Brooklyn, New York
It's official. I've begun teaching small groups in my cozy and intimate home studio. I've been wanting to teach here for many years and the surprise closing of 3rd Ward last month deemed it time to begin. I taught a beginner's class a few weeks ago but this past Saturday I taught my Fougere Workshop, the one I've been talking about for months now.
After taking in the samples and getting an idea of the generalities of a fougere and the wide breadth of different varieties we explored the materials in a little more depth. Tonka bean, hay absolute, sweet clover absolute, oak moss, cedar moss, ho wood and cassia as well as a selection of lavender essential oils, absolutes and concretes were introduced. At this point the students set out to make their own quintessential fougere. After a little gentle critiquing of their creations we went further and discussed the different classifications more in depth (amber, floral, fresh, leather, oriental and precious wood fougere's). A few new materials were introduced such as davana, buddahwood, ambrette, choya nak, aglaia and magnolia and then the students set out to create their second perfume. |
| Tester strips of some of the perfumes we sampled |
Fougere captured the imagination of perfumers who used tonka, oakmoss and lavender as a base to create new versions of the concept. Often the base is supplemented by patchouli, vetiver, sandalwood and myrrh. Often there is a rosy heart supported by geranium and clary sage, jasmine and orange blossom with top notes of lavender, rosewood, citrus, rosemary and bergamot. There are sub-categories of floral, fresh, oriental, amber, leather and precious wood fougeres.