Re: Paperwhites enfleurage?

October 11, 2006

jimmyfresno123 <jimmyfresno@...> wrote:

non text has been taken out>>>>>>>>>>>>

Since I don't have a hydrostill, I was hoping maybe to try my hand at

enfleurage. I was imagining I could use a thin layer of refined lard

smothered with the fresh blossoms, covered with plastic wrap and placed

in the refrigerator overnight, repeating the process over a few weeks

with fresh petals daily. Am I being naive? Can anyone suggest if this

will give me the desired result?

Thanks

/

Hi .....sounds an absolutlely wonderful idea.... I would love to know how

it comes out.... I have never enfleuraged anything yet so I cannot offer any

useful advice about that...... only one thought ..... would the fridge be the

best place as cool closes up aroma.....not bringing it out.... but then

again I really do not know the process for this climate.....as far as lard

isn't there something more agreeable. I cannot remember off the top of my head

but in tahiti they enfleurage for their tiare flowers....or monoi de tahiti

another name for it, I wonder what they use for the base holder? Just found

it they use pure unrefined Coconut Oil..... but that might hinder the

smell...... maybe someone else can jump in and help here.

kind regards

Janita

ascent

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October 11, 2006

<jimmyfresno@...> wrote:

Here in Central California I'm blessed with an old garden full of

paperwhite narcissi that are soon to bloom.

<snip>>

Since I don't have a hydrostill, I was hoping maybe to try my hand at

enfleurage. I was imagining I could use a thin layer of refined lard

smothered with the fresh blossoms, covered with plastic wrap and

placed in the refrigerator overnight, repeating the process over a few

weeks with fresh petals daily. Am I being naive? Can anyone suggest if

this will give me the desired result?

Thanks

Hi ,

You ARE blessed! And I don't think you're being naive. We have a

styrax japonica outside our home that we finally decided to try an

enfleurage with this summer. We (my husband and I, not the Royal We)

smeared crisco on several dinner plates and then put the blossoms on

the crisco and put the plates together top-to-top so that two layers

of flowers were sandwiched inside the plates. We didn't refregerate

ours -- it seemed to us that the flowers would give up their scent

better if they weren't " slowed down " by the cool temperature of the

fridge.

We changed out the blossoms every day, throughout the two+ week bloom,

and we were rewarded with a nicely scented " goo " . Unfortunately,

because the " professionals " use a solvent to get the scent out of

the " goo " , and because I don't want to mess with solvent in our tiny

kitchen, I didn't know what to do with the " goo " , or how to get the

tiny bits of flower residue out of it, so it's currently in the

freezer, awaiting rescue.

But I'll just bet someone will chime in and let us both know what we

should do with the " goo " that you get from the enfleurage.

Best of luck to you -- please keep us posted on what you do and how it

turns out.

Andrine

October 12, 2006

Andrine, thanks for the ideas. The Crisco-smeared styrofoam plates are

exactly the kind of low-tech approach I was hoping to find. I am

imagining that using coconut oil, which liquifies at a lower

temperature, would somehow allow you to wash the essential oils out of

the " goo " you described by simply heating it a few degrees above room

temperature, which maybe would denature the volatile oils less?I am

sure some enfleurage expert is laughing at my naivete, or snickering

about the Crisco. In the beginning, they probably used goose fat, I'll

bet.

in my vivid fantasy life, the reason I justified putting the experiment

in the refrigerator was that I thought that it would duplicate the

darkness and lower temperatures during which narcissi release their

scent. (Tell me you've never smelled narcissi on a cool night). Let's

wait to see what someone suggests, then let's do it! If I get a useable

extract from the mess, I'll even send a couple drops to you and we can

make sickeningly cloying dusting powders with it to sell at Walgreens.

We can call our product " Nuit de la Doux Vomissement, " " Jardin

Vulgare, " or along the lines of " Dzing! " we can just call it " BLEHHH! "

October 12, 2006

>>>>>non text has been removed etc.........

