Re: Davana EO blends?

[Guest guest]

Pretty tricky oil it is, Helena!

I started using it only recently, and I think it's a love-it-or-hate

it scent (it took me a while to ignore what Anya's opinion of it is,

and I won't repeat it here, hoping she wouldn't either!). Very tricky

and can easily dominate. I used it in a perfume I am going to release

next year which is a ylang ylang soliflore. It has ylang ylang (of

course), geranium bourbon, davana, clementine, vetiver and vanilla and

everything was balanced out really well. It was used as an accessory

note to support the fruitiness of the ylang (and so was the clementine).

I haven't got enough experience with it, but these are a few ideas I

would like to try for myself, and would like to share with you cause I

don't think they're half bad:

Cognac absolute -

to accentuate it's wine-like tones

Also Osmanthus absolute might be interesting. It has certain rich wine

like quality about it in a way too.

Rose -

As it's a full bodied honeyed floral I think that might work. Rose

really workd with everything and balances things out.

> rich fruity but somewhat dry oil. It seems to blend well with

> frankinsense, cardamon, cajeput and bergamot, these support it and give

> it sparkle, but it still dominates and is too fruity.

I realy like the idea of the cardamom. I think spices will work really

well with davana. Kind of balance out the sweetness but still have

that warm and full bodied quality.

The frankincense sounds good too. I am imagning an accord of incense,

davana, cardamom, ylang and maybe even some geranium bourbon and I

think it will be quite fantastic... Black pepper might do it some

justice too, don't you think?

> Lime and petitgrain makes it musty and nauseating.

- I would go for sweeter citruses, like sweet orange, grapefruit,

mandarin, clementine... Rather than the green and dry ones. I don't

even want to imagine it with lime (well, I AM imagining it as a

combination between a fruit syrup and a cleaning product! But this is

my association with lime, it needs to be balanced by very specific

notes for me to not smell too cleaning-agent-like).

Come to think of it now, it might work well with helicrysum absolute

as well! Taking a tobacco-flavouring direction, a berry flavoured

tobacco is quite an interesting take, so you may want to try that

route, but be really careful with the proportions and add each note

gradually.

Lastly, Davana is so powerful you really need to be sure to not overdo

it. Just a drop or two may be enough depending on the composition. So

use it very light handedly (we all know it's easy to add drops, but

impossible to take them out).

Let us know what you found out in your Davana adventures!

Ayala Sender

www.AyalaMoriel.com

www.SmellyBlog.com

[Guest guest]

> Davana EO blends?

> Date: Mon, 01 Jan 2007 03:06:31 -0000

>

>

> I'd love some suggestions from people who have used Davana successfully

> in a blend and liked the results. Or if anyone knows of a finished

> perfume that successfully incorporates it. It's a gorgeous oil, but I

> haven't found a useable combination for it. Thanks!

Yeah, davana neat is really something desperate. However, I recall making a

highly diluted blend with German Chamo CO2 (complete is best) and vetiver that I

liked. Don't have any on hand to see if I still do. Can't recall for sure what

else went in, probably some frankincense -been a while!

Happy New Year everybody!

Mar

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[Guest guest]

I really can't add anything of interest about davana, because I've

never used it. I did want to comment on a few other things, though.

> Cognac is second on my hate list after davana. There is something

> they have in common, the fruity/wine character, I guess that just is

> awful to me.

I guess it's a matter of personal taste. I use cognac in almost

everything. I find that it lifts and adds sparkle and warmth to

everything in which I've used it. I absolutely love cognac, and it is

one of the ingredients I would never consider doing without.

a certain percentage of

> people have a receptor site that makes them smell like

> petrochemicals, like a tire store. Stench.

I have that problem with jasmine. It doesn't matter from where I've

ordered it or how much I've paid: both the absolute and the concrete

smell like new tires to me. Always.

>

> Some are genetically programmed to smell soap when they smell

> cilantro. Maybe that's the case with davana?

>

I think that could be the case with anything.

