A Natural Perfumers Journal

Dylan Thomas - In The Beginning In the beginning was the three-pointed star, One smile of light across the empty face, One bough of bone across the rooting air, The substance forked that marrowed the first sun, And, burning ciphers on the round of space, Heaven and hell mixed as they spun. In the beginning was the pale signature, Three-syllabled and starry as the smile, And after came the imprints on the water, Stamp of the minted face upon the moon; The blood that touched the crosstree and the grail Touched the first cloud and left a sign. In the beginning was the mounting fire That set alight the weathers from a spark, A three-eyed, red-eyed spark, blunt as a flower, Life rose and spouted from the rolling seas, Burst in the roots, pumped from the earth and rock The secret oils that drive the grass. In the beginning was the word, the word That from the solid bases of the light Abstracted all the letters of the void; And from the cloudy bases of the breath The word flowed up, translati...

The peach, Prunus persica is a summer fruit that originated in China. It is typically soft, sweet and juicy when ripe. The skin is a deep yellow with pink and dark red accents. It has a soft 'fuzzy' or velvety texture. The flesh can be white or deep yellow in colour. There is a stone in the center of the peach that is hard and rough. Inside the stone there is a soft nut that looks like an almond. If someone who had never eaten a ripe peach asked me to describe what it is like to eat one this is what I would say: It is only worth your while eating a fully ripe peach. You find out if it is ripe by holding it in your hand. It should be at room temperature or even slightly warm. Press gently at the top of the peach near the stalk. If it is ripe it should yield to the touch, like butter out of the fridge. Hold it up to your nose and smell. A ripe peach smells delicate, floral and sweet, with an edge of woody green. It is easy to bite into a ripe peach. In fact if the peach is prope...

Phytonic rose extract - South Africa (damascena): Gorgeous toffee caramel sweet rose with spicy green undertones. Phytonic rose extract from musk rose - South Africa: Deep sultry rose, moody and luscious. Rose leaf absolute -South Africa: Sweet green hay-like, tobacco leaf undertones. Arctander says about rose leaf absolute, 'When creating a rose perfume or a rose base, the perfumer is often interested in notes that will give him the reproduction of the leaves, the fragrance of the foliage which forms such an important part of the rose gamut; the bouquet of roses is not complete without it.' P.556 Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin by Steffan Arctander. Jasmine grandiflorum C02 from concrete France: Light fruity floral, fresh sweet smoothness, has candy like notes. Jasmine auriculatum hydro-distilled essence (distilled from concrete) : Spicy heady floral with green undertones. Jasmine sambac hydro-distilled essence from concrete: Sweet clean floral, with intense e...

Pink pepper oil; Shinus molle, is an oil that is steam distilled from the fruits of a tree called the Californian pepper tree or the peruvian pepper tree. The tree grows wild in many tropical regions. The fruit was first distilled for use in the perfumery trade when there was a scarcity of black pepper oil and it was used as a substitute. It is described by Steffan Arctander in his book Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin on page 583 as "...whose odor is fresh, woody-peppery, warm-spicy with a somewhat sharp or dry, smoky woody undertone." Black pepper oil; Piper nigrum, is a steam distilled oil from the fruits of the black pepper vine. The vine, piper nigrum, grows wild in parts of India. Most of the fruits from the peppercorn vine are used in the food industry and only a small fraction is actually distilled for the perfumery trade. Steffan Arctander in his book Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin on page 516 and 517 describes black pepper as ...

Having struggled hard over the last few evenings, making concoctions that smell nothing like I want them to, a penny dropped this morning. I had been reading the Secret of Scent by Luca Turin and, in the book Mr Turin goes into great detail about the different chemicals that make up the most famous synthetic perfumes. I also learned about orris butter with it's complex mix of irones and what Luca describes as "it's magnificent, melancholy smell". He says when orris notes are used properly they "exude a frosty luxury which everyone falls in love with sooner or later". I also learned how experienced perfumers and chemists have created rose smells which have none of the heavy oily counterparts found in natural rose extracts. He speaks about transparent florals in a way that makes me want to sample some of these synthesized chemical groups. Instead I get to thinking of new ways of taking the natural essences and brightening them and making them translucen...

