Greetings from an undiscolosed location on the East Coast. Since I’m here for the Martha Stewart Radio Show on Tuesday, I flew in a day early to start planning our Fall and Christmas 2010 line (can you believe it?! Fall lines already?!). I spent a full 8 hours learning and working on the building blocks for the perfumery and am completely euphoric about the entire planned 2010 line.

My nose was definitely fine tuned with the entire day of sniffing and I smelled individual notes that I’ve never smelled one-off – the most exquisite jasmines, the most ethereal roses and rare wild mugeut.

Lately, the entire team at Bramble Berry has been super busy trying to figure out where the hot trends for the upcoming seasons are. Right now, we’re planning for Fall of 2009 and Winter 2009/2010 but this post will discuss what’s right in front of us: Spring 2009. Since we usually only add six to eight fragrances per year, it’s important that we chose wisely and make sure we’re both on-trend and on-quality. One of the ways we try to do this is by melding the current global macro trends with color trends and design a perfume that will feel right for the season, the global economy and match the hot colors.

Courtney, one of our Customer Service Reps extraordinaire, sat down and interviewed me about fragrance trends to get more information on this aspect of our business.

Q: What do you mean by macro trends and how exactly do you find a macro trend?

A: A macro trend is a generalized term that refers to forces in the market that you cannot manipulate – a trend that you need to ride out. It takes things into consideration like demographics (populations, life spans, family groups), economics (work patterns, management and of course, the hot topic on everyone’s minds, the financial markets), environment (transportation channels, raw resources), government (world events, politics, regulation), society (lifestyle, leisure, culture) and technology (innovations). As a business, you want to be watching out for big trends to come through – like for example, the cupcake craze or global warming – and try to find places to capitalize on it. As a consumer, you may not realize why you all of a sudden have a craving for cupcakes or expensive cups of coffee but you do.

It’s the same way with scents. Certain scent will be super popular for a few years based on trends. For example, after 9/11, the nesting instinct was strong and very warm, comforting scents like Vanilla, Crème Brulee, and Sticky Toffee Pudding scents became very popular for a few years.

Q: Okay, so how do you find a macro trend?

A: You read, watch and listen. I personally subscribe to and yes, read 38 magazines a month – everything from Lucky magazine to Martha Stewart (of course!) to The Economist. I get about 10 business and financial magazines and the rest of lifestyle oriented like National Geographic or Fitness. I also try to read many of the top fiction and non-fiction books every year so I end up finishing anywhere from 1 to 3 books per week.

Once I see a certain trend that seems to be being felt on a global or US level, I’ll try to encapsulate that trend in a phrase or a feeling. So for example, on an easier one, things are very chaotic in the US right now with the elections just finishing, the economy and the uncertainty about strategy for a variety of US policies. On a global level, that’s being felt too as the world appears to be going into an economic slowdown.

Q: So, what do you do next?

A: Next, I start keeping my eyes peeled for what the home show is doing in terms of hot colors for appliances. 15 years ago, you never saw stainless steel for example, and now we’re seeing bright colors entering the kitchen on coffee makers, cookware and food processors.

Then, I pay attention to the car color launches. Those start coming out right around the NY Fashion week so it’s always interesting to watch the two move together.

And finally, the fashion, the fashion, the fashion! What’s not to love about looking at collections to try to see what colors are popping!

Q: Interesting. How do you turn that into a scent?

A: We are so lucky at Bramble Berry that we get to work with some of the top perfumers in the business, the people that are behind some of the major department and celebrity perfume launches every year. Once I have some ideas in my head about melding macro trends with color trends, it turns into a collaboration with the perfumer taking those esoteric ideas and feelings and turning them into a fragrance that personifies what I’d like to convey.

Q: How long does this take?

A: It varies by fragrance but it can be as quick as a month all the way up to about six months. An example is our Salty Mariner fragrance. That took almost six months in development from customer suggestion, formulation and testing. For every one of the 240 or so fragrances Bramble Berry carries, we have literally tested 100 fragrances for each and every one that we have for sale. Sometimes, a fragrance will go back to the perfumers for more reformulation and it never quite reaches its pinnacle so it won’t get added to our line.

