Aromatics website: Sandalwood/India, Sandalwood/ New Caledonia, Cedarwood/Virginia USA, Cedarwood/Himalaya, Cistus, Vetiver Bourbon, Buddha Wood, Patchouli/Indonesia, White Sage, Organic Alcohol
April Aromatics fragrances can be bought online on: http://aprilaromatics.com/
Disclaimer: we were not compensated for this interview, an article discussing our experience with Precious Woods edp will be published soon.
The French/Armenian perfumer Francis Kurkdjian made one cologne for the morning and one for the evening for his own perfume line Maison Francis Kurkdjian (MFK). This is a different approach to classic colognes which are mostly used in the morning to refresh but not very suited for evenings.
Cologne pour le matin is one of my favorite cologne. The image I get is the one above. At first you smell citrus notes, lemon and bergamot very shortly. Afterwards you smell cedar wood for hours, like scenting sharpened pencils. This reminded me of the perfume Autoportrait by Olfactive Studio. Giving a clean, fresh but warm feeling.
Cologne pour le Matin is fresh but not very exciting. Much more stimulating is another evening scent from MFK: Absolue pour le Soir. Absolue pour le Soir, an animalic scent, reminding me of horse barns. Kurkdjian said he was inspired for Absolue pour le Soir by a photograph of Bianca Jagger lying on a leather couch during the eighties while wearing a little dress.
He got his inspiration for Cologne pour le Matin from the first lines from the book Bonjour Tristesse by the French writer Francoise Sagan. She describes being wakened by a sunbeam. Another inspiration was walking on the grass in the morning. I can imagine these two sources of inspiration but not a picture of Bianca Jagger.
Cologne pour le Matin might be too clean or even a bit boring for some but I find it a refreshing scent during the morning or day. Different from classic Colognes like Muelhens 4711. Longevity of Cologne pour le Matin is excellent.
Official notes according to MFK website: bergamot from Calabria, lemon from Sicily, white thyme from Maroc, lavender, oranjeblossom from Tunis. According to the Fragantica website the notes are cotton and flax.
Precious Woods invites us to take a walk in a forest. German perfumer Tanja Bochnig was inspired to make this fragrance when she scented an Indian forest after the rain. I believe she succeeded very well in passing us the scent, image and experience of an actual walk in a wood. It is a scent I tend to use when I would like to wander in a forest but I am not able to, especially during a cold winter. Which is interesting as I have never been to an Indian wood but still get the impression my need of a walk is fulfilled by using this fragrance.