"common everybody..." seriously though, I was delivered the most delicious red mandarin cold pressed oil the other day. I'm not a lover of citrus oils, they are too...flighty, but I fell in love with this one: citrus deliciosa tenore (C. reticulanta Blanco) Origin; Italy. It has the usual bite one's nose would expect from a citrus. Just a little nip, then after that it's sugar. There's a peaches blossom sweetness that reminds me of smelling my baby girls sun kissed hair. I began to ask myself; What will I blend it with first? I chose orris butter. Orris butter is the rich with the smooth. It's the sublime with the earthy. It's the delicate flowers that die before we get them home. The two together said "we love each other but we want to have a threesome, look there's Tuberose over there in her bikini". O God, I can hear their orgasmic cries from here... Actually when I blended them together. I was surprised. I didn't reall...

Funny what kids teach us. I have a 6 year old son who is learning how to draw. He is very intent on learning and sometimes he gets frustrated because he can't draw what he wants, how he wants. I remember being advised by a very good art teacher to " draw what I see and not what I think I see ". I relayed that message to my son and set him up with some exercises to help him practice. He knows he has to make mistakes so that he can learn . So, he was drawing Spiderman and he was doing a very good job as he had beside him a print-out of Spiderman that he could look at. "Draw what you see", I kept thinking it and then later on I took that idea into my studio. Yesterday evening I was at the rough end of a learning curve and I was feeling frustrated. I needed to look at the art of natural perfumery differently if I was going to move up to the next level. So "Make what I smell, not what I think I smell?" how might that work? I suppose I could take a perfume,...

Opoponax and Cassie, two friends of mine. They met in September and by June they had turned the moon blue. What's your blue moon?

Everybody here at White Witch was so impressed by the standard of Nathaniel Musselman's Kyphi that we wanted him to make something new especially for us. Kyphi is used to relax and help sleep so we asked for something that was going to stimulate and excite and fire people with enthusiasm. We wanted an incense that could be burned at celebrations, at parties, while doing creative work and while dancing, singing and studying. Our expectations were exceeded by miles as Jaguars Breath suits it all and so much more. Nathaniel began his investigating and studying for the project. He kept us informed every step of the way. His passion and his attention to detail go hand in hand with his creative genius. Every ingredient used was chosen with care and attention to purity and quality. Jaguar's Breath is Mesoamerican inspired and heavily influenced by Aztec and Mayan components. Nathaniel began the arduous task of expeimenting with different blends and materials. Jaguar's breath ha...

Lately labdanum has been calling to me, from the shelf. I have a smidgen of Mandy Aftels labdanum which I am saving as there is nigh only a drop or two left. I have a thick golden syrup colored labdanum which was bottled by A Little Ol' Factory and which I like well enough and a dark molasses like labdanum by Eden Botanicals. I also have a sticky tar like black raw labdanum which is mouth wateringly delicious to smell. So calling to me they were for over 2 weeks and tonight I answered. I went to my organ and I took down the dark labdanum from Eden Botanicals and it cried "the boronia, the boronia". I took a little vial and I let that voice tell me how many drops of each to put in the vial and what a wonderful beautiful accord they made together. Suddenly the labdanum isn't labdanum, and the boronia isn't boronia. It's something else, something new. Its light and dark, like day and night. It's rich and warm. It's smooth and sweet. Then the cedarwood sho...

These are handmade origami flowers. Each flowers sits atop a paper stem. There is a "wick" running through the center of the flower and it is infused with pure jasmine sambac concrete. Origami flowers are presented as garlands, you know, all strung together, called a kusadami . I had just made a flower and something made me lean over and cut a length of string from the spool that sat in the basket on my bench. Within 10 minutes and without leaving my seat (everything I needed just seemed to be within reach) I had made a scented origami flower on a stem. I immediately wrapped them in the cellophane to save the scent for the person who opens them.

I decided the other night that, even though I dislike technicalities intensely, I was going to get my head around perfume classifications. Knowing my perfume classifications means that when I smell a perfume I will be able to say, for example, if it's a floral/amber perfume or a floral bouquet. I see it as a bit like knowing the difference between classical and jazz in music. It's really important! Anyway, to help cement the whole thing in my head, I made up two sentences using the initial letter of each classification for the start of every word in my sentence. Have a look! ( The sentence runs up the side of the posters). The sentences I made up I can easily remember, they don't really make sense but that's not the point. The point is that now I know my perfume classifications and can list them off by heart: ) My nose does the job of recognizing where the various perfumes go, it's putting a name on them I was having trouble with. These posters I designed myself to ...