From what I can gather Andrine and you may need to scour the fat so the

petals adhere to it..... and then change about every 5 days.....for up to 60

days....then washed through with alcohol.

you can check out a website here that runs a short film on enfleurage.....

www.museesdegrasse.com

Hope this is helpful

fragrantly

Janita

---------------------------------

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October 12, 2006

Hi To the Crisco enfleurage brigade,

How cool and fun you did that. You might consider experimenting with

your precious goo in small batches. Bring some to room temp, in a

small jar, and stir in some botanical alcohol, let it sit in a dark

place for a few days, shaking every so often; then pour off the result

and see how it smells. You might even add some mobile eo's with the

alcohol, in another batch, because they would act as solvents there

too, to make the start of a perfume.

Best,

Debbie

October 12, 2006

, thanks for the information on leaf lard for enfleurage! I just

ordered a small amount for rendering from FlyingPigs Farm, which is

willing to ship it regular mail if I assume liability for the product.

This will be a fun project for the cooler weather. I have some time

before the paperwhites bloom to prepare the fat. Thanks! Would

appreciate any further hints about infusing time for flowers, washing

lard (is it at room temperature? Then do you evaporate off a lot of the

alcohol to concentrate the fragrance?) This is cool stuff.

October 12, 2006

Janita, this was a fascinating exhibit. Thank you. I can see that this

took an incredible amount of work and isn't cost effective on a mass

production scale, but for the home enthusiast like me, this should be

quite interesting. Thanks

October 12, 2006

wound up with a very nice pomade. you then take

> this pomade and

> " wash " it in perfumers alcohol. (i used a kitchenaid

> mixer) it has to wash

> and wash for a long time. a whole lot of work, but

> it was fun, and

> i love doing things like that.

what was the fianl result? violet enfleurage? how

much? I have wondered how beeswax would work? maybe a

mixure of beeswax and coconut and maybe jojoba to

create a greasier wax that isnt made of animal?

ez

__________________________________________________

October 12, 2006

wound up with a very nice pomade. you then take

> this pomade and

> " wash " it in perfumers alcohol. (i used a kitchenaid

> mixer) it has to wash

> and wash for a long time. a whole lot of work, but

> it was fun, and

> i love doing things like that.

what was the fianl result? violet enfleurage? how

much? I have wondered how beeswax would work? maybe a

mixure of beeswax and coconut and maybe jojoba to

create a greasier wax that isnt made of animal?

ez

__________________________________________________

October 12, 2006

jimmyfresno123 <jimmyfresno@...> wrote: Janita, this was a fascinating

exhibit. Thank you. I can see that this

took an incredible amount of work and isn't cost effective on a mass

production scale, but for the home enthusiast like me, this should be

quite interesting. Thanks

>>>>>>>>>>>

You're more than welcome........ looks like that you have some great ideas

that have been pitched in from NPrs.........let me know how it works out..... We

bought a semi ancient bluebell wood which is smothered in spring........ I

wonder what would yield the best perfume (Iif at all?) enfleurage or tincturing.

So I will be very interested on how your gorgeous paperwhites get on.... they

are so heady...... In winter I place a load of bulb in a shallow decorative bowl

and cover with loose shingle and they flower and scent the whole room.... same

as hyacinth bulbs too.

Has anyone tried either on bluebells (scilla non- scripta variety )? I have

made an interesting bluebell cologne with a hyacinth absolute ........ and some

resins ...... I would walk there in the evening inhaling their heady aroma.....

and when I first started making it I would be missing a note...... a sharp

greeness...... which later I was able to fathom....... but it took a while....

Because in the end it isn't just the flower one smells in its natural

environment it is the other perfumes that interact ie.....leaf mould,( another

tincture idea coming) damp greenness and warmth (if the sun is out)

That is why I mentioned about the cold..... on a cold day the bluebells

hardly smelt at all..... but after a warm sunny day the perfume was

intoxicating......along with everything else.

I have noticed the same with natural perfumes....... the cold keeps them

closed and the warmth opens them up.

Janita

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October 12, 2006