Should you select scent by your zodiac sign? Perhaps. But you’ll get more astrological oomph factor if you go by the elements. Broadly speaking, fragrance can be classified into four families: Ambery*, Woody, Floral and Fresh.
There are no rules to this but it seems that Ambery correlates with Fire, Fresh to Air, Woody to Earth, and Floral to Water. You could choose from the genre that matches your dominant element, to project that even more profoundly OR the one you’re the lowest in, for balance.
Woody aka Green fragrances are affiliated to the Earth element signs: Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn. If they smell herbal and actually like the way you might after a roll in the hay/thyme/chamomile/grassy paddock, they’re in this family. You’d choose notes like Vetiver, Pine, Fig, Cedar, and Patchouli.
Emphasizing the Earth element helps to ground flighty minds. Woody scents transmit worldly self-assurance: they signal lack of artifice and the sort of person who knows the provenance of everything.
Air element fragrances are barely there or they come on strong with the top note and then disappear. If they’re synthetics they can come off like bog-freshener one moment, an exquisite classic composition the next. Air signs, right?
They’re from the ‘fresh’ family – citrus, fruity, and the 90s style ‘sea and ozone’ genre. These are brilliant if you’ve had a surfeit of Earth-type concerns – work/money/reality intrusions – or you don’t want the drama of Fire. They’re elevating and their elusiveness is the point.
Floral, the most popular frag family, is – yes – flowers. They’re Water element for the fantasy component: Gardenia, Rose, Jasmine, Lily, and more – the florals aspire to romance and/or the surreal life. They’re not the sort of thing Succession’s Shiv Roy would spritz pre-boardroom takedown – that would be something more brisk and astringent.
Scent is a combination of sorcery and biology. Our innate fragrance signals basic pheromonal truths: that we’re fertile, undiseased or on an adrenal high, ready for a fight. There is probably more complex neurotransmission that a really refined nose – or a wolf – could detect.
Fragrance is a way to game our neurals, to scramble the hormonal message. It’s also a form of magic in that it’s an invisible substance that envelops us and permeates the aura. It floats with the wind. Flowers emit it at particular times, to attract the exact sort of suitor they want. Fine, it’s a bee or even a moth, but still.
This is without even entering into the evocative nature of scent, memory, and its metapoetic associations over the centuries. You know, the Ancient Kemetic people had tiny scented wax hair ornaments that diffused essences like Blue Lotus around them.
Tapputi Belatekalim, the most ‘senior perfumeress’ of old Babylon, created remedial fragrance formulae with ingredients like saffron, opium, and rose water. Composing your own perfume story could be therapeutic too.
Think about the top note – the part of the perfume that you experience at first whiff – being the Ascendant and then the Sun as the base note or ‘heart’ of the fragrance. Would the Moon be the dry-down, the aspect of the scent that lingers after it’s blended with your skin? You could experiment: If you are Gemini Rising, a Water Element scent would evoke your 2nd, 6th, and 10th houses – the vocational sector. If you’re Libra Rising, your significant partnership sector is Fire so you’d bust out the big-aura Opium-esque numbers if you wanted to pull a new Mr/Mrs. Libra.
People are, according to industry research, buying less makeup during the pandemic and when it comes to scent, they’re defaulting to old favorites. Maybe it’s a Proust moment, an olfactory memory enhancer, but it could also be a practical move? They’re augmenting their most optimal elemental signature? Thoughts?
*Ambery is the new Oriental. The influential Michael Edwards switched his industry standard fragrance wheel earlier in 2021. It was for inclusivity and because it smacks of colonialism but also, ‘oriental’ is just illogical: the word means ‘Eastern’ or ‘of the East.’ Having said that, I am still fond of the hybrid word ‘floriental.’
Love the magic of scents, I stand there in the smellys section of any store for ages smelling everything! Im a staunch vegan so I wanna know what is in everything, and of course never tested on animals, so takes a lil research too, but I am attracted to deeply dark, ambery/spicy, dark rosy, tobacco type scents. Aries Sun/Venus, Scorp moon, Leo Rising. Id love to have the time and money to experiment in my own lab of scents concocting fragrances! x
LOve how the talk of aromas & perfumes brought us all together upon re reading this thread.
What a list of unknown perfumers to look up!
It is not ‘correct’ to have your signature perfume waft in the room before you BUT used to love exactly that on friends!
Craving some Aromatic’s Elixir by Clinique, a very warming aroma that you spray in air & walk under instead of directly on skin, a very 70’s arrival.
It’s the memory of course 🙂
A Chinese journalist recently told me thus: Eastern people are Asian and carpets and things are Oriental.
I find nothing pejorative about Oriental or the Orient.
In light of his comment, and while I consider organic fragrances living beings of a sort, I see the practical validity of what Mr. Lee said to me.
P.S.
I found this interesting as I lived in Japan for 5 years and spoke Japanese. The Japanese language makes a distinction between people or certain living beings and inanimate things.
So very wonderful that you lived in Japan, elf! It been the number 1 destiny on my travel wish list for many years now, but with the pandemic dragging on I wonder if I will ever get to see it
I definitely feel scents are a form of sorcery (Venus in Virgo) and I choose my fragrances unbeknownst till this post, according to my Sun & Moon/Rising.