When I think of the country I think of hay, I think of sweet honey, I think of familiar places and I think of my Mother. Genet reminds me of the country. I picked Genet absolute out yesterday (I love a challenge) and I placed it with Hay absolute. I'm still not sure though if they are going to be OK together, it seems that a lot of the time my nose is picking out similarities in essences, for example the fact that Genet has hay like notes and I chose Hay absolute to go with it in an accord. I'm thinking maybe that's just too much hay? Here are some observations I made as I was looking for other essences to go in the blend. Geranium and Genet - not compatible at all- a big NO! Cardamom absolute with Genet - not compatible with Genet- another big fat NO! Geranium and Cardamom-sort of compatible (but that's another blend) Cannabis tincture and Genet -Another NO! Geranium and Cannabis Tincture- NO! NO! Clove and Genet - SO NO! Clove and Geranium-YES! (but no ...

Do you know something? When I ordered Elemi Crude Resin I wasn't expecting what I got. I always found Elemi Essential Oil to be sort of boring and medicinal and I couldn't imagine really using it all that much in perfumery. But I wanted to experience the resin just to see what it was like. It came in a solid block that had the consistency of hard butter. Yielding to a firm press of the thumb. As I peeled off the layers of wrapping the smell became stronger and stronger. I plopped the whole raw block of resin out on my work bench and looked at it. An opaque creamy white mass with shades of yellow and darker cream, bits of bark and seeds and even what look liked flower petals were embedded in it. Essential oils glistened in it's cracks. It smells like a soft peppery pine thats got a sort of a citrus tang to it, but what I love is the woody background note that is like warm wood. Arctander says of Elemi Crude Resin solvent extract or absolute "This is a very i...

Not fully finished, I have an old pine country dresser that I am modifying. I put extra "steps" in so I could bring all my essences up to eye level and now I have room for base, middle and top (the top is divided in two, floral herbal and citrus at the top and woodsy floral spice on the lower step of the top shelf. That's a great big block of Elemi resin in the basket on the left. Lovely stuff which deserves a journal entry of it's own. My mandala is there and a photo of my grandmother. I still have a lot of work to do to make my studio how I want it.

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!

As a child I remember playing under the row of blackcurrant bushes that grew along the side of our path. I recall some children complaining that the bushes smelled like cat pee when they brushed past the leaves. But I loved the smell. I would rub the leaves and stems and buds just to get the smell. I loved the way it smelled on skin. To me it wasn't cat pee, but a green fruity peppery smell. When I ordered a small amount of blackcurrant bud absolute I could already imagine what it was going to be like. When it arrived I smelled the outside of the bottle before I opened it and there I was back in my yard in early summer like a child again. I want to make a perfume with it that I would have liked at that age. Something sweet, something strong, something bursting with life, something that would be *too much* for Mom, and Granny. I have made almost a dozen different experimental blends and I will leave them alone for a while. I have an idea more now of where I want the perfume to go. I...

First Whiff 1. Himalayan geranium: initial smell is sweet, light and floral. 2. Atlantic bourbon geranium (certified organic): initial smell is dry, floral and slightly bitter. 3, Anatolian bourbon geranium: initial smell, rounder and also dry. More floral than the Atlantic. After 2 minutes 1. Light and sweet but drying out slightly, not at all bitter. A sweet floral note. 2. Much dryer, becoming more leafy now and a green tinge coming through. 3. Also much dryer but becoming more fruity than leafy, more of a soft fruity floral. After 5 minutes 1. Is still light and now fruity floral, still more sweet than dry. 2. A distinct bitterness which is not present in the Himalayan geranium, a dry floral note. 3. No bitterness, the more fruity of the three. After 10 minutes 1. A definite citrus note coming in from nowhere, lifting this one up again, mmmmh I'm really enjoying the Himalayan geranium. 2. A softer herbal tea type note, less bitter and a little cloying compared to the Himalayan ...