Introduction

[Guest guest]

Hello, All!

I'm a newbie, just ordering my first large batch of essential oils,

absolutes, etc. after having played with my smaller selection fairly

casually yet excitedly over the past few years. Instead of the simple

bathtub, skincare, and aromatherapy-type blends, I'm ready to begin

making real perfumes. What a fun yet laborious process it's becoming.

I just learned of this group two or so days ago and am thrilled to now

be a part of it. I hope to contribute to your inspiration as much as

I anticipate you all will do for me. Thank you all for sharing your

knowledge and asking your questions.

And since I'm largely here to learn, I'll begin with a question.

One on which I'm stumped at the moment is how to blend my interest in

oil-based perfumes with that of tinctures. Some essences, like hyrax

seem to only be available and usable in tincture form. But I've been

making oil blends with no intention (so far) to switch to

alcohol-based blends.

And so came an experiment. I seem to have been successful in blending

a few drops of hyrax tincture in a sample vial of jojoba (with

vigorous shaking to suspend the alcohol in the wax). And then, when

using hyrax essence in my experimentations I end up using mostly

jojoba (maybe a drop of the ~1% dilution in jojoba) which, of course,

blends well with jojoba and fractionated coconut oil.

My idea is to make super concentrated tinctures of other materials

(roses maybe?)...so concentrated that I can use a similar dilution

effectively. But I'm wondering about alcohol (and the teeny bit of

water that's contained in a high-proof alcohol) with oil or wax...

Just what will that result in? Since I'm not a chemist,

experimentation seems to be the answer. Maybe one of you has already

tried this.

I'm also wondering just how much plant material I might need to make a

tincture as concentrated as I desire. The aroma strength of the

material tinctured as well as how soluble the aromatic materials are

in alcohol...these things will partly determine the results, I'm sure.

in Austin, TX