My successful perfume commision

[Guest guest]

I already posted this on Facebook, but I thought I would share this here as

well, and I'm also going to go into more detail. I didn't want to bore people

with any technical details of perfumery.  A few weeks ago a friend asked me to

do a sampaguita perfume for her.

Sampaguita is the name used for the jasmine sambac species in the

Philippines. In fact it's the national flower. She is of Philippino

descent. She looked on line and as she put it " All they have is that

fakey stuff " . I was delighted to make perfume for her. She had idea for an

oil-based roll-on, but I wanted to make a solid perfume. So she bought a really

cool carved, small soapstone box. In addition

to jasmine sambac ( I used both the absolute and the concrete), I added a couple

other Philippine ingredients; ylang ylang and elemi, a resin

that smells like frankincense. I used sandalwood, because she loves it, and I

used a base oil of virgin coconut oil that I macerated Tahitian

vanilla beans in, some citrus(tropical lime being one of them), some

resins and plant-based musk. I was so anxious as to whether she would

like it or not. She loved it! I was so happy. Apparently others liked

it too.

Score!

  I thought the  concrete would just dissolve into the oil and the bit of

beeswax I used, but I was wrong!  I also tried using some benzoin and that was

also hard to incorporate. Maybe that was why the concrete wouldn't mix in. 

Also, the vanilla was much stronger than I thought!  In the bottle and on the

few smudges I used to judge how the maceration was going the vanilla was very

light. But in the perfume it just bloomed. Good thing it was vanilla, which most

everyone likes and an overdose is not such a bad thing. In any case it worked

and my friend loved her perfume, so that's all that matters.  I just wonder if I

could get the concrete and benzoin to incorporate easier next time. 

  Here are the notes: 

Top: Orange, Lime, Elemi, Rosewood, Coconut(this can't be smelled much in the

blend, but I used virgin coconut oil as the base oil, so the scent of coconut is

swirling around in there somewhere) 

Heart: Jasmine Sambac absolute, Jasmine Sambac concrete, Ylang Ylang absolute  

Base: Storax( this also came out much stronger than intended but worked),

Tahitian Vanilla, Vanuatu Sandalwood, Ambrette, Benzoin

[Guest guest]

>I already posted this on Facebook, but I thought I would share this here as

well, and I'm also going to go into more detail. I didn't want to bore

people with any technical details of perfumery. A few weeks ago a friend

asked me to do a sampaguita perfume for her.

Sampaguita is the name used for the jasmine sambac species in the

Philippines. In fact it's the national flower. She is of Philippino descent.

She looked on line and as she put it " All they have is that fakey stuff " . I

was delighted to make perfume for her. She had idea for an oil-based

roll-on, but I wanted to make a solid perfume. So she bought a really cool

carved, small soapstone box. In addition to jasmine sambac ( I used both

the absolute and the concrete), I added a couple other Philippine

ingredients; ylang ylang and elemi, a resin that smells like frankincense.

I used sandalwood, because she loves it, and I used a base oil of virgin

coconut oil that I macerated Tahitian vanilla beans in, some citrus(tropical

lime being one of them), some resins and plant-based musk. I was so anxious

as to whether she would like it or not. She loved it! I was so happy.

Apparently others liked it too.

Hi :

It sounds absolutely beautiful! Adding the ylang (Tagalog for " flower of

flowers " ) was a brilliant idea!

Cat

[Guest guest]

Hi :

It sounds absolutely beautiful! Adding the ylang (Tagalog for " flower of

flowers " ) was a brilliant idea!

Cat

Thanks Cat!

B.

[Guest guest]

Sounds beautiful ... that's the kind of scent I adore, sweet and floral.

I am experimenting with virgin coconut oil for my forthcoming solid perfumes

too, I love the hint of coconut scent it gives.

I don't work with alcohol and have not used concretes before because I thought

it would be so difficult to blend them in oil but it is something I really want

to start incorporating into my range of perfumes.