>

> Ayala, have you smelled distilled lime EO? Smells like sickenly sweet

> candy. Must be used with caution.

Lime, like every other citrus, should be cold-pressed, not steam-

distilled, to preserve its citrusy freshness. I haven't found a

distilled citrus yet that didn't smell like disinfectant. Heat

destroys citrus essential oils.

Happy new year, everyone, and thanks for all the great information!!

~Becky

[Guest guest]

>

> I really can't add anything of interest about davana.

>snip

On Davana, I can't say I though eyew! till I opened the bottle, but

smelling around the lid before I opened it gave me an idea of the

berry like nuances some people have mentioned.

> snip

> a certain percentage of

> > people have a receptor site that makes them smell like

> > petrochemicals, like a tire store. Stench.

> I have that problem with jasmine. It doesn't matter from where I've

> ordered it or how much I've paid: both the absolute and the concrete

> smell like new tires to me. Always.

>snip

> ~Becky

And then there's me, I absolutely LOVE the smell of new tyres, (not

that that has to do with jasmine or davana or cognac but sure it's

christmas) My Dad was a mechanical engineer, he had his own garage

business. I used to sit on his knee when he came home from work and

bury my head is his sweater, enjoying the smell of petrol, new tyres

and engine oil and Irish whiskey.

Hey that gives me a cool idea for a man's " fathers day " type scent.

Ruth

http://www.whitewitch.ie

[Guest guest]

helenae02 <helenae@...> wrote: This is interesting that

someone started a post on davana. I recently got a sample, and I was going to

post on it. My first impression was that I loved it. Fruity rum is what came to

mind. But that dissapointingly faded to an herbal, earthy, haylike note, which

was ok, but since those kinds of smells are more than represented in the world

of natural aromatics, I was unimpressed. When that faded, then the drydown hit

me: ASHTRAY! I thought " Ugh! How on earth would anyone use this in a blend?!? "

To add an ashtray note? I could see it in Mandy Aftels next book; " Davana adds

an aspect of a dirty used ashtray to a perfume. " Maybe I could make a blend

with davana, and maybe some costus, and call it " Dive Bar " . Trust me, being

from Chicago, I know a bit about how dive bars smell; Chicagoans are enamored

with them! I then scolded myself for not being open-minded and imaginative

about essences, as Mandy says they all have

their place and could all be used. But I still fail to see how......

Cognac;

I love cognac. I just recently got a sample and fell in love with it. It is

the most vibrant, interesting and delicious essence I have experienced in a long

time. Completely unique. I love the bright wine top and it fades to

grape,apples ,and pears. Lucious and delish. I used the sample immediately in a

blend with grapefruit, lavender eo and abs., rose, roman chamomile, clary, and

others. I have no problem with fruitiness or sweet; most people on this group

have some sweet and fruity hatin' goin' on. HMMM. I crave those scents,

actually, especially since I stopped using synths. There's not many of them in

the natural scent world, like I mentioned above. The only sweet scent that I

couldn't handle, at first, was jasmine sambac. I've learned to become quite

fond of it now.

The scent of rubber;

I too get the scent of rubber from some essences; ylang, vetiver, storax, and

myrrh. Myrhh just plain smells like rubber to me, always, beginning to end. The

others have a subtle nuance that comes and goes, may or may not be there.

Cilantro;

Cilantro has always reminded me of sweat. Not icky, sour B.O., type sweat, but

just when someone sweats. I guess you could call it human smell? Am I weird(do

I need to ask that?) Another weird thing I get is from basil. The fresh herb,

not the eo, has a note to it that reminds me of cat pee. I also get that from

juniper needles, not the berries.

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

--- Shea <goblinboy60660@...> wrote:

> This is interesting that someone started a post on

> davana. I recently got a sample, and I was going to

> post on it.

