I meant to send this month’s Morning Realms Dispatch out yesterday, but once again, we are day late and a buck short. *shakes fist* ADHD burnout!
This past JJubilee, I shared some ideas of what I thought perfumes inspired by Wintersong would be (taking my cues from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab), and ever since then I was sort of obsessed with the idea of trying my hand at my perfumery myself. As the way of ADHD hyperfixations go, I actually spent quite a bit of time and money understanding how scents mingled and mixed together and decided to come up with a signature perfume for Zhara!
zhara
A warm base with a rich, sensual heart, topped with bits of optimism. Sandalwood and cardamon, with a base of jasmine, ylang-ylang, neroli, and a touch of ginger, with lemongrass and tangerine.
Honestly, I love the way this perfume smells. Personally, I tend to wear fruity florals or light musks, but I gave a lot of thought as to what a scent from the southern provinces of the Morning Realms would smell like. Zanhei, the setting of Zhara, is a port city, sitting at the part of the empire where they would see a lot of trade from sea routes. The weather is also hot and humid, so I tried to think of a base that was both warm and spicy, so I went with sandalwood and cardamon. As for the heart, I thought of the flowers that might be grown in a subtropical climate, which included jasmine, ylang-ylang, and neroli, which is just a beautiful light, feminine combination I love. I also added a bit of ginger for that spice again, a nod to the heat of the region. For the top notes, I added tangerine and lemongrass for brightness.
Over on my Instagram, I am giving away one of these perfumes as well as a signed copy of the hardcover of Guardians of Dawn: Zhara, as well as some swag!
That’s all for this month! For my ì ˆì¹œ, the next Guardians Dispatch will include some information about the world building!
Until then,