So I was looking up the notes in Creed Chèvrefeuille Original, and I found the Creed website (as usual) very sketchy on the components of the scent. Osmoz doesn't list it; they have only about a half-dozen or so Creeds. I tried Scent Direct's database; again, no listing.
So out of desperation, I went to www.parfyym.pri.ee, an Estonian website which has a very complete listing -- the only drawback (for me, at least) is that it's completely in Estonian. Estonian is a perfectly delightful language, related to Finnish, and along with Hungarian and Basque, one of the few European languages not of the Indo-European family.
I am not one to be daunted by mere linguistic difficulties. I had consulted the site before, and I had learned some Estonian that beginners don't usually learn: the names of perfume materials.
I found Creed Chèvrefeuille Original, and saw that it had listed for the top notes "lavendel, münt," and for the middle note, "kuslapuu." There were no base notes listed. Now, the top notes are easy: lavender and mint. (These I could easily guess from other European languages.) But "kuslapuu" was a bit of a challenge. I recognized the "-puu" suffix from "sandlipuu" (sandalwood) and others as the element meaning wood or tree. So I went to an online Estonian-English dictionary, but couldn't find "kuslapuu." I did, however, find "kusla," which, naturally enough, means honeysuckle ("chèvrefeuille" in French). So...
It's not honeysuckle, it's honeysuckle wood. Then I went to Wikipedia and looked up honeysuckle. That article, among other things, told me that sticks of honeysuckle wood are "are sold as cat toys. The wood contains nepetalactone, which is the active ingredient found in catnip. Many breeds of cats react to the scent of the wood and will paw, lick or rub against it." So that's why this Creed smells more green than flowery! It does have "herbal notes," and one of them is catnip. Catnip, by the way, is said to resemble mint, another ingredient in the EdT. I also learned that it's ten times more effective than DEET as a mosquito repellent.
So now I know the mystery of Creed Chèvrefeuille Original's green accord. Query resolved.
The things you can learn if you're willing to put your research skills to use looking for trivia!
So out of desperation, I went to www.parfyym.pri.ee, an Estonian website which has a very complete listing -- the only drawback (for me, at least) is that it's completely in Estonian. Estonian is a perfectly delightful language, related to Finnish, and along with Hungarian and Basque, one of the few European languages not of the Indo-European family.
I am not one to be daunted by mere linguistic difficulties. I had consulted the site before, and I had learned some Estonian that beginners don't usually learn: the names of perfume materials.
I found Creed Chèvrefeuille Original, and saw that it had listed for the top notes "lavendel, münt," and for the middle note, "kuslapuu." There were no base notes listed. Now, the top notes are easy: lavender and mint. (These I could easily guess from other European languages.) But "kuslapuu" was a bit of a challenge. I recognized the "-puu" suffix from "sandlipuu" (sandalwood) and others as the element meaning wood or tree. So I went to an online Estonian-English dictionary, but couldn't find "kuslapuu." I did, however, find "kusla," which, naturally enough, means honeysuckle ("chèvrefeuille" in French). So...
It's not honeysuckle, it's honeysuckle wood. Then I went to Wikipedia and looked up honeysuckle. That article, among other things, told me that sticks of honeysuckle wood are "are sold as cat toys. The wood contains nepetalactone, which is the active ingredient found in catnip. Many breeds of cats react to the scent of the wood and will paw, lick or rub against it." So that's why this Creed smells more green than flowery! It does have "herbal notes," and one of them is catnip. Catnip, by the way, is said to resemble mint, another ingredient in the EdT. I also learned that it's ten times more effective than DEET as a mosquito repellent.
So now I know the mystery of Creed Chèvrefeuille Original's green accord. Query resolved.
The things you can learn if you're willing to put your research skills to use looking for trivia!