When I’m at home I wear a clean & fresh scent (Libra moon/rising) like Lake & Skye 11:11 or Salt by Ellis Brooklyn for comfort and when I’m out in public I show out with Leo led notes like Musc Ravageur by Frédèric Malle or anything in the Ambrozan, Ambrette family……
ps. I hope everyone on this site stays safe & has a happy holiday period! 🧡
So glad I chose the cedarwood body wash for my Taurus Moon then.
So Earthy and strengthening.
My Taurean earth mother loves Cedarwood too! Any scent that is derived from earth & brings you back to grounding with nature will give you balance & strength, you’re so right! Great choice ✔️
Hi,
Sorry I didn’t reply to all the messages for me. I am so sick of texting on this phone. But I will be getting my laptop connected in a few days.
Then I will touch type to my heart’s content.
x.
Sahara Noir is discontinued but I still have a few bottles stashed at the back of my wardrobe. I recently used a drop of it as a prop in an extended meet cute I have simmering with a 30 year old bicycle courier. He was wearing the replacement- I think it’s called Noir but he was wearing too much of it. I passed him and mentioned he smelled like a hash bar. From his aghast expression I thought omg he’s a Virgo for a second there. Nope. Obviously Leo. Hehe. It worked. He smelled my wrist, we continued performing the most polite flirting conversation ever. It’s wonderfully low key and friendly and always makes me smile, Classic boy meets girl old fashioned “can I help you with that crate” pantomime. I love it.
thank god for fragrance and flirting
Fragrance and flirting??? I think you’ve bottled the Saturn-Uranus antidote .. More please!! 😀 xx
Frankincense, Myrrh, and vetiver all the way. I feel my most authentic self smelling halfway between an ancient church ritual and a brothel. Woody and earthy AF with a hint of Moroccan hash bar.
Succession has been everything for me this year and even made me look forward to Mondays. Just ennui & me till season 4 rolls in. 🙃
Plushly floral Ylang Ylang extra and grounding CO2 Vetivert (more green grass than the smoky distilled) are longstanding defaults. Myrrh is phenomenal and always kept in supply. Pungent not so welcoming Neem for mosquito repellent. Genuine frangaoani Plumeria Obtusa extract is rare and highly expensive. Oud for deep rituals. Aromatic substances are a daily delight, adjustment, wonderment and enveloping accessory.
‘an enveloping accessory’: yes, that’s the way it feels for me too, all around me, and capable of charging up or toning down something in your look (for example something very expensive-smelling such as boucheron when you’re wearing jeans and a white t-shirt).
idk, idk, idk because to me fresh scents always smell like water because there tends to be some salinity to them (ocean breeze). Or they smell like something that was just drenched (fresh rain). Or juicy. They smell wet.
Floral makes me think of air because that is the medium those scents naturally travel through and they’re sort of whimsical. They whisper (language of the flowers) little snippets of ideas. They smell dry & airy.
May i ask your Mercury and Uranus placements?
I feel the same about florals and air. (Libran Sun, Mercury, Pluto). Tho with a little humidity (Water) they can convey nostalgia & emotion too. Like a rose in full bloom after summer rain… Doesn’t that thought alone just envelop you with memories..?
I love scents which are a mixture of green, woody, and floral notes. They go well with my Taurus Moon and Jupiter in Virgo. And then my Venus in Scorpio loves a bit of leather (Cuir de Russie by Chanel and Tabac Blond by Caron have that leather note) 🪵🌿👜 That being said, I do not wear perfume every day any more since the pandemic started. And I find that I appreciate it more when wearing it less often…
Tabac Blond omg. Suddenly craving that smell again. Yes, same, have not worn any fragrance except maybe three times in the past few years and it’s now a tiny hint that I’m happy for everyone to miss. I much prefer wearing it this way. Makeup too Nothing usually but when I do, never the whole face. The idea of it feels gauche.
I have read all the comments and have been nudged in the right direction. That is choosing natural scents over chemicals.
Folks can you recommend Australian sites that I can buy online? The Body shop is one that comes to mind.
Preferably with samples that I can try before I buy.
More importantly ones that are reasonable in price.
I would appreciate it.🙂
Thanks
🌹🕍🌺🌸 My temple awaits me with a flower strewn carpet.
p.s. 🧙♂️ Mr Patchouli played his part in this conversion.
My Venus in Cancer Warp no. 9 scents are any powdery florals, Clary Sage, night blooming Jasmine and Evening Primrose.
So I discovered Lush make a body spray. Sex bomb is its name. It has jasmine, clary sage and ylang ylang.
Then I felt hesitancy. Is this really what I want. No it isn’t. I am going through a transition.
I felt I need scents to nurture my Taurus Moon. I know sandalwood is one of them.
So I went on an internet ride.
The body Shop and Lush are not the safest natural products. I will just stick to the tried and tested website that I use.
Was about to say that Star, but you got it.
An inexpensive way i have used:
NATIO make a Rose or Jasmin or Lavender ‘Home Scent Spray Mist’ around $18aus, chose one the top it up with one of their pure essential oils, like patchouli, (they don’t have sandlewood-it’s becoming rare), basil, clary sage, ylang ylang, in other words you buy the base and make your own formulas and Natio is sold at many Chemists usually.
Thanks for the tip.
Perfect potion dot com dot au – The chakra balancing scent a beauty.
Yes I googled it. Thanks. It has about 25 oils, wow.
