Phoenix Artisan Shaving soap John Frum 140g

Phoenix Artisan Shaving soap John Frum 140g

Scent Profile: Sicilian Cedrat, Black Pepper, Sea Salt, Ambergris, Royal Hawaiian Sandalwood, Vetiver, White Musk & Animalic Musk. 

About the Note Selection

Some of the scent notes I chose I think are rather unique, or at the very least, not as common, so I thought I would break them down a little in an effort to get you into the vibe I was going for. 

Sicilian Cedrat: A citrus fruit that is chiefly grown in Sicily. It is one of the original citrus fruits from which all other citrus types developed through natural hybrid speciation or artificial hybridization. The scent is truly magical, zesty, incredibly fresh and light, similar to lemons and limes with lots of sweetness but softer and more well rounded without the floor cleaner note so often found in citrus.

It wasn't only the scent that stuck out to me, but also it's origin. It really seemed thematic when it came to the John Frum story, and worked perfectly as a top note.

Ambergris: (from wikipedia) Latin: ambra grisea, Old French: ambre gris), ambergrease, or grey amber, is a solid, waxy, flammable substance of a dull grey or blackish colour produced in the digestive system of sperm whales. Freshly produced ambergris has a marine, fecal odor. However, with age, it acquires a sweet, dry, amber, woody, mossy fragrance. In dry-down, there is a cinnamic note, which moves into a smooth ambery musk note.

Ambergris has been very highly valued by perfumers as a fixative that allows the scent to last much longer, although it has been mostly replaced by synthetic ambroxan. Dogs are known to be attracted to the smell of ambergris and are therefore sometimes used by ambergris searchers.

I should mention, Ambergris is one of my favorites and I have used it many times in the past, but not sure how much folks know about it, I thought I'd give a little background.

Being that pure ambergris is understandably expensive, I chose to use Ambergris tincture and Ambergris Essence which is a beautiful reconstitution of Ambergris known as 'Ambergris T Oliffac' by IFF.

White Musk: or Synthetic musks have a clean, smooth and sweet scent lacking the fecal notes of animal musks. Synthetic musks in a narrower sense are chemicals modeled after the main odorants in animal musk: muscone in deer musk, civetone in civet, and ambroxide in ambergris. Muscone and civetone are macrocyclic ketones, ambroxide is a cyclic ether.

Animalic Musk: To get as close as I could to actual deer musk I chose to use Animalid, which shares a lot of the same characteristics as standard white musk but maintains that fecal note. Now I know what you're thinking, but trust me, that note is used in many a popular, historic, and famous fragrance. It functions as a supportive actor and you would never know it was there, but you would if it wasn't. It is that primal element that adds an unmistakable depth to classic musk.

The Familiar Notes

As for the other notes that make up John Frum, I think most of our customers are familiar with them; Black Pepper, Sea Salt, and Royal Hawaiian Sandalwood. The sea salt was added not only for the relation to the theme of the fragrance but also because it worked so well with the Sicilian Cedrat. In combination they added a real zing and freshness. I think the black pepper can be included in that sentiment with the classic spiciness it delivers, which was a throwback to classic splashes. Sandalwood I just can't stay away from, but its use wasn't in vain for it truly grounded the entire blend.

So Who is this John Frum?

Well for one, this is probably one of the most epic modern musks available right now! Musks seem almost an afterthought to the rest of the world, but as I have mentioned many a time over the last few months, I see a BIG COMEBACK in effect!

I approached John Frum with serious intention, with a desire to capture that classic manly musk of yesteryear, the stuff they just don't make any more or seem to give a damn about. John Frum is more in line with what your grandpappy wore...an Instant Classic...however, more worldly and refined.

But back to the question at hand, who is this John Frum?

Well, it's not such an easy question to answer. You see, John Frum for lack of a better descriptor, is a god, at least to the well-meaning natives of the tiny island of Tanna located in the South Pacific. Sure, he looks like a WW2 era fighter pilot, but man does he have the power to make it rain precious cargo over the island!

Cargo Cult

The John Frum religion was born out of a cargo cult in the 1940s. During that time Japan and the USA were really going at it in the South Pacific, each had forces occupying different islands that would serve as pit stop type bases, where fighters could refresh & refuel then take off again and head back into battle.

The island of Tanna hosted both Japanese forces, and then eventually the USA. It is suspected that after the Japanese left the island a few American soldiers, most likely flyboys, were sent out to do recon and see if the coast was clear on Tanna, not only that, but if it would serve the missions purpose. 

All the while the poor, curious, wide eyed islanders watched as these two advanced world super powers occupied their land. They observed the strange rituals, men in uniform marching with boom sticks, saluting each other, the construction of air traffic towers, the strange signal dance done with flags and flares towards the heavens...all this and more, which when done correctly would clearly lead to the gods raining cargo down from the heavens!

It is highly probable that during these early recon missions, one of the pilots introduced himself to the natives.

"Hey fellas, I'm John, John from...New York, New Jersey, wherever..." 

But all they heard in their shock and amazement was "I am John Frum." 

Clearly, this strangely dressed man was a god. He may have even promised them that the USA was here now, and we were going to take care of them with lots of cargo. For a time, the natives did indeed receive many gifts from the soldiers, which reinforced their belief.

After the war ended the soldiers left the island, and this is when the cargo cult of John Frum was really born. The natives soon began building fake runways, air traffic towers and even fake straw aircraft. They carved wooden rifles and marched in formation. They lit signal fires and raised the American Flags on poles. All for precious cargo. After all, if these rituals they observed worked for the soldiers, surely it would work for them. One day soon John Frum would return to them with cargo in hand!

Now mind you, this is not an isolated event. Cargo Cults like this have popped up all over the world, and oddly enough share the same belief system. A few even still exist! This includes the John Frum and Tom Navy cults.

This is just another part of our curious war time history that I think a lot of folks missed out on. I find just as interesting as other, more famous events and phenomenon, if not more so! So, with all this in mind I made it my personal mission to put together a very special, classic scent that would somehow capture all this wackiness and wonder of a cargo cult. I got so into this project I nearly drugged myself into a coma...for real. 

Country of origin: USA