> Fruity rum is what came to mind. But that

> dissapointingly faded to an herbal, earthy, haylike

> note, which was ok, but since those kinds of smells

> are more than represented in the world of natural

> aromatics, I was unimpressed. When that faded, then

> the drydown hit me: ASHTRAY! I thought " Ugh! How on

> earth would anyone use this in a blend?!? "

,

This is the problem I have with davana:

It smells different every single time I sniff it. It

seems like I can never really evaluate it fully

because it is never the same to my nose. But the

fruitiness and sweetness are fine with me. I like

fruity and sweet in perfume if it's done right. I

just don't like the fruit candy notes in perfume which

are so popular now.

> Cognac;

> I love cognac. I just recently got a sample and

> fell in love with it. It is the most vibrant,

> interesting and delicious essence I have experienced

> in a long time. Completely unique. I love the

> bright wine top and it fades to grape,apples ,and

> pears.

I love cognac too. It smells like champagne to me.

Mmmmm.

Another weird thing I

> get is from basil. The fresh herb, not the eo, has

> a note to it that reminds me of cat pee. I also get

> that from juniper needles, not the berries.

I kind of get cat pee from basil but, oddly, I love

basil and I definitely don't love cat pee. I

definitely get it from juniper needles too.

And, by the way, I have a pot of blooming paperwhites

in my kitchen that smell so incredibly delicious to me

that I want to just keep my nose buried in them all

day long. But my husband thinks they smell like cat

pee and my daughter says they smell like diapers.

Everyone is kind of mad at me for having them around!

Can you believe it!? I keep wondering if something is

wrong with my nose!

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

I am imagning an accord of incense,

> davana, cardamom, ylang and maybe even some geranium bourbon and I

> think it will be quite fantastic... Black pepper might do it some

> justice too, don't you think?

Thank you Ayala for the great suggestions. I will definitely try some

of them. I think the direction I'm going to go with this is spicy and

oriental. That bit of fruity may just pull off in an exotic blend.

I can't respond to all the comments individually (or a mod would ban

me for spamming:P), but thanks to all of you for your comments, lots

to think about and great commentary to read.

The super diluting first is a great idea, it may help a bit. However,

I've never seen another EO that dominates like this one does. In one

mess I made, I had the davana as 1 part in what ended up being about

100 parts (I love compounding my mistakes)... and you could STILL

SMELL IT.

I had to laugh at the ashtray comment... OMG... that's EXACTLY what

the aftersmell was... and I blamed the lime. So it was the davana

after all!

My davana has a cognac component that I didn't describe. It's heady

alone. Heady, but in a strange sickeningly sweet way, much like a

headshop in the 70s. I can't imagine it alone, it 'needs something'.

But I never found the right compliment, vs enhancement. That is, the

EO I tried either made the davana stand out stronger, or distorted it

into something awful. Nothing I tried actually worked with it well,

or was able to change it in a complementary way.

I think the trick is to find something that will enhance the berry,

but not the 'ashy' undertone. I'll let everyone know where I'm at

with it after playing with it some more.

[Guest guest]

> Thank you Ayala for the great suggestions. I will definitely try some

> of them. I think the direction I'm going to go with this is spicy and

> oriental. That bit of fruity may just pull off in an exotic blend.

Helena,

If you're going the oriental route, I suggest blending it with other

coponents that have just as strong a charcter as it has. Sometimes

that's the best way to create something good out of a difficult note -

be bold and fearless!

Some ideas for notes in that direction are:

Xantoxylum (Tomar Seed)

Champaca

Nagramotha

Honey (beeswax) absolute

> My davana has a cognac component that I didn't describe. It's heady

> alone. Heady, but in a strange sickeningly sweet way, much like a

> headshop in the 70s. I can't imagine it alone, it 'needs something'.

> But I never found the right compliment, vs enhancement. That is, the

> EO I tried either made the davana stand out stronger, or distorted it

> into something awful. Nothing I tried actually worked with it well,

> or was able to change it in a complementary way.

>

> I think the trick is to find something that will enhance the berry,

> but not the 'ashy' undertone. I'll let everyone know where I'm at

> with it after playing with it some more.

I really recommend the ylang and bourbon vetiver, as they do enhance

the berry notes in my opinion.

