Re: Alfred's Perfume Organ

[Guest guest]

>

> Hi Alfred, Everyone:

>

> I was checking out the " new photos " when I saw Alfred's neat and bright

> work area and organized perfume organ. I've got to get some photos

of my

> wild and crazy work area up there soon, everyone is so eager to share!

>

> Alfred, tell me -- the colored coded labels on the tops -- isn't that

> Mandy's system? Didn't you tell me you studied with her? I have my own

> system -- organized in boxes or shelves by type - wood, floral, citrus,

> etc., not top/middle/base. Mine are alphabetized (roughly) and it works

> very well for me.

> /spnew

>

> Did that place you got the perfume bottles with the dissolving caps

ever

> make it right?

>

>

> Anya

> http://anyasgarden.com/perfumes.htm Parfums Natural

> http://artisannaturalperfumers.com The Artisan Natural Perfumers Guild

> http://.com The Premier Natural Perfume Site Gateway

>

Nice workspace Alfred, thanks for sharing. How do you manage to have

all the bottles the same style/size, it makes it look so orderly and

neat. Mine are all different. I found a cool site they seem to supply

very nice apothecary style bottles with rubber droppers and amber

bottles with glass stoppers. They ship over seas so I think I might

try to order a few bits from them.

http://www.lab-stuff.com/p_g_reagent.asp

TTFN

Ruth

[Guest guest]

On Aug 19, 2006, at 5:27 PM, Anya wrote:

> Hi Alfred, Everyone:

>

> I was checking out the " new photos " when I saw Alfred's neat and

> bright

> work area and organized perfume organ. I've got to get some photos of

> my

> wild and crazy work area up there soon, everyone is so eager to share!

> Alfred, tell me -- the colored coded labels on the tops -- isn't that

> Mandy's system? Didn't you tell me you studied with her? I have my own

> system -- organized in boxes or shelves by type - wood, floral,

> citrus,

> etc., not top/middle/base. Mine are alphabetized (roughly) and it

> works

> very well for me.

> /spnew

>

> Did that place you got the perfume bottles with the dissolving caps

> ever

> make it right?

>

> Anya

Hiya Anya,

Well, it has to be said that my neat and bright work area wasn't too

neat until shortly after lunch today, when I tidied it and took the

photos. :-)

That said, the basic arrangement of the base note/middle note/top note

bottles (mostly half-ounce bottles) remains exactly the same whether

the surface is messy (usually) or not (more rarely), as I have learned

that it's much smoother a process to always have each bottle in exactly

the same place while I'm working, rather like always having the blue

paint in one particular spot on a palette, to make an analogy. It's

not alphabetical, but was initially arranged according to the frequency

with which I used each aromatic, the least-often used in the rear of

the little boxes, and the more often used ones up front. Once I had

the basic arrangement, as idiosyncratic as it was (I think your idea of

alphabetizing is probably a better idea, frankly...), I decided to keep

it exactly the same, so, for instance, I can always find the Vanuatu

Sandalwood right next to the Olibanum in the second row from the front,

second to the right, etc. Definitely worth further thought is grouping

according to type - wood, floral, etc., as you had mentioned above.

There is a small box arranged similarly which lives in the fridge, with

the citruses in it. But the rest of them are arranged only by which

note they fall under.

I did get the idea of color coding the tops of the caps after Mandy,

whose marvellous system and immaculate workspace I am always in awe of.

I do not recall what colors Mandy uses or whether she arranges

base-middle-top from left to right or whether it's the reverse (as a

pianist I naturally put the base notes to the left, corresponding to

the bass range), but I found three colors of round sticky labels in the

local Walgreens and decided that green was good for base, fuschia for

middle, and yellow for top notes, and then I found that if I wrote the

name of the aromatic on top of each bottle on its colored label, that I

didn't have to pick up a bottle to read the label on the side. It's

amazing how the application of consistent method will speed up and

harmonize the process of blending and really minimize the amount of

stress and scattered-ness. And Mandy's methods are the basis for my

learning.

I think it's *because* I tend to be so scattered and a-methodical that

I decided to apply method from the word go, and it's a good thing. :-)

Of course, even though the basic arrangement never changes, all of the

open spaces on my work surface is usually prime real estate for an

ever-growing chaotic array of teeny accord bottles. Before I cleaned

up the perfume organ today there were some two hundred 1/16 ounce amber

or cobalt bottles of accord experiments all over the place - yikes!

Re: the dissolving perfume bottle tops - yes, the store folks were

aghast and immediately refunded my money. At first the counterperson

wasn't exactly clear on what the problem was and offered me a

replacement bottle, but it was the same kind of bottle and I had to

explain again that the same thing would happen with a new bottle too,

since they were all made the same way. I haven't been back to the shop

but I suggested that they might want to warn customers that

alcohol-based fragrances will undo the glue, and from this point I'll

stick to screw-tops and ground-glass stoppers. It sure was a pretty

bottle, but it sure isn't anymore...

BTW - I have to say that it was the idea of everybody putting photos of

their respective perfume organs up on the site that inspired me to

tidy!