Wish this is your Uranus conjunct Taurus moon, talking, yes? No? (It think the moon had just been through Taurus when you thought/wrote this – or at least recently been). Scent is obviously a big part of your transition. Go you!! Xoo
(By the way. I go shopping for essential oils at all our local health food shops. Make it up from there – sometimes with carrier oil, sometimes just neat dabs). xx
Oh thank you for reminding me sweetheart. It explains alot of things going on in my life.
Aromantik is an amazing Australian natural perfume company. https://www.aromantik.com.au/
Thanks Lux.
The Sunday 🌹 sounds beautiful.
Any of the Vanessa Megan fragrances are magical.
Thanks k.
Wish, you might like to try Circe perfumes (from Aotearoa NZ circe.co.nz). Natural and a good range of about 8 signature scents which you can buy in a sample pack. My favourites are Midnight Espresso, Ash Oud, Spice Souk, Shiso Verte (i love the woody/orientals). I don’t like their florals (Wood Rose is nice but light) but others apparently do. It sounds like they change a lot with people’s chemistry. The only downside is they don’t last long, although some of the reviews claim they do so maybe that’s just me… And they are a bit on the expensive side, but it’s good to treat yourself to something special now & then.
Prior to these my signature scent was Lolita Lempicka – tonka, floral, spice… absolutely divine…intoxicating, enchanting… But the last bottle i had smelled different on me – changing hormones/body chemistry i suspect, unless they changed the recipe. Tonka is my #1 scent/ingredient. I would marry it if it were a person…
I’ve been wary of the Body Shop since it was revealed some of their ingredients were tested on animals – just not the final products. That was a few decades ago – they had to change their status to “Against Animal Testing” instead of “No Animal Testing”. Big difference. Also the plastic containers… Nope. I use Ethique products now – zero plastic packaging and their products really work.
I have Moon Taurus too (3′). How about that Uranus transit… 🥺🥺🥺 Also hit my T-Square (opp Uranus Scorpio & square Saturn/MC Leo – fark…). So glad that is over – although the aftermath of having to find a new home/purpose in life isn’t. Talk about the rug being pulled out… I’ve finally stopped crying now tho which is a good thing. Thank goodness that only happens once every 84 years! 😊
Hi Mariposa, those Circe products sound great. Love the name. I love products from NZ.
Currently using ethique body moisturizer. But might try their scents. Also using viva la body Patchouli rose deodorant. A barista asked me what’s that lovely perfume. Oh it’s my deodorant I said.
Hey I have a Taurus moon at 14,°, with Taurus/Scorpio north/south node. Not so much the rug being pulled out. But being forced to change and on a bad day feeling the resistance. But the change is for the good. On a very good day I feel like an eagle over a desert and I can feel the shifting sands.
I’m glad you’ve stopped crying. Sounds like an ordeal. Did you find a new home?
Well, i am housed, but it’s temporary (tho isn’t everything ultimately). Yes, it was quite complex and long-lasting because of the T-square… The rug being pulled out was partly Ur-Moon but also the square to my IC (whilst being transited by Saturn in Aq!). And any square to Saturn is going to be a pain… Any transit to the T-square is a challenge tbh… But this affected all the women in my maternal line as we all have Taurus Moon, Sun or Saturn in the early degrees so it was quite seismic for the family… Lots of home stuff, changes, loss of the one stable presence in my otherwise very unstable life..! The tears were grief – tho not through death, just change & loss.. That was a few years back now – well before getting priced out of my apartment & jettisoned into my current ‘temporary’ space! Yeah, the Universe is trying to tell me something…
Shifting sands indeed – i used that metaphor recently – that’s what it feels like…
My nodes are opposite yours (Scorpio NN 21′ in 12th conj Asc, Taurus SN in 6th conj Dsc). The transit of the opposite nodes has been a confusing one this time – i don’t recall the previous transits feeling so complicated. Being mixed up with Uranus in Taurus – it’s a lot of complex energies at play – stay-go, hold on-let go, put down roots-up sticks, buy-sell, acquire-declutter, persist-surrender… It’s like the proverbial Pushmi-Pullyu, especially as Uranus itself is more comfortable in Scorpio.
But like Rumi says: “Life is a balance of holding on and letting go”
Still to come will be the north node transiting my moon/T-Square and Uranus transiting my south node & Descendant. Great! (#Sarcasm) I’m basically an observer in my life right now – i’m just going to see what happens as i cannot seem to make head nor tail of it all to “decide” what to do..! It definitely feels like there are bigger forces than me calling the shots right now…
Ahh.. Viva looks like an Aussie version of Ethique. Cool! No stockists in NZ but i’m glad the plastic-free is catching on… I have been complimented by a barista before on my perfume but never my deodorant. Haha… I do have patchouli and rose oils – might add some to my unscented deo-bar & see if i can pique the interest of a local barista..! 😏🌸
Gee you seem to have a good handle on astrology and how it effects you.
I don’t have that aptitude. Or maybe my Pisces Rising likes the mystery.
Yes you are going through alot of changes. So your nodes are the opposite of mine. Interesting. I am learning not to emesh myself in other people’s business.
Baristas and deodorant. Lol.
Natural Deodorant is the best way to wear my scent. If I put perfume on the top half of my body it gives me a headache.
A story..
Date night in Tahiti, a Saturday, would see women standing on top of cars to reach the Ylang Ylang tree to pick bunches and put behind their ears. The men would gather fresh basil, roll it together then rub it onto their bodies, some bunches would go behind the ear as well.
