Where does a newbie start?

[Guest guest]

I am a newbie! Sounds like I have training wheels on my bike, and in many ways i

do. I have collected about 12 essential oils, 3 carrier oils but...nothing

exciting is happening. I would love some guidance, I'm sure you more seasoned

pro's have read this before, but for me its the first time, I really want to

make this work...thank you!

[Guest guest]

>

> I am a newbie! Sounds like I have training wheels on my bike, and in many ways

i do. I have collected about 12 essential oils, 3 carrier oils but...nothing

exciting is happening. I would love some guidance, I'm sure you more seasoned

pro's have read this before, but for me its the first time, I really want to

make this work...thank you!

>

Hi Isis,

Which oils have you collected? Do you have a favorite? What are the carriers?

Have you read any books about perfumery? You may find Mandy Aftel's books

helpful they are: Scents & Sensibilities or Essense & Alchemy. You may be able

to get them from the library to decide if you want to purchase them. Also I

think you can preview part of the Alchemy book at Amazon.com or Google Books.

Google Books has some free pdf perfumery books from the 1800's. The Art of

Perfumery by Piesse, there are others by Deite, Cristiani and others. The

formulas in the books are mostly floral accords and Eau de Colognes. But there

is also other interesting information about the oils, tincturing, etc. Also

Archtander's book Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin (which is about

$300+ if you try to buy it online)can be read online at

http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015000804453

(Here is a note from the mod: at the end of the link, there was a . which

helped the link to work, so I put it away, it is a very interesting way to read

this fundamental, and not costless book)

I wish I would have known about this book before I starting buying oils. It has

been really helpful (I have about 20 pages of typed notes from the monographs!)

:-)

I hope you find this information helpful.

Jane

[Guest guest]

Hi Jane!

Thank you sooo much for taking the time to answer, was very kind of you! So

far I've collected Eucalyptus Glob, Lavender 40/42, Lemongrass, Vetiver,

Patchouli, Basil, a tiny vial of Jasmine, Oakmoss, Sandalwood cut with

Jojoba, Sweet Orange, Lemon, Bergamot, Peppermint, Ylang-Ylang, Rose

Geranium, Texas Cedarwood, Tea Tree Oil. I think my favorite so far is

Lavender because the scent is so calming and soothing. I have Jojoba oil,

Grape seed Extract Oil, Sweet almond Oil, Oilive Oil, and Rosemary Oil. I

have the Aromatherapy book by Jeanne Rose and several recipe books, one by

the Schiller's,Creams & Lotions by Donna , Spa Recipes by

Bardey. I've also watched a few video how to's on e-How and read articles

from Snowdrift Farms, Save-on-Scents and others.

This is definitely like trying to write your own course work, study and

graduate from your own school! A lot of information out there, but screening

through it to get to valuable information is exhausting. I just keep

plodding through though, and hope I can create something beautiful. I live

in Miami, where are you?

Thanks again for your help, I'll look for those books.

Isis

[Guest guest]

________________________________

Isis,

I live in California.  It looks like you prefer to blend with oils.  In the

beginning I bought some oils too but the jojoba had an odor to me, so I prefer

fractionated coconut oil.  Then I switched to alcohol.  Don't get discouraged

if

you can't make something you really like in the beginning....it is much more

difficult than it appears. :-)  If you like the Oriental style perfumes, you

have the ingredients to start there. 

Top note accord:  Bergamot, Orange, Lemon

Heart accord: Rose, Jasmin, Ylang

Base: Sandalwood, Vetiver, Patchouli

I dilute my oils @ 20% some prefer 10% and some dilute based on the strength of

material.  That way when you are playing around you don't use as much

material. 

There is a method to determine the balance in your accord but it takes LOTS of

bottles or those small sample vials.  Starting with the base notes; in one

vial

put 9 drops Vetiver and 1 drop Patchouli.  In the next vial put 8 drops Vet &

2

drops Patch.  Keep going until you get to 1 drop Vetiver 9 drops Patchouli. 

Smell them and decide which you like best.  Then let them sit for a week and

smell them again.  It is really funny how one material may seem very strong at

first but after a few days they mellow out in the blend.  After you decide on

one blend you can add Sandalwood one drop at a time until you get it where you

want it.  Then do the same thing with the middle notes, then the top notes. 

When you are satisfied with your accords, start blending them together.  One

method is 25% top notes, 20% heart notes and 55% base notes.  Another method is

15-25% top notes, heart notes 30-40%, base notes 45-55%.  Actually you can do

anything you want but if you use all top notes they will only last a few

minutes...then you have to reapply.  These percentages are for alcohol based

perfume and may not apply to oil based.

Watch out for the oakmoss....it loves to take over and push everyone else out of

the way! :-D

Which gets me thinking.....since you like lavender you may be able to do

something with the oakmoss, patchouli, vetiver, sandalwood, Rose and/or

geranium, maybe a touch of jasmine, lavender and bergamot.  Lavender is not one

of my favorites but I do like it with rose.  

Hope this is helpful.

Jane

[Guest guest]

> Isis,

> I live in California. It looks like you prefer to blend with oils. In the

> beginning I bought some oils too but the jojoba had an odor to me, so I prefer

> fractionated coconut oil. Then I switched to alcohol. Don't get discouraged

if

> you can't make something you really like in the beginning....it is much more

> difficult than it appears. :-) If you like the Oriental style perfumes, you

> have the ingredients to start there.

>

Hi Isis...

One thing folks notice, when they start making Natural Perfume, is that

the perfume is not long lasting...

You might have noticed Jane kinda weighted the base note heavily, in the

percentages...Base notes are the longest lasting...And while one gets

the impression they are " deep " ones, and they often are, but that is not

necessarily true...

A lavender concrete is a base, by the fact that it is long lasting, but

doesn't seem deep, at least to me...

The thing to remember, is that NP is a different thing than Unnatural

Perfumery....like the mainstream stuff...The essences produced for

synthetic perfumery are man made very pure and concentrated, as they

come out of the lab...They are the results of chemical manipulation from

very strange source materials, for essences...

And generally speaking very long lasting...In a lot of cases, the

cheaper in price, the better, for the mass market...

When venturing into NP, you use essences from Nature, Ma Gaia's

laboratory, if you would...These are complex entities, with hundreds,

maybe thousands of components...(the exception being isolates)...

So that's why the emphasis on the base and bottom notes...

When the blend gets together well enough to 'marry' these help each

other out in terms on longevity of the scent...

Hope that is of help...

--

W. Bourbonais

L'Hermite Aromatique

A.J.P. (GIA)

PS. If you haven't got it already, Mandy Aftel's 'Essence and Alchemy'

is a great book to give you a start...Last time I looked...under $20 on

Amazon...Be the best $20 you could spend, when starting NP, IMO...

[Guest guest]

I would also maybe suggest, that before you go searching any further or

buy any other ingredients, you take the time to get to know the ones you

have....

I would suggest you start a notebook and write down what you

experience...start of with an entry for each oil you have, look up their

properties in aromatherapy and herb books, and write down your own

descriptions of the oils scent..how does it make you feel? do you lie

it? dislike it?

Then I'd start blending them with each other one by one and make notes

on how they affect each others scent.

This may seem like a much slower way to start, but it will teach you

MUCH more than rushing in and combining things willy nilly according to

recipes from somewhere else. When you feel familiar with all of the oils

you have, then you can approach more complicated blends. And you will

find they will make more sense to you as you will understand the

individual ingredients.

I have been making perfume for 20 years, and this is how I approach each

new ingredient I discover.

Ambrosia

http://www.perfumebynature.com.au

http://perfumebynature.blogspot.com