How much of the concrete and benzoin disolved in your oil?

Apologies to all for the lack of contributions but I've been so busy trying to

navigate the regulations of the British business world! Looking forward to

contributing more.

Marina~

[Guest guest]

>

>

>

>

> Hi :

> It sounds absolutely beautiful! Adding the ylang (Tagalog for " flower of

> flowers " ) was a brilliant idea!

> Cat

>

> Thanks Cat!

> B.

Hi , Congratulations!

It's a great feeling to create something that people love isn't it?

I feel a kinship to using native plants when I create perfume for clients as

well. Your creation sounds divine! Also love VCO and I bet it is wonderful in

your perfume.

I have a gallon or two of organic VCO sitting here calling my name now... haha!

All the best,

www.aromaartisan.com

[Guest guest]

I was so anxious as to whether she would

like it or not. She loved it! I was so happy. Apparently others liked

it too.

Score!

 

*********************************

 

Congrats on another successful creation!  Those friends can be dangerous,

I have a similar friend who started me down this wonderful, expensive road

wanting a jasmine grandiflorum perfume :-)

 

[Guest guest]

..

Thanks !

Yes, it surely is a great feeling. 

I have places as perfume themes often, so I try to use mostly scents that come

from that area, whether native or not.  Sandalwood, for instance, is SO

India(actually A LOT of aromatics are so India).  I think I would have to use

sandalwood in any perfume that has India as it's inspiration.  I made a perfume

called Zanzibar(I've always loved that name). So I used clove as a starting

point, because that island is a major clove producer and exporter.  They also

grow black pepper and I believe vanilla, so I put those in as well.  I also

added nutmeg and cinnamon.  And it's a tropical island, so I used my toasted

coconut tincture and lime.  There are other things as well, but you get the

picture.  I made one called Bali that is centered around three flowers used in

offerings; Frangipani, Champaca, and Ylang Ylang, with coconut(once again).  I

made three different versions of a perfume centered around coffee and chocolate,

I was inspired by the Kona

area of the Big Island where those are grown together.    Last summer I went

on a cross-country trip, a large portion of which was spent in the Southwest. 

I fell in love with the native aromatics, especially Pinon Pine resin and

Ponderosa Pine bark(which smells like a woody vanilla butterscotch). The whole

area has the scents of the conifers; pine, cedars, junipers, wafting around the

dry, dusty smell of the earth.  I would love to make a perfume centered around

that aromatic profile.

[Guest guest]

________________________________

 

Sounds beautiful ... that's the kind of scent I adore, sweet and floral.

I am experimenting with virgin coconut oil for my forthcoming solid perfumes

too, I love the hint of coconut scent it gives.

I don't work with alcohol and have not used concretes before because I thought

it would be so difficult to blend them in oil but it is something I really want

to start incorporating into my range of perfumes.

How much of the concrete and benzoin disolved in your oil?

Apologies to all for the lack of contributions but I've been so busy trying to

navigate the regulations of the British business world! Looking forward to

contributing more.

Marina~

Hi Marina,

Yes, it is sweet and floral.  I would classify it as a floral, perhaps a

floriental, because of the sandalwood, vanilla and resins.  I think those are

the kind of scents that I've had most success with; florals,

orientals,gourmands,things with woods, flowers, spices,resins and balsams. I

have trouble when it comes to herbal  and " green " ingredients.

  I've been wanting to use VCO as a solid perfume base for a while, because of

the scent. I also would like to use cocoa butter as well sometime.  Apricot oil

has a nice, soft fruity scent to it too. 

  Most of the benzoin incorporated into the mix but most of the concrete did

not. In spite of that I just tried to emulsify what I could and scraped

everything, dissolved or not into the perfume pot.  I hate wasting anything. 

The mixture managed to look homogenous for the most part, other than a smudge of

concrete on a small part of the pot edge.  I was really surprised that the

concrete did