Needless to say Saturday nights had me swooning whenever close to those beautiful sleek brown bodies *****sigh********. Of course it gave me a love affair with the royal remedy, basil.
The once ‘expensive’ perfumes like Dior Guerlaine Chanel don’t seem so expensive anymore compared to ones coming out costing in their hundreds, with boutique perfumers, total artists.
Ya’ll probably don’t remember (cause you weren’t born), but there was a time when men gifted perfume to women, so my mother said 🙂
I love your story, Pegasus! How amazing to spend time in Tahiti and get to see that. And re your comment below,yes, so true – once upon a time (that seems only quite recently) it was so hard to get essential oils. Ylang-ylang essential oilis a heavenly scent and a fave (usually mixed with a bit of lemon/lime) and I have Mystic to thank for getting me onto it. I agree with her that it’s subtle healing too. Just amazing.
The visual you create is beautiful Pegasus.
Last Xmas, my poor (in both senses of the word, at the time, due to lockdown) boyfriend bought me perfume — this silly little bottle with the letters SJP on it. It smelled almost offensively of strawberries, but because I’m so sentimental, I would spray a bit in the air to run my arms through anyways to cheer me during dark winter lockdown days — but only after applying whatever concoction I was into at the time, usually something involving sandalwood. The strawberry would wear off and whatever was under that top note went with my concoctions very well. It took me *ages* to figure out this was a Sarah Jessica Parker scent, probably picked up at the local Boots’ chemist, and he probably had no idea what in the world SJP stood for at all. So all in all, not a bad try for the guy, given it was his first time ever.
Libran Moon in 10th house, who LIVES for pleasing aromas.
Coincidently just started a book called ‘Shadowscent’ where the empire has a chief perfumer. This empire seems to be run by women 🙂 all through it essential oils are mentioned, like ‘she arrives art her desk and bathes her hands in Lemon Balm’.
Studied aromatherapy theory for 12 months in Europe when there was ONE aromatherapist in Australia.Essential oils couldn’t be bought from the Federation of Aromatherapists Robert Tisserand who wrote THE BOOK on EO healing applications unless you had massage certificate or bought them in from overseas. That was 1986 and by 1991 they were in David Jones and some health shops. The studies had me thinking one had to have botany, chemistry and a brilliant memory to be an aromatherapist. Now it’s aromacology more intuitive than scientific, all about vibrational medicine.
Since then someone has been growing a lot of flowers, herbs and barks to supply the market 🙂
Once managed to get some ambergris, amaryllis tuberose and opoponax.
Guess who gurgled and did a tap dance with the delight.
Am rather mindboggled at the amount of gardenia perfumes on the market from there being only one that i known of in Oz. It will be like jasmine, one only know the real thing by the amount paid.
AAAHHH memories are made of this…….
Lush used to have a bar that was gardenia/honey – it was divine..! Of course it was discontinued, replaced with Honey I Washed the Kids which is nice but not as pure… There’s nothing like a real gardenia flower tho… so special.
I’ll look up Shadowscent. I used to have a book called “The Perfume Zodiac’ – not a novel, but it’s fun to read about scents, even tho it often doesn’t match the experience of the real thing… One of my favourite childhood book memories was of The Spice Woman’s Basket by Alison Uttley. It conjured up image of cinnamon trees and dusty dry scented lands which i’m sure has informed my love of all things spice!
I am obsessed with matching scent to my venus sign, as suggested in Love Warp 9.
Oh yes, thanks for reminding me.
Lux you sent me on quite a journey yesterday. I thought blue Lotus flower was one of my Venus in Cancer scents. So I googled it and watched an Indian man on Google teaching me how to make a little pond on my front patio.
Then I reread my report. I was mistaken with blue Lotus. My flowers are night blooming jasmine and
I adore Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab in the US for such mixtures. Even their ad copy is inspiring, the smells are amazing, and it’s all organic/family-owned/witch friendly.
nice to see another BPAL fan here!
i am obsessed with indie scent. fire sun and rising, air moon…my collection encapsulates everything one could think of (sag ascendant…) but my favourites are ambery, and i do have a particular fondness for aldehydes.
Interesting you should mention Sagg encapsulating many perfumes not having just one signature scent, moi aussi.
Oscar de la Renta for women is a perfume that really comforts me. It fills in the gaps. I’m glad I googled it. It is very complex. A bit like me.
, created by Jean-Louis Sieuzac in 1977. This is a classic, floral, slightly sharp perfume of aromatic notes of lavender, rosemary and carnation, with sweet, powdery, musky base notes. The top notes include orange blossom, basil, coriander, galbanum, peach and gardenia. The heart of this composition encompasses ylang-ylang, jasmine, tuberose, rose, rosemary, cyclamen, lavender and orchid. The base includes opoponax, carnation, patchouli, sandalwood, vetiver, lavender and amber.
Just bought an Oscar de la Renta ‘Flora’ for a B-day gift, have quite liked the ones he has released, although one doesn’t think American for perfumes although Tom Ford has done some exotics.
Have Virgo shopper friend that raids all the samples at David Jones and Myers to give me
I haven’t tried the flora.
Pisces sun, Libra moon, Cancer rising. Definitely more drawn to woody, heavy masculine scents, but love a bit of pure, figural floral when I’m in the mood. Went back to a rose of Provence scent during lockdown. I have a room spray heavy with galbanum for my private rooms, feels like I am in an ancient temple.
