Re: Techniques - How much variance?

[Guest guest]

wrote:

>

>

> I am curious, before I start doing anything on my own, to survey

> people about their techniques. I know your answers will vary widely

> depending on your ingredients, but I want to find out how much

> variance there is, and if there is a great deal of free-form technique

> in practice.

>

I think you will find there is a huge variety of different techniques

around. And each of us has found different ways to achieve the effects

we seek.

>

>

> Do most of you blend your notes full strength before adding a

> carrier?How long do you let them sit together in the bottle before

> adding the carrier?

>

>

> Or do you dilute them (or only the strong ones) to 20% or 10% before

> blending?

>

I tend to dilute a lot of things even before I use them. Most absolutes

are too intense and often also too thick and unwieldy to use straight.

You can also dose them better if they are diluted. I don't dilute

straight essential oils, unless they are particularly strong (like galbanum)

>

> I realize the percentages are different depending on whether you use

> alcohol or oil for a carrier, but do you stick to a set formula such

> as top notes 25%, middle notes 20%, base notes 55% or some other formula?

>

I don't pay any attention to formulas. How much I use of what depends

entirely on the effect I want to achieve.

>

> How many notes do you put in a perfume? How many notes in an accord?

> How many accords in a perfume?

>

Again, it depends entirely on the scent I am aiming for. I'm a bit of a

purist myself and probably use less different ingredients per perfume

than other perfumers. I find blends tend to become murky if you toss too

many different ingredients in. I also will often have just one or two

main focus oils or absolutes in a scent that I then build accords

around. To me the magic lies in finding the perfectly balanced combination

I create perfumes the same way I paint. I tend to stick to one or two

colour families that enhance each other. I'm not a great fan of clashing

or contrasting notes. Both in painting and perfume, they annoy me.

I like harmony.

Others, like to create many layered tapestries of scent and will use a

large number of different ingredients.

All approaches will lead to interesting results. There are no hard and

fast rules, you just have to experiement and see what happens!

There are of course some oils that play well together, some that change

each other into something completely different, and others that just clash.

But the only way to find out which does what is to play with them. I

have a whole wall full of " experiements " including the awful ones and

books full of notes on what happened with each one to use as references.

Ambrosia

http://www.perfumebynature.com.au

[Guest guest]

Like you, I usually stop after a minimal number of notes. I think the most I

got was nine, mainly because I thought I SHOULD have three per top, middle, and

base. And sometimes I use the faintest note as an accord to build around.

However, I am tempted to build and Everything But the Kitchen Sink kind of

perfume because I love the smell of my entire box of ingredients all together.

Some people find that nauseating, but not me.

Thanks for your reply.

[Guest guest]

> However, I am tempted to build and Everything But the Kitchen Sink

> kind of

> perfume because I love the smell of my entire box of ingredients all

> together.

I have working perfumes with 20 ingredients. The key becomes balancing

the potion. Balance might come by contrast, reiteration, a touch of

the right ingredient, etc.

[Guest guest]

Adam Gottschalk wrote:

> I have working perfumes with 20 ingredients. The key becomes balancing

> the potion. Balance might come by contrast, reiteration, a touch of

> the right ingredient, etc.

>

Hi Adam, Folks......

I was wondering....I realize that most folks blend with some kind of

plan, whether internally, or written...

How often does one get surprised by serendipity or unexpected result, in

a good way...? Or, for that matter, in a bad way...?

Or maybe it could be your inner artiste that pops something out of

nowhere from deep within the id....<G>...?

I am not a prolific blender, but occasionally as I am going along a

sketched project route...something will pop out...I will confess that

most of these sudden insights turn out mediocre...

--

W. Bourbonais

L'Hermite Aromatique

A.J.P. (GIA)

http://www.facebook.com/Le.Hermite

[Guest guest]

Adam, I think that's amazing to use 20 ingredients. It must take a lot of

practice to be balance so many notes. What volume of drops do you use? And do

you weigh on an electronic scale?

, you made a good point about serendipity.

In the past, my worst enemy was impatience. If something didn't smell like

I wanted it to smell right away, I threw it out. I never gave it time to sit

and blend. Maybe I threw away some emerging beauties.

This time, I plan to save more bottles with more variations of formulas and

wait to see what happens by itself.

[Guest guest]

>

> I'm constantly amazed and surprised, each time I play with new

> combinations. and as there are so many posible combinations....the

> adventures too are endless...I have an ever growing catalogue of the effects

> of different things combined...often nowadays i can predict the results and

> pick the ingredients needed to achieve the effect i want...but each

> ingredient is in itself such a multilayered being of complex character, that

> it will show different aspects of itself once combined with another such

> complex being.

>

> Ambrosia

>

[Guest guest]

> Adam, I think that's amazing to use 20 ingredients. It must take a

> lot of practice to be balance so many notes. What volume of drops do

> you use? And do you weigh on an electronic scale?

Weigh on a scale, yes, which of course is by weight. Make a cup to a

quart depending, mostly depending on a given strength. I make the

juice, see how much it weighs, then make a particular strength.

[Guest guest]

Hi

Interesting questions you ask, to which I don't think there is any " good "

answer... I tend to work with pure oils except for those that have a huge effect

on a blend. I learned that oils like galbanum, most of the spices, some aromats

(basil, bay for ex) need to be diluted prior to use in order to give an

inflexion to a blend as opposed to kill it completely! When I started I thought

that all blends should espouse a 30/30/40 kinda balance... but have moved away

from that and go with the end result in mind. Some blends have very little head

if any, others can be all heart with minimal but very powerful base. Time is

one of the beautiful elements at work in natural perfumery... sometimes you mix

and smell and are ready to throw it all out, but then, as the blend sits and

sleeps for a few days or week, a miracle happens and you end up with something

lovely... other times you think you've got it, but then it sits and you smell

something completely different... Experience pretty much guides you after a

while... Interesting question about the number of notes! I had to go back to

my formulas and count... on average I would say between 18 and 24, with extremes

of 32 and 11!

Have fun blending!

[Guest guest]

This is all very liberating to hear how much freedom you enjoy making your own

perfume.

We have people using anywhere from two to 32 ingredients, diluted and

full-strength, measured in drops or on scales, sometimes with accords and

pyramids and sometimes not, and made in amounts ranging from a few millimeters

to a whole quart of fragrance. The advice most commonly mentioned is, " It

depends... "

I think I'm going to enjoy this.

Vive la différence.