Favorites and Least Favorites

[Guest guest]

After replying to the post on Neroli and reading some of the replies (some

mentioned they don't like tuberose) I wanted to start this post so we can share

what our favorite and least favorite ingredients are.

MY FAVORITES:

Jasmine

Tuberose

incense

Carnation

Civet

MY LEAST FAVORITES:

Lavender

Geranium

[Guest guest]

________________________________

To: NaturalPerfumery

Sent: Wed, April 21, 2010 7:57:32 PM

Subject: Favorites and Least Favorites

After replying to the post on Neroli and reading some of the replies (some

mentioned they don't like tuberose) I wanted to start this post so we can share

what our favorite and least favorite ingredients are.

MY FAVORITES:

Jasmine

Tuberose

incense

Carnation

Civet

MY LEAST FAVORITES:

Lavender

Geranium

Ooh Eliam!

I love this topic. My preferences are surprisingly similar to yours, with the

exception of frankincense.

My FAVORITES are:

* Jasmine

* Tuberose

* Orris butter

* combava petitgrain/kaffir lime

My LEAST FAVORITES:

* galbanum

* frankincense

Charna Ethier

Providence Perfume Co.

http://www.providenceperfume.com

info@...

[Guest guest]

Well, I will join the conversation because it's fun - with the disclaimer

that I'm very much a newbie and haven't smelled many different examples of

most of the different oils ... but ...

I will join the tuberose-lovers club for a start.

Like Ambrosia I love coffee oil and hate rose geranium. (And I have a hard

time with geranium because it keeps reminding me of rose geranium ... I have

to focus hard on its purer green side to like it ...)

I struggle to like the orange (peel) oils, partly because they remind me of

orange flavouring in medicines I had as a child.

On the other hand I can be persuaded to like petitgrain, and sometimes I

love Neroli.

I have a love-hate thing with jasmine. I can put it on and depending on what

other smells are around and which way the wind is blowing, delight in it one

minute and be repelled by it the next. It's mostly the fecal thing that you

guys have been talking about. (This info about indole was very illuminating

for me ... now I know why as a child I hated jasmine and told my mother it

smelled 'like toilets' ... )

I love orris and violet leaf.

I like seaweed - even on its own.

I like the first burst of smell when you take a sniff of patchouli.

I want to love sandalwood - but I only seem to like it these days. There is

a fan made of sandalwood which is an heirloom in our family. I remember

adoring the smell of it as a child, but I haven't smelled any sandalwood or

sandalwoody thing that evokes that same love as an adult. (And my mother

tells me the smell of the fan itself has dulled since I was a child inhaling

its breeze 30 years ago.)

So many others, but this is getting too long already. And I have a new

special favourite - but like a new crush I don't quite feel like talking

about it to anyone yet!

Best wishes

Johanna

[Guest guest]

Wow, my favorites.  It will be quite a list.  I also have things that I think

are ok or feel ambivalent about(like liking the topnote and hating the drydown

for instance)

My current faves

Sandalwood

incense

Vetiver

Himalayan or Atlas Cedar

All of the floral oils and oils that smell floral, including Ylang, Tuberose,

and Geranium(My mom hates geranium too), excluding things from flowers that

smell nothing like the flowers they came from i.e. Linden and Narcissus-wow,

were those dissapointments!

Vanilla

Coffee

Cocoa

Tonka

Balsam Peru

Benzoin

Mandarin

Lime(expressed-hate the steam distilled)

Tangerine(citruses in general)

Cabreuva

Siamwood

Choya Loban(even by itself)

Castoreum(ditto-both sexy, leathery goodness)

Clary Sage

All the spices, especially Cinnamon CO2, Nutmeg absolute, Cardamom absolute,

Clove abs, and fresh Ginger eo.

Lavender absolute

 

Things I hate

Well, I don't really hate much of anything, well anything commonly used for

perfumes anyway.  Most of the stuff I hate the smell of are used for more

medicinal purposes.  I find that although I love the smell of fresh culinary

herbs, the eos smell horribly medicinal to me.  I love rosemary absolute, but

the eo just smells like cough drops and chest rubs to me-not perfumy at all.

Ditto for thyme, oregano, sage(kinda funky smelling to me as well as medicinal),

Marjoram(I thing the fresh herb smells like a perfume in and of itself, but the

eo or tincture just ends up smelling like floor cleaner).  And valerian needs

little explanation as to why I dont like it.

 

 There are things I'm ambivilent about, either by themselves are not all that

pleasant, or one part of the odor I like but the other part or parts I dont, or

certain ones that are just ok.

 

Black Currant bud abs (cat pee and caraway by itself, but small amounts in a

blend-passionfruit, guavas, plums, and grape skins come to mind)

 

Ambergris ( this does lovely things to a blend, in small amounts, but I don't

get the big ta-do about it on its own)

 

Civit and hyrax ( poo-like or dusty on its own but flowery-in the case of

Civit, or leathery/flowery-in the case of Hyrax when they dry down. 

Interesting, if not lovely)

 

Lavender eo( I like it but dont love it-maybe because its a bit overused)

 

Petitgrain (I just cant seem to successfully use this stuff. I kind of like it

on its own, but whenever I try to blend it, it just seems to add a strident,

harsh note)

 

Roman Chamomile( I love the fruity, pineapple/banana bread like beginning, but

then it just becomes this harsh, haylike thing that I'm not fond of)

 

I'm just coming around to liking Boronia-I didn't at first. But I'm getting its

appeal now.

 

Tobacco and Hay ( I'm drawing a blank as to how to use these; they just smell

too barnlike to me.  I did use the Tobacco when I made Mandy Aftels formula for

her Coffee Cologne)

 

Galbanum (Wow, that stuff is powerful! You really have to be careful with it. 

I'm not terribly fond of it by itself , but if used VERY carefully and minutely

it adds that green/leafy/woody note, but just one drop overboard and you've got

yourself a forest in a bottle.  The other day I put two drops, along with other

things, in a bottle of unscented shampoo, not only has it dominated the shampoo,

but after I dumped the alcohol that I used to clean out the dropper into the

wastebasket, the whole room smelled like dirt and weeds!)

 

Massoia (Im not getting the coconut-like odor that it is said to have, it smells

like cardboard to me!)

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

favorites: labdanum, aged vetiver, bergamot, tangerine, cedar, sandalwood,

galbanum, ylang ylang. at the moment these all smell great to me undiluted.

least favorite: my ginger eo turns my stomach, which is ironic because fresh

ginger tea truly helps me when i'm sick. it's the only aromatic i've encountered

(so far) that leaves me pessimistic about its potential to " play well with

others " .