Mmmm an ancient temple, that sounds nice. I must try this galbanum.
🕍
I said the same thing when I read that!
Aesop’s “Olous” room spray has this as a key note
Thanks PD.
Returning to older favourites could also be because the “testers” have been removed. I was given a massive bottle of Opium in my 20’s and love love loved it, tried it again in my 40’s and it was far too chemical for me to wear. I have a huge collection of Spiritual Sky perfumes but it’s the same for them – wear one for 6months then yuck. I’m trying to use essential oils with a carrier now and using on my clothes rather than my skin (or in my liver). I do like a waft of perfume when a woman (generally) walks past.
Ooh yes, I was the same with Dune by Dior. I was known for it, rooms reeked of it weeks after I had left. Now I can’t go near it without a Hazmat suit and an economy size pack of anti-histamine. The fragrance notes say it is mostly woody and amber. No wonder I attracted all those earth types! Nowadays I like only rose, gardenia, magnolia, the old fashioned florals, as natural as possible.
Same same wore Dune in the Islands but now it dislike it! Time and place is important being led by the nose 🙂
You guys loved Dune too !! And J’adore? And does anybody remember the Gaultier?? Perfume bottled in glass female torso that came wrapped in a can. Never wore it but friend gave me empty bottle as keepsake. But yes – chemicals not good. 💫💗
Have 2 empty bottles the female and the male in bathroom displayed with 30 years of many other empty perfume bottles as some are works of art and very beautiful. Used to put empty bottles in lingerie draw for a while.
J’adore i love.
Was going to say earlier when all is said and done with the amazing choices we have, that the trusted ones like Chanel Dior and Guerlaine are the defaults, ALL of their par fumes are attractive, classic and sensory delights.
oh I bet your bathroom and indeed, entire home are an artist’s/Venusian’s delight, Pegasus !!! Yes I saw the male torso, too – we don’t see packaging like that anymore !!! (PROMISE I didn’t even think of having a smutty laugh when I typed that – but I am now – lol. Xx) I need to re-instate the lingerie drawer. Why, how, when did my ocker “undies” drawer become full of such things that spark dull, not joy?? (sorry, Marie Kondo). I blame my Venus in Aries – if it isn’t functional, fast and able to withstand the all’s fair in love and war brigade, it just won’t last.. XOO
Chanel No 5 was the first perfume I ever bought once I left school and started working. It was a milestone moment, I felt like a real adult.
I thought I was so grown up with my posh Dior perfume 😍I wouldn’t go near anything else!
Used to love Spiritual Sky perfumes as a spring chick; & my great love was Joy, by Jean Patou. But now I’m going through such a puritanical phase that walking through the perfume section in stores feels like walking through a toxic bio-chemical assault course. The only scents which do it for me are the actual flowers & herbs themselves. I’ve been stalking a rose bush whose flowers put me into a Venusian rapture of olfactory orgasm. The owner is insane, so am waiting for a Spring night to sneak a cutting.
Joy by Jean Patou was my beloved mother’s perfume. She smelled divine.
Remember her saying at the time (the 50’s) that it was the most expensive perfume in the world.
Joy IS my Mother, and daughter’s never wear their mother’s signature 🙂
Agreed, that would be strange. But i’ll tell you what’s stranger, & that is when your mother-in-law gifts you her sledgehammer signature perfume (Opium) … Like WTF, woman!!?? Not sure she had thought that one through … Or worse, she had…😮 That’s one gift i passed on toot sweet.
I am prone to migraines and unfortunately couldn’t go near Opium. Isn’t body chemistry funny? I also tried to wear – and still love, but don’t wear – Arpege. Because my first step-Mum loved it, and this was one of the ways I sought her approval. (unsuccessfully). But luckily my body wised up to the existence of essential oils, and the Arpege (half-full) bottle is just a relic in the museum of my (aforementioned, to Pegasus) unromantic undies drawer. I still love the occasional spritz!!
(But yeah wtf mum-in-law?? It is kind of sweet. But no..)
Hon, the last thing you want is for you to remind your partner of his mother, if you get my drift.
😂😂 yeah. Nah !!!
I also wonder if our perfume needs change with age. I definitely went with sea-frothy, oceanic, ‘fresh’ limey scents in my 20s. Then, I had an floriental – specially wild rose phase. Its still my signature scent most of the year (I buy it from a high street luxury ayurvedic type of manufacturer, who use authentic rose essence but add some chemicals. Hope to make my own some day.).
But lately, as I am turning to the big FOUR OH, I find myself attracted to more woodsy, earthy scents. I can track the big outer planet transits to these preferences too, btw. The esoterics, the whole sea of knowledge is there for us to experience, interconnect and create a unique blend of learning just for us. 🙂
What’s the high street luxury Ayurvedic? Sounds interesting…
The two brands I love are Forest Essentials and Kama Ayurveda. I think both have international shipping, though I find them in some high end retailers both in US and UK too. You can buy their rosewater and add it to a carrier oil, your facepack or just spray a bit on your face or clothes…it does not stain. It is a bit ephemeral though and requires constant reapplication, which is understandable, given its supposed to be natural.
