My love affair with tonka bean continues. The joy of sitting at my desk in quiet contemplation with fifty ingredients stretched out in front of me, a notebook, and my electric scales has been one of the high points of my summer.

The centre stage ingredient of this creation is coumarin. Coumarin is derived from the French word ‘Coumarou’ from the Old Tupi word for its origin tree Kumarú.

I wanted to create another unisex aroma that captured a more modern spirit than Mink Opal. My zeal for my new technical capabilities (ungoverned by third-party technical support) continues and the result is honestly the most successful to date.

I started by creating three accords. The first merges civet, soft tobacco, hay, patchouli and ambroxan. Then swiftly moves up to lashings of coumarin, tonka bean, rose absolute and oakmoss. Finishing in a final act with violet leaf, cashmeran, pepper and iso-e-super.

I can only describe the finished formula as modern sensual enchantment. You know, when a scent has enough throw to attract interest and also to retain longevity on the wearer’s skin, you have the perfect formula. Balance is the purpose of this creation, and that indelible “must smell” again and again. A scent to complete an outfit, making it a perfect non-fabric accessory.