There are many gorgeous berry-nuanced orientals, usually with spices

(and some refer to them as " plum pudding " scents, such as Fendi's

Asja, and Serge Lutens' Arabie), and I personally love that style and

think it's as fun to create that kind of scent as it is to wear it.

I say go wild with the spices - cardamom, ginger, turmeric, galangal,

cinnamon, cloves - and maybe even carnation absolute.

Balance the heart with full bodied fruity and honeyed florals, such as

the geranium bourbon and ylang absolute I mentioned, but also rose

absolute would be great I think to balance out the davana and give

it's berry notes a more substantial meaning.

Best,

Ayala Sender

www.AyalaMoriel.com

www.SmellyBlog.com

[Guest guest]

> Myrhh just plain smells like rubber to me, always, beginning to end.

Heehee! ) Myrrh always smelled like Jim Beam to me. Odd how we all

perceive things differently, isn't it? Makes me wonder how people will

perceive my perfumes . . . .

[Guest guest]

Ohhhhh! I'm so excited I can barely contain it!!!

I have been playing with davana all night tonite (omg, it's 4:30 am!!

LOL!) and I think I found the basic formula for Estee Lauder's Youth

Dew!! It's not exactly the same, but I think that's just tweaking EO

percentages, this has to be close to their master recipe! I like mine

better, or I'd be tweaking more.

I never liked Youth Dew when I was younger. It smells a bit like coca

cola syrup with patchouli in it. The older I got, the more I liked that

type of darker oriental type of smell (it is oriental right and not

chypre? I'm not that familiar with classifications). I still didn't and

don't like Youth Dew... it's a bit too sweet. But I think I got it! And

I could compensate for the sweet, so it's just a bit spicy and

delicious. OMG this is heavenly!

Davana HAS to be in that blend to get this effect. It's a strange

assortment of EO also, but I sort of went down the list of suggestions,

Ayala you were dead on with your observations and ideas, every note

here was really, because I stayed within the suggested EO and then

expanded slowly by adding what I thought it needed as I went. But ylang

was instrumental (I didn't go with the extra, I thought it should be

heavier so I went ylang III), and I also did a bit of opoponax (not the

nearly solid resiny absolute but the oil), but the KICKER was ROMAN

chamomile. I started with german chamomile but it was still too heavy.

The appley roman REALLY booted it to the moon.

The blend is 17 EO's, mostly in the heavy family, a lot of black

pepper, palmarosa, some cinnamon, cardamom, vetiver, ginger,

frankinsense, a bit of bergamot and a DROP of lavender for sparkle,

sandalwood, lemongrass, cajuput, litsea, benzoin (very little, for that

barely detectable vanilla like smoothing and fixative). I wanted to go

heavy and spicy with this, and wow... it's beautiful!

Now I did this in diluted form with a fractionated oil base. It's too

late tonite and I want it to meld together, but I'm going to convert to

pure EO tomorrow and see how it works. I'm sooo excited! Thank you all

for your invaluable suggestions! This is amazing!

[Guest guest]

I had to update this note... while the blend smells a lot like Youth

Dew in the bottle, it does NOT smell like Youth Dew on the skin. I

added a drop of Amber (from Eden Botanicals, so it's an amber blend),

and it was a bit closer. I think it needs a lot more amber and

something else to get the Youth Dew effect.

While drier and a bit darker, I still like my blend, I also still think

Youth Dew has Davana, but I didn't hit the exact Youth Dew combo as I

thought I had:P. I like it better though:).

[Guest guest]

>

, I also still think

> Youth Dew has Davana, but I didn't hit the exact Youth Dew combo as

I

> thought I had:P. I like it better though:).

>

This entire discussion has me wondering, if you love big spicy

orientals, as I do, what do you do for the summer? I'm familiar from

the posts & Boucher on the composition of a spicy oriental. But can

you make one suitable for summer? I'm thinking hot & humid...

Weather is a big factor to consider.

cheer, Rory