Re: Orchid & Muguet

[Guest guest]

At 07:41 AM 12/9/2006, you wrote:.

>I have a borrowed copy of Kaiser's Fragrance of Orchids. Delightful

>with plenty of GC analyses of orchid fragrances. Lists Phalaenopsis

>violacea var. Borneo (now known as P. bellina) that I'm following to

>create an EO replicate.

>

>This hasn't been terribly easy, since I'm translating his chemical

>signatures into a group of EO's with similar partial signatures

>without adding notes that don't exist in the real thing. Out of the

>bottle (alc. base), I'm getting a strong, clashing lemon that settles

>quickly. The problem seems to be getting past the first minute.

Hi

Just checking back to see what further progress has occurred. I'm

very interested in the Kaiser book, so you've sent me on the hunt for

it. About the " out of the bottle " -- perfumers don't sniff stuff out

of the bottle. We use a scent strip, diffusion, or our skin, and wait

a minute. OFten the alcohol is the cause for the strength that is overwhelming.

>I'd appreciate recommendations on how to put some more control into

>the first blast. An oil base works well for this, but would prefer to

>end up with an alc base. I have some resinoids (benzoin,

>frankincense) as fixatives already, so would prefer some other

>fixative. Blend #7 has aged a few weeks - can I hope that it will

>meld with time?

Sometimes the first blast is just to be ignored, beleive it or not.

Many very, very popular perfumes have opening notes that jar people.

For whatever reason -- maybe the perfumer just liked that blast, or

their client did - so it's kept. I have seen hundreds of perfume

reviews when the reviewer says " after I got past the first notes " ......

I would evaluate what it meant to the scent - did I have to have it

to create the complete perfume? If you were more specific, maybe we

could help as to what it bothering you. You say lemon, but what lemon

are you using?

Also, tell us if you still need fixative advice. Without knowing the

formula you're creating to recreate the orchid scent, we can't help.

I could say oakmoss, but that could ruin the effect you're looking for.

and yes, stuff does meld and mellow -- or grow! -- with time. You

have to be patient and reevaluate.

Anya McCoy

Anya's Garden of Natural Perfume http://anyasgarden.com

Artisan Natural Perfumers Guild http://artisannaturalperfumers.org

Natural Perfumers Community Group

/

[Guest guest]

> Just checking back to see what further progress has occurred. I'm

> very interested in the Kaiser book, so you've sent me on the hunt

for it.

Thanks for the advise - I am testing the diluted eo blend on my skin

& using testing strips. I had been using unbleached paper cut into

strips, then bought some 'professional' strips in my latest order.

The blend does seem to be evening out with time - though there is

still a grapefruit blast at the beginning, whether diluted with

alcohol or jojoba. There are plenty of different citrus eo's in the

blend, but no grapefruit...

I do have a variety of balsams in the blend to provide fixation and

a vanilla base (styrax & benzoin) & a teensy bit of oakmoss.

One of the eo's I count as 'citrusy' is frankincense - have gotten

frankincense eo from 4 sources & each smells differently. I'm

wondering if I should have used frankincense tincture/resinoid

instead of all eo. I made a tincture that I dried down to the goo

stage & it's highly fragrant, mixes with eo's, and appears to have a

better fixative quality than frankincense eo.

I don't think any of the frankincense eo's I purchased are fake -

the source material seems to have a lot to do with the resulting

oil. I also distilled 3 different batches of frankincense tears

from different sources. They seem to grade it pretty well - the

most costly resin produced the best oil.

I sent the Kaiser book back to Lovely in North Carolina after

photocopying the GC signatures of a few of the 'important' species

(aka those I'd like to reproduce). Those places that have the book

for sale want mucho dinero. Orchid books tend to be like college

texts - printed in the low thousands & priced accordingly. If you

run across an interesting fragrant orchid species (not hard in S.

Florida where many people grow them) I could ask if it's in

the book & copyable.

BTW, have you ever gone down to Homestead to the orchid nurseries?

It's a little wonderland among the tomato fields - I go down each

spring for the Redland Orchid Festival.

[Guest guest]

>

Had to look something up...

I went by Macy's the other day to exchange a present & found myself

inexplicably drawn to the perfume counter - where most stuff smelled

incredibly similar & unnatural. I was about to give up when I saw a

sign for Shiseido - among Japan's oldest perfumeries.

One scent definitely caught my attention - I think it

was " Energizing " . The scent was remarkably reminiscent of an orchid

and I think it may be a reconstruction of Cymbidium goeringii or

Cym. sinense.

I did a web search to find the name of the perfume & came across an

article about the company president, Fukuhara Yoshiharu. Seems he's

an avid orchid grower. Cymbidium goeringii has a long history in

Japan - some family cultivars are hundreds of years old &

traditionally only divided on the occasion of a child's wedding.

They are collected based on foliage and fragrance - a very unwestern

concept which makes it difficult to obtain plants here. My plants

of sinense will bloom soon, followed by goeringii in late February -

so I can get a better idea of which the perfumer had in mind.

[Guest guest]

>

>>

> Had to look something up...

>

> I went by Macy's the other day to exchange a present & found myself

> inexplicably drawn to the perfume counter - where most stuff smelled

> incredibly similar & unnatural. I was about to give up when I saw a

> sign for Shiseido - among Japan's oldest perfumeries.

>

> One scent definitely caught my attention - I think it

> was " Energizing " . The scent was remarkably reminiscent of an orchid

> and I think it may be a reconstruction of Cymbidium goeringii or

> Cym. sinense.

>

> I did a web search to find the name of the perfume & came across an

> article about the company president, Fukuhara Yoshiharu. Seems he's

> an avid orchid grower. Cymbidium goeringii has a long history in

> Japan - some family cultivars are hundreds of years old &

> traditionally only divided on the occasion of a child's wedding.

> They are collected based on foliage and fragrance - a very unwestern

> concept which makes it difficult to obtain plants here. My plants

> of sinense will bloom soon, followed by goeringii in late February -

> so I can get a better idea of which the perfumer had in mind.

>

>

Dear ,

I have very much enjoyed several of the perfumes of the Shiseido line..I

have not experienced 'Energizing' however plan on searching it out this

week...I am a true fan of the orchid and will be looking for more in Feb.

While living in Maui I was able to go to many orchid farms and something

about the orchid just takes my breath away..so gorgeous.

I really like Shiseido's Murasaki which means velvet in Japanese...I am

not positive but I believe I read somewhere Lutens and Muldrake created

it. When I first experienced it I got the image of a quaint french

romantic garden with an ivey and floral trellis brick walks and a

nostalgia for something I have never witnessed...and finding the name

means velvet and not romantic floral garden didn't change the image of the

way this perfume affects me...Do you know the artist that created

Energizing...wondering if its Lutens? Well can't wait to hear more

looking forward to it.

Happy New Year

Lesle