Mr. Howe and I went mushroom hunting today with some friends, and my major dilemma was the obvious one: “What perfume do I wear for hunting mushrooms?”
Ultimately, I chose La Via del Profumo’s Balsamo della Mecca, because I wanted something that would stand distinct from the lush forest smells, and yet harmonize with them. Smoky incense was the perfect accompaniment to the fresh evergreens, mulchy undergrowth, and nutty-earthy aroma of the mushrooms themselves.
Mr. Howe wore Bvlgari Black, because Mr. Howe wears whatever he wants, whenever he wants.
Between us, we gathered enough mushrooms to fill a paper grocery bag! That’s a lot of mushrooms.
If you have a great recipe for mushrooms, please, please, share it with me! 😉
Read a fantastic review of BdM from Kevin at Now Smell This, or check out my take on it here.
beauty on the outside 
No recipes here, I am sorry. But your day sounds fun. I had to laugh at the notion of “hunting” mushrooms, in German one would say “searching”, since mushrooms are not going to put up much of a fight or try to run. I love a mushroom hunt! 🙂
I have a sample of Balsamo della Mecca (again, thanks to your influence), but the weather was not appropriate, today it is cold and rainy though, so maybe I’ll get it out (and shock my vanilla and fruity floral loving MIL).
Don’t eat a poisonous mushroom, please!
Yes, Great Scott, how do you know what mushrooms are edible?
LOL! We only pick the ones we know (and lots and lots of them)! 😉
Ah, well, it would be searching, wouldn’t it, if they didn’t put up such a fight! Mushrooms are very clever little devils, and they camouflage themselves very carefully—which is even worse than running away, because if they ran, at least they would attract the eye!!!
No, LOL, no eating of poisonous mushrooms here! (We don’t do that sort of thing 😉 ) We know what type we are looking for, and they have a very specific appearance. We don’t pick anything else! 🙂
Dee, I’m so pleased to have finally found your blog! For some reason I could never click on your name before! Those mushrooms are RIDICULOUS!
Ari, I’m so glad to see you here! I’m very glad that you found me 🙂
Aren’t those mushrooms crazy? I’ve just spent the last hour or so cleaning them—it’s a lot of work, but the french onion and mushroom soup tonight will be worth it…
😉
With all of the rain we’ve been having the mushroom population must be exploding! I love it when I’m walking through the woods and smell mushrooms, then search around for the camouflaged little devils and finally see them. Did you get chantrelles?
No chantrelles, unfortunately! Just the two varieties of Morel… but they’re delicious too! 🙂
They smell so good; I love that meaty, earthy, musty aroma… do you know, I’ve never smelled the note in fragrances, and I know that there are a few good ones around. I must remedy this situation!
Oh I thought I got a note of mushroom in Ellen’s own Olympic Rainforest. http://www.orchidscents.com/productinfo.aspx?productid=SPORF-02
I was looking for mushroom in that, but didn’t notice it—I think that I need to try it again, now that I have some fresh mushrooms for comparison purposes! 🙂
Annemarie, YES! There’s a hint of mushroom in Olympic Rainforest – just a hint. I’m so glad you detected it.
Mushroom is definitely a fun note to use in perfumery. I’m making a black truffle tincture right now, and have some cepes absolute that I plan to experiment with soon.
I’m wearing Alahine at the moment, but I think I’ll wear OR this evening so that I can investigate this note…
Also, I’m really looking forward to smelling what you’re currently working on Ellen!!!