Yesterday, I (re)created your Venusian 9 potion, MM! What a timely post! I thought my natal stellium (including Venus) in Cap needs the boost for the Venus-Pluto season because I have not manifested even a whiff of the magic I need and pray for. Happy to see that you consider Patchouli earthy – that’s definitely the top note. Though the grapefruit, rose…and Vanilla (the best part IMHO) add the secret watery depth to my second stellium in Scorpio. 🙂 Thank you for your wisdom and advice.
In the 60’s men put a drop of patchouli under their arms instead of deodorant and it was so sexy mixed with their natural fairygnomes. Yes, have been known to bury my nose in a certain male model’s armpits.
Heheh, love this. Pegasus, your stories fill this site with joy. I think Patchouli would be quite sexy used like that.
Why thank you M’am.How lovely is the encouragement to tell my stories of a life well lived.
There is full moon tonight so hope the sky is clear wherever you are to write you wishes and send to her, being the moon of communication, she will hear.
I laughed so much at the ‘fairygnomes’. I read somewhere it is healthy to bury your nose in obliging people’s armpits, lol. Seriously! Preferably a loved partner’s. Am off to buy some patchouli for husband to dab. Toodle-ooh fairies. Xoo
You are the shining light of my days, Pegs. I often come over here just to read your stories. 🙂 I am now swooning at the thought of snuggling into someone because of the way they smell. ❤❤❤
Libra Rising here and I work with scents & love most of them at different times for different needs – ruled more by the frivolous & changeable Moon which rules my Crab Sun. I have only recently realised why i have such a fetish for that wharf-y smell of petrol on sea water & love port towns so much. It always triggers a sort of deep longing of pleasurable memories long lost. I thought it was to do with my 9th H Sun/Moon & the wanderlust for sea travel this placement has given me. But i recently visited the exact location where i was born, and it is but a few meters from the marina, which back in the day was a ship-building hub – with plenty of petrol & sea spray wafting up to the birthing room. So other than my mother, these were my first earthly smells …. mm-mmm
Me too with aviation fuel and the sea, Skarab. My Dad worked in airforce so I went to kindy on a RAAF base, and when I was born they lived on Bondi beach. So sea smells and plane wells.🥰😄 xxxx
Aaah yes, that aviation fuel & tarmac smell that serve as a base note for the scents that hit you as the plane door opens in a new land – astringent & sharp in the northern countries; or in the tropics it envelopes you like a warm cloud that seeps into your being, infused with all the secrets of the land for you to discover … if you follow your nose……
[@not suffering from wanderlust (much)]
Skarab you been sniffin’ petrol again sheesh next it will be glue…lol.
aaah glue …. remember Clag glue at school? white, pasty & smelling delish – like crushed petrol-coated almonds – now there’s an Oz olfactory memory.
Oh yes Clag.
Oh NO clag!
OOOO eergh so dislike that stuff, the bottle came with a shitty brush, also we had to make our own in school, too messy for theCap rising i guess…lol
The stiff brush!!!
Oh but the childhood memories it evokes.
Priceless.
have you heard of the perfume house fantôme? you might enjoy their scent namba (saltwater canals, motor oil, buzzing neon, and melted vanilla ice cream!)
i haven’t, & thank-you! sounds right up my jetty – i esp like buzzing neon, lol.
I’m also intrigued by their Not Dead, but Arisen: Freshly turned grave soil and spring greenery lie beneath uplifting orange and crisp yuzu.
Your’e so radical Skarab 🙂
mais je suis un ange …👼🏼… truly, i is…
I love this! I feel like I’m always trying to find fragrances that somehow marry fresh and earth (a combination of my Gemini Venus and a multitude of Taurus placements), but DETEST florals (I have no water placements, except for Saturn in Scorpio). Love that this explained that. Scent is such an expression of self, so of course it would mirror ones chart.
Fragrance is real magic. As an ad guy, I’ve always liked working on fragrance campaigns. You’re selling bottled aura. One day, someone will crack the code and group individual’s natural scents into groups to determine compatibility. Ever thought about how some people are just plain “delicious,” and others, while perfectly nice don’t check all the boxes? I’m fire-fire-water and hate fresh scents for men which eliminates about 80% of what’s available. Love patchouli. Probably a holdover from my hippie days. Like it most when dressed in Italian tailoring for a business meeting. Had a boss that hated it. When she made me angry, I’d go back to my office and put on more!
Patchouli is a total shithead test. If someone gets all pissy about it, you know they’re an asshole.
🤣🤣
You are funny. 🙂
Ha-ha, this is so funny….and timely! Just today i opened the door to a cabinet maker who was infused in patchouli. I was so surprised that i blurted out “Patchouli!!” as a greeting. He was in his 50s, rotund, and looked like a gnome with a mohawk. We immediately launched into a half hour rave about the merits of a good patchouli & other scents before he did any measurements or discussed the wardrobes & bookshelves he was supposed to give a quote on.
Patchouli is his calling card he said, so people tend not to forget him. I warned him that to some it might be too strong a smell, to which he answered that he would have no business with those people, lol.
I was supposed to get quotes from a few other cabinet makers, but i think i’m just going to go ahead & work with Mr Patchouli – I like a person with good scents 🙂
What a story! What a person! Love Mr Pathouli! ❤
Mr Patchouli rocks !
🧙♂️
Mr Patchouli does rock … actually he does wood! … His wood-work rocks!
