A Natural Perfumers Journal

I have in my collection 5 Lavenders. Lavender absolute, ORIGIN: Seville Spain (Lavendula luisieri) AKA: LS Lavender essential oil, ORIGIN: French Provence (Lavender angustifolia) AKA: LF Lavender essential oil, ORIGIN: Indian Kashmir (Lavender angustifolia) AKA: LK Lavandin Abrialis, ORIGIN: French (Lavandula hybrida) AKA: LA Lavender absolute, ORIGIN: Bulgaria (Lavendula angustafolia) AKA: LB I am going to go through a process of comparing and contrasting these lavenders. I know them all fairly well already but let's just see. Lavender & Time & Description LS --------- 20:48 - warm, rich, soft, woody floral, middle note LS --------- 20:59- mellow, woody, round, leafy LS --------- 21:09 - mellow, papery, soft woody, dry LS --------- 21:30 - woody, papery, balsamic LF --------- 20:52 - sharp, clean, herbal, top note LF --------- 21:01-softer, although still a little sharp, crisp LF --------- 21:10 - very clean, crisp, herbal, green, a little dry LF --------- 21:41 - cri...

I placed an order with a company I love a few weeks ago and then I sort of forgot about it. A big box of goodies arrived and I opened it excitedly (think of a kid on Christmas morning). I had a fair idea what was in the box. I could smell the Labdanum immediately (I'll talk about that later). But at the bottom of the box was a large canister. I was perplexed. "What is this?" I asked myself, I opened the container and took a sniff. I instinctively use my nose to recognise materials rather than the label (it's good practice). I didn't recognise it, I liked it but I knew I had never smelled it before in any form. I looked at the label. Tolubalsam. Smells like warm (mouth watering now I've got my head stuck in the can. I'm sure this stuff would get me high if I keep smelling it) vanilla toffee biscuits (cookies). I can see it crystallized in the can. It looks solid. "How am I going to get it out" I wondered. I later place the whole tin in a bainmarie...

After countless trials and a couple of weeks to let them sit and marry, one of the blackcurrant blends has come up trumps (become a perfume). Interestingly it is the one I thought would be the worst disaster, where I threw caution to the wind and went for *punk*. It is a complex blend. Classification: Fruity/Gourmand The top notes are ripe and fruity. The heart is very soft, floral and sweet and the base is warm musky vanilla. The perfume is tenacious and ripe, lasting over 6 hours on the skin. This is a perfume for the person who is not afraid to be different. It is for women. Call it CRASS, but it's good!