Q: Okay, so now that we’ve covered that, tell me about what you’re seeing for Spring 2009 which is almost upon us.

A: Well, I’m seeing three really big trends coming up right around the corner:

• The desire to make sense out of chaos
• The desire for upbeat, lively and playful
• The desire for a more sustainable lifestyle

Matching this up with colors, I’m seeing bright and cheerful colors like intense pink, bold turquoise and sunny yellow on some of accent colors for spring.

Patterns are also looking fairly ordered with straight lines and beautiful geometry. I’m especially noticing this in the home décor industries.

And the desire for a more simple, raw, sustainable lifestyle is typified by the hand died fabrics so more muted colors of linen, woven hemp and the like.

Individual notes that seem like they’re going to play a role in fragrance launches over the next few months and throughout the entire year are notes like:

Expect to see Bramble Berrytrying to come out with fragrances in the next year that work within the framework of these colors, notes and bigger macro trends. But the most important part is always the consumer. There’s no point in adding a fragrance that smells like “Sustainable Lifestyle” if our customers won’t like it so we’re always very mindful of the end user when we’re adding fragrances. You generally don’t see us adding twenty or thirty fragrances at a time just because they’re hot. A lot of thought, planning, and testing goes into any fragrance we add which is why we’ve continued to the bulk of our main fragrance line for over a decade.

Thank you to Jude at Aussie Soap Supplies for these photos and her review. These two Limited Edition Fragrances are available for purchase here.

Jude made a delightful and creative soap log out of the Cream Cheese Frosting. Cream Cheese Frosting relies Madagascar Vanilla notes (which naturally browns your soap). Other sugar loving notes in this fragrance are freshly churned butter, buttercream, cream cheese and an intriguing finish note of butterscotch for a warm and smooth afternote.

She did a 20% Water discount and reports that, “It behaved beautifully.” While some of the sweet frosting notes disappear with the onslaught of lye, Jude says that it is a “pleasant foody fragrance.”

I especially like that Jude left her “frosting” uncolored to take advantage of the naturally discoloring Cream Cheese Frosting fragrance.

Aussie Soap Supplies also soaped Fresh Snow. Jude says, “It’s unusual and fresh and smells blue to me.” On this batch, she did a 10% water discount and there was little if any acceleration. She even was able to do a 4 portion pour and split with the fragrance behaving well. She says, “It is strong! I used 2.5% weight of the oils and it is strong, strong, strong. It is very similar in the Cold Process Soap as Out of the Bottle smelling and there is no morphing, and it is definitely no shrinking violet.”

Thanks for the reviews Jude! Your soap looks amazing.

Creating a Comforting Scent from Childhood

The ability to self-sooth is necessary for anyone going into the field of psychology. Partnering with an individual on the journey of emotional healing and spiritual reconciliation is taxing for both the patient and the therapist. After a day of giving proper focus to a client, a therapist can feel drained and psychically exhausted. It is important for any therapist to find healthy and fulfilling ways to center and re-energize. For those entering the field of art therapy, creativity is central in this process.

A group of Masters and Doctorate students in the Art Therapy program at Antioch University Seattle gathered for an experiential which focused on the concept of self-soothing. The directives were to create a comforting perfume that was reminiscent of childhood then compose a poem or piece of short prose about the experience. Using perfume-making supplies donated by Bramble Berry, Inc., seventeen students joyfully set out to self-sooth.

We were thrilled to be asked to participate in such a fun creative course. Since we work primarily with fragrances and soap supplies, none of us had ever heard of this type of art therapy and were intrigued by it all.

The following are some examples of the perfumes created and their accompanying poems.