Alfred

[Guest guest]

On Aug 19, 2006, at 7:42 PM, Ruth Ruane wrote:

> Nice workspace Alfred, thanks for sharing. How do you manage to have

> all the bottles the same style/size, it makes it look so orderly and

> neat. Mine are all different. I found a cool site they seem to supply

> very nice apothecary style bottles with rubber droppers and amber

> bottles with glass stoppers. They ship over seas so I think I might

> try to order a few bits from them.

> http://www.lab-stuff.com/p_g_reagent.asp

>

> TTFN

> Ruth

Almost all of the aromatics I bought in half-ounce quantities, hence

the consistency. What we don't see in the photograph is the big hunky

metal gallon container of perfume alcohol, or the Basket of Chaos

(read: nest of cleaned eyedroppers).

Really, one of these days I shall transfer everything into bottles with

built-in eyedroppers, since cleaning fifty glass eyedroppers every time

I work gets wicked old!

Alfred

[Guest guest]

At 12:52 AM 8/20/2006, you wrote:

>Hiya Anya,

>

>Well, it has to be said that my neat and bright work area wasn't too

>neat until shortly after lunch today, when I tidied it and took the

>photos. :-)

I sometimes manage to keep my studio neat for about five hours, and then

the process of chaos starts again. I can't wait until I move and get a

larger studio -- a lot of my problem is lack of space, despite having four

huge cabinets and a file cabinet and 10' of table.

>It's

>not alphabetical, but was initially arranged according to the frequency

>with which I used each aromatic, the least-often used in the rear of

>the little boxes, and the more often used ones up front.

Alfred, honey, you got to learn to love them all ;-) LOL! I cracked up when

I read this, I would never think of relegating (gak!) vetiver to the back.

I've learned to love, and use, all the aromatics. OK, well, maybe not cumin!

>Once I had

>the basic arrangement, as idiosyncratic as it was (I think your idea of

>alphabetizing is probably a better idea, frankly...), I decided to keep

>it exactly the same, so, for instance, I can always find the Vanuatu

>Sandalwood right next to the Olibanum in the second row from the front,

>second to the right, etc. Definitely worth further thought is grouping

>according to type - wood, floral, etc., as you had mentioned above.

It's worked well for me for years. Sure, some woods are more of a middle

than a base note, but I think like a botanist, and it works for me.

>I did get the idea of color coding the tops of the caps after Mandy,

>whose marvellous system and immaculate workspace I am always in awe of.

I should take a copy of her workspace from her site and put it in our photo

section. It is quite impressive!

It's

>amazing how the application of consistent method will speed up and

>harmonize the process of blending and really minimize the amount of

>stress and scattered-ness. And Mandy's methods are the basis for my

>learning.

You and Mandy use the color system, I use plain white stickers. I had a

hard time finding 1/2 inch! All the stores carried 3/4 and above, even

Avery denied they had them, and I had their inventory number, lol. Finally

got them online. Found the 3/4 inch ones kept coming off because of the

overlap. I use a broad Sharpie and put the first three letters of the name

of the oil on the top.

>Before I cleaned

>up the perfume organ today there were some two hundred 1/16 ounce amber

>or cobalt bottles of accord experiments all over the place - yikes!

Yep, same here...except... I do put them back in their box with dividers,

with the caps all named, as above. I use clear bottles because I like to

see the color of the juice. I also have dram bottles for more complex blends.

>BTW - I have to say that it was the idea of everybody putting photos of

>their respective perfume organs up on the site that inspired me to

>tidy!

I wish more people would put their pics up on the Members Photos section,

so we can put a face to a name. My photo up there is goofy, and been there

since day one, so I'm going to get a new one up there soon.

Anya

http://anyasgarden.com/perfumes.htm Parfums Natural

http://artisannaturalperfumers.com The Artisan Natural Perfumers Guild

http://.com The Premier Natural Perfume Site Gateway

[Guest guest]

At 10:42 PM 8/19/2006, you wrote:

I found a cool site they seem to supply

>very nice apothecary style bottles with rubber droppers and amber

>bottles with glass stoppers. They ship over seas so I think I might

>try to order a few bits from them.

>http://www.lab-stuff.com/p_g_reagent.asp

Is this the page you were referencing, Ruth?

http://www.lab-stuff.com/p_g_dropping.asp

Just remember to lay in an extra supply of rubber tops, as they will

disintegrate in time.

>

Anya

http://anyasgarden.com/perfumes.htm Parfums Natural

http://artisannaturalperfumers.com The Artisan Natural Perfumers Guild

http://.com The Premier Natural Perfume Site Gateway

[Guest guest]

>

> Is this the page you were referencing, Ruth?

> http://www.lab-stuff.com/p_g_dropping.asp

> Just remember to lay in an extra supply of rubber tops, as they will

> disintegrate in time.

>

> >

>

> Anya

> http://anyasgarden.com/perfumes.htm Parfums Natural

> http://artisannaturalperfumers.com The Artisan Natural Perfumers Guild

> http://.com The Premier Natural Perfume Site Gateway

>

Thanks Anya thats the one!

Ruth