The Mediator Scents

So, you love Allspice and you love Pear, but when you put the two together, they don’t mesh so well. It’s like they’re fighting with each other. A lot of times, they just need a mediator to help work things out. A third scent, if it’s the right scent, can close the gap between the two scents you’re trying to blend. It can act as a common ground and really blend two very different scents together nicely.

Usually a “Mediator” is needed because a fragrance has all top and bottom notes, but no middle notes. In other words, your scent probably only has a mixture of really light, delicate scents and really heavy, deep scents. It needs something “in the middle” to balance it. Here is a list of scents that act as great intermediaries – bringing two together without affecting the overall fragrance too much.

FIRST: Only add a Mediator if you:

• Like the scent you’re adding
  

• Feel it will go well with the other two scents already in your mixing glass
  

• Take into consideration how much the middle note you’re adding will affect the overall fragrance (ie, adding one drop of Egyptian Musk may affect it much less than adding one drop of Pomegranate).

FLORAL: Gardenia, Geranium, Jasmine, Lilac, Linden Blossom, Mimosa, Rose, Wisteria

FRUITY: Guava Fruit, Naked, Pomegranate, Raspberry, Strawberry

HERBY: Almond, Chamomile, Lavender

LEAFY: Green Tea, Hawaiian Rain, Heliotrope, Verbena, Waterlily, White Tea

SPICY: Asian Spice, Brown Sugar, Maple Spice

WOODSY: China Musk, Egyptian Musk, Myrrh, Sandalwood, White Musk


Not to influence your artistic creativity, but you can put it on record that McKenna’s personal “default” Mediators are Egyptian Musk and Sandalwood (with the other two Musks tying for second). Karlene's default mediator is Coconut. The reason is that these scents will help balance almost any scent combination you have in your mixing glass, whereas some of the others listed might not work in every situation.


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