Perfume Name:Sierra Madre Courtship

Scents used:Moonlight Pomegranate, Cold Water, Kentish Rain

O deep brown eyes

Makes my heart go pitter pat

Perfume Name:Willow Fields

Scents used:Nag Champa, Patchouli

Romping through the weeping willows,

Waving to me in the wind,

I am at home with the Earth,

Perfume Name:Compilation/Moth Balls

Scents used:Patchouli, Honeysuckle, Spearmint

Old Scarves

Hyperaware

Birds drink/suckle

Eating flowers

Dirt

Garlic, sweat

Perfume Name:Default Setting

Scents used:Moonlight Pomegranate, Orange Peel Cybilla

I kind of like lilies

But it didn’t smell like lilies

I kind of like lavender

But it didn’t smell like lavender

Perfume Name:Honey Bunch

Scents used:Oatmeal Milk and Honey, vanilla Select, Almond Cybilla, Kentish Rain

Sugary Sweet

Honey suckle

Fresh garden

Perfume Name:Treefort

Scents used:Peppermint,ChristmasForest

I played in a tree fort at a family cottage with my sister & cousins.

Lots of cedar, spruce, & white pine around.

I made a zip line & then flipped off it

Perfume Name:Baby Ava

Scents used:Vanilla Baby Powder Surplus, Oatmeal, Milk & Honey, Moonlight Pomegranate, Vanilla Select

You came so unexpected,

A true gift for the world.

So sweet and pure and innocent.

My brand new baby girl.

I wish that I could wrap you up to protect you from all harm.

I know you will live & learn,

And grow up to be strong.

But for now you are my little girl,

Perfume Name:Mom’s Christmas Cake

Scents used:Nag Champa, Almond Cybilla, Lilac, Lavender, Jasmine Dreams, Honeysuckle, Orange Peel Cybilla, Oatmeal Milk and Honey, Moondlight Pomegranate, Green Garden Cybilla

“Purple” notes are all the rage right now. They’re popping up in any number of fine fragrance launches (including the successful Jo Malone Pomegranate Noir, Tom Ford Private Blend Collection Florals, Calvin Klein Euphoria and Baby Phat Fabulosity). Our Moonlight Pomegranate is luscious, dark and rich. It smells strongly of Pomegranate, Acai and Cassis notes while maintaining a deep musky undertone supported by Musk, Sandalwood and Vanilla.

Thank you Jude from Aussie Soap Supplies for sharing photos of her beautiful recent batch. She says, “I ADORE Moonlight Pomegranate. I have (so far) no discolouration from the batch made many weeks ago, and in lotions and conditioners it’s to die for.”

If you’re looking for a new Fall fragrance launch, definitely try the Moonlight Pomegranate. It’s rapidly becoming a “Must Have” for the latter half of 2008.

Phew, though we got through inventory counting months ago, we’re finally now we get to do the fun stuff – numbers crunching. Sharing the wealth of knowledge with Soap Queen readers, here are Bramble Berry’sTop 10 Best Selling Fragrances and Essential Oils for 2007

Oatmeal, Milk, & Honey fragrance
Lavender Provence Essential oil
Energy fragrance
Vanilla Select fragrance
Sensuous Sandalwood fragrance
Lavender fragrance
Dark, Rich Chocolate fragrance
White Tea & Ginger fragrance
Island Coconut fragrance
Plumeria

I’ve blacked out the name on this fragrance to protect the vendor. I ordered this fragrance off of E-Bay because one our customers claimed they were selling inferior products, utilizing our trademark.

The final product ends up weaker or half strength so the user needs to use twice as much. It certainly doesn’t make the initial cheap price seem like a good idea, does it?

The fix for this E-Bay vendor was simple. Since they were selling non-Bramble Berry products on E-Bay on the strength of our trademarked name, we sent a friendly note to ask them to quit using our name to sell fragrances. As for the fragrance? It wasn’t strong enough to do anything with, so it went in the trash.

According to the trivia question of the day from local station, Praise 106.5 FM, the smell of bread baking is the favorite scent of men and women alike. This article in the Oakland Tribune echoes this assertion.

Bramble Berry has a delightful Fresh Baked Bread fragrance.It’s absolutely amazing in scrubs and I can’t wait to try it in candles soon.

Thank you to Dave and Jude from Aussie Soap Supplies for emailing photos of their latest soapy creations.

The Black Tea soaps up like a dream and is very strong in the final product. I especially appreciate that it does not discolor.

Kumquat is a tart fruity scent that slightly puckers the mouth and starts the salivary glands drooling.

The color choices for both of these bars is appealing and appropriate fr the scent. The dual layer is especially intriguing with its thatched surface.

Thanks for sharing!