I have been trying to find a cabinet-maker for months – none available, much less ones with mo-hawks in delicious fragrances who only deal with patchouli-lovers. Clearly my manifestation magic has been all used up dealing with Sat – Uranus squares *altho i did find a dress with mythical Chinese dragon at a charity shop to wear on last Venus-Pluto conjunction (trine my natal asc//Lilith) and it was beautiful/rain-storm-summoning ?? * i.e. You are all kinds of good magic, Skarab 😃💗
My natal Venus-Pluto is coveting your dragon dress! 💜
Mr Patchouli is turning out to be like a fairy gnome-uncle. He’s opening all sorts of doors to amazing tradespeople & professionals we would never have met. A motley crew of seemingly normal people but with touches of eccentricity which are only apparent to those that look, if you know what i mean. Like a guild of mavericks. Mystic mentioned once that you could meet significant/helpful people when a planet hits your natal Chiron. Right now Jupiter is on my Chiron and trans Chiron is on my SN..So, who nose xx
Crikey I love this. Xoo A guild of mavericks!!! I tell you I need to get my Jupiter-in-Pisces magical juju on. I feel like you have magicked yourself up a home atop Enid Blyton’s Faraway Tree, Skarab!! This is the best. By the way I would post you the dragon dress – I couldn’t believe the metaphysics and would wish the happiness for everyone. I can’t write the stories here. Anyway. Sending you lots of luck and magic ! X
I bet he would make a good rocking chair.
Wood it rock? 😄
Talking of ‘rock’.
Had a stress echo test with heart specialist few days ago and watched it beating on the screen.
It was rocking long so i said the specialist ‘that heart is rocking along’, he replied, without missing a beat so to speak, ‘it’s a rock ‘n roll heart’.
It showed no problems.
Told him that’s because i was a kind person, he replied ‘that helps’.
He must have read Louise Hay…..
You have a beautiful ❤️.
like ronnie wood
I love Ronnie. He might be my favourite RnR person of all time. And this from someone’s whose trinity is Keith Janis and Patti. Like, those might be the trinity but Ronnie’s like, my personal patron saint, that or Stevie. Which is funny cause they’re both Geminis.
I will google him.
Just did. mmmm rolling stones gather no moss.
If Ronnie Wood met a woodpecker what would he say?
‘Thunder lightening the way you love me is frightening…just knock on wood’
(old blues song, TinaTurner i think?)
Patchouli was one EO i didn’t dare use because of memory connections so used cedarwood instead, so i didn’t get the buzz i would normally get..damn.
Italian tailoring with patchouli is a delicious juxtaposition.
yesssss! I’m 3/4 water and 1/4 earth, plus 1 planet in air and 0 fire (exc the mc), so florals yes, but I find that I’m drawn to most of the opulent oriental woody scents related to the fire I don’t have – but then I also have leo crossing the 1st and 2nd, and therefore a scorpio 5th house, so I can be superbroke but I need to smell fab! not expensive/trendy/seductive, but round, rich and enveloping. it makes me feel whole, can do without makeup or gorgeous/brand new clothes, but perfume (and incense) has always been essential for my well-being (I think it’s venus sextile pluto, for the record). one of my dreams is being able to afford to buy any quantity of perfume on a whim. florientals are my thing, and I detest with a passion fruity/sugary/gourmand tones, and watery/ckone-like tones leave me indifferent (event though my sun is in an air sign). I adore ozone and sniffing around and smelling the air (especially in winter) and the rain, and the tones of wet earth and freshly cut grass, only I could never wear them, not even when it gets extremely hot.
“so I can be superbroke but I need to smell fab! not expensive/trendy/seductive, but round, rich and enveloping.” … Yes. One of the things i do to help this along is keep lots of gorgeous smelling soaps in my clothes drawers, with underwear, t-shirts, jumpers, scarves. My faves are rich & strong Indian soaps; or French rose & jasmine soaps from Provence. Some drawers have a variety & it all blends beautifully. Gloves i keep with my incense stash.
And yes to smelling the air & earth in the country & forests, that is truly aromatherapy. I never bother with perfume when i’m spending time out of town – I don’t need to
me too, I have a 3-drawers cabinet containing in the order jewellery, scarves and incenses, and it all smells of incense <3! sorry for replying so late skarab… great idea, perfumed soaps… I love carnation, I think it was roger & gallet but I’m not sure…
I have lots and lots and lots of air in my chart. There’s a little fire, a Venus in Pisces and Saturn in Taurus. That’s it…but as Libra Rising and Libra Moon, I’m hugely olfactory — like, I will sprinkle geranium and/or rosemary oil on my chair when I need to “get to work,” or I sprinkle chamomile on my sheets before I make the bed, etc. But for perfume purposes, I think my Venus in Pisces controls my decisions…I’m always in with the sandalwood and the frankincense or rose. I never really go citrusy, but I think I like the frankincense because it’s spiced..like, I quite like the smell of that Thieves Oil. I made a huge amount of my own in a large bottle of witchhazel at the beginning of lockdown to wipe down my doorknobs and stuff. Love the smell of that, but think it might be too strong to actually wear as perfume. LOL. Maybe I should try it though! <scuttles off to mix cinnamon and rose oils>
Cinnamon and rose DO go together, but you really need to watch it, or the cinnamon will overpower the rose. I think probably a teeny bit of frankincense would marry the two.
I made some Thieves Oils too from different recipes during lockdown. The more modern ones using essential oils are pleasant, but the old plague recipe one calling for camphor & garlic was never gonna make for a romance inducing atmos. Good pesticide though.
