A customer of ours, an experienced aromatherapist, asked me if I had a source of mitti attar. I’d never heard of it, so she brought her last remaining drops for me to smell. I still get excited about aromas which are new to me, but it’s rare to be mind-blown to the point where I have to sit down and reassess everything I thought I knew.
It first took me to a natural outdoor mud pool spa in Turkey, which I’d visited in 1993. It brings to mind clean, fresh clay—but not the texture we had in school pottery—softer, more earthy but pure, intertwined with Indian sandalwood. I could imagine lying on a sun-heated sandalwood table being slathered in cool clay and left there to daydream. In a good way.
For the full article, please check out the Perfumer & Flavorist+ October 2022 issue, titled "Perfumer Notes: Attar Mitti."