Just made a fresh batch to keep away black ants during solar magnetic fried days!!!🤣 Agreed, camphor and garlic plus would send us all back to the sun ..😉
Funny, I’ve always been drawn to Earthy scents – give me anything with vetiver, oud or cedar and I’m like “more please” … And that could be because I’ve only got one Earth element (Mars in Cap) in my chart. I feel like I’ve always wanted to smell like a sophisticated business woman (or man). Lol.
Otherwise, I’m mostly air & water, and I really can’t stand florals or fruity fragrances.
Sandalwood is my favourite.
Lonely Mars in Virgo my only earth, I love them all but the wood notes are my fave to wear at home.
I’m a Taurus Moon so this post is like manna from heaven for me.
I agree that florals are water elementals. I’ve read that Rose is good for self love. Jasmine just transports me. I think purple flowers are very Piscean. White flowers: Cancerian. And the Reds etc: Scorpionic. A red rose has a thorn and a Scorpio a sting.
Sandalwood makes me very serene and grounded. A match to Taurus in my opinion. Perfect for my Taurus Moon.
I am a Gemini Sun and I love CK One. And it’s no coincidence that it is an androgenous scent.
And yes I agree it uplifts me and makes me feel more breezy.
🌹💐🌻🌺🌼🌸
Rose is the great and famous healer for women, Jasmin is an euphoric, gets the endorphins flowing, yet for some it can bring on a headache.
Was told in aromatherapy tuition that before essential oils can work on the vibrational energy of a person they need to not eat meat or dairy for 10 days before a professional treatment session. Seems conditions apply, but anything that lifts the spirits is fine by me 🙂 x
My Taurus Moon also loves sandalwood! It’s sandalwood soap at the start of the day for me everyday 🌝
Thanks for the confirmation..
What is the brand of soap ?
Hi Wish, I use a locally made soap so it is probably difficult to buy abroad. But I have also used the sandalwood soap from Crabtree & Evelyn and from L’Occitane in the past. And then there is Mysore sandal soap from India which has a really strong scent (a bit too much to my taste), but which could be worth checking out. I have also used Bee & Flower sandalwood soap from China
So synchronistic, and… Magic.
Just realised since the start of Sat-Uranus squares, even earlier – have been making my own perfume pots. Usually leftover WA beeswax candles, shea butter, almond/jojoba/olive oil (whatever to hand), essential oils. Body butter for astro squares.😄😍
Also picked up a great study tip from Lisa Genova’s book ‘Remember: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting’. If you can re-create exam conditions (for e.g.) at home while studying by wearing the same fragrance (brain remembers scent in particular), clothes and even tastes (e.g. coffee/mint chews), as with what you will wear/smell/taste on the big day, you will remember so much more, as scent in particular acts as a cue.. (worked for me). Xx (coincidentally I chose earth and air essential oils, and my 9th house spans Capricorn and Aquarius.)
Magic, healing arts using scent. Wonderful stuff. Planets and plants.
The magician sits at her table with her essential oils and balms. The universe channels images, scents and sounds. Her hands start to move without thinking. A drop of jasmine, two drops sandalwood, 3 drops myrrh. She adds some oil and shakes the bottle.
She realises she was in a trance. She smells the scented oil. It is like coming home. She rubs the oil on her chest near her heart. Her throat opens up and all the pain is released in a loud cry. She shudders and feels a great shift. She is now exhausted. She sleeps the deep sleep of a baby.
x.
Beautiful, Wishstar. XOO I do have Myrrh but used a combination of lemon, rose-geranium and frankincense for my exam. It was uplifting and cut right through the heavy theories i had to carry, lol!!! Much love XOO
(Funny story about myrrh – because it has been used as an embalming oil for eons I always feel like I have to treat it reverently. Like the oil is alive in some way?? lol!!!)
Oh Earth Star I just picked those oils out of thin air. I was more into the story.
How did the exam go ?
Ah but there are never coincidences, Wish.. (i.e. you should mix that up, see what happens!!)
Exam went well thank you – just the stress leading up to and from it I am still working on!! Thank goodness for my Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner. And Thict Nhat Hanh’s mindfulness meditations. XOO
Hi Speedy Gonzales.
I’m glad your exam went well. Yes a good TCM is priceless.
Maybe one day I will make that mix. I just hope I don’t turn into a mummy. LOL.
😱
StarShine don’t knock mummies, i’m nearly ready for embalming…lol.
Oh no Pegasus.
Rust never sleeps.
Bless ya bamboo cotton sox.
I ❤️ you.
🌟
Well done on the exams! Hopefully you get some time over this (suddenly blazing hot) summer to decompress and rest xx
Gorgeous Chrysalis !! How are you going beauty??💗 I knnooowww re: the heat – did you hear we are heading back to 1968 this Christmas day, with a 42 degree day?? Have escaped down south until Thursday – am near Geographe bay region. Today I visited an olive oil press and i Swear the lady behind the counter was a magical tree dryad?? (In the best possible way, of course)💫. Anyway have decided my Merc opp Pluto talks too much so am taking a break on the commentary until I get my chi in order.🤣 Sending you all Summer equinox strength and healing at this crazy time of history – AND Sun is about to conjunct my natal Gazza. (No wonder I have Run to paradise. because we come from the land downunder Chrysalis. 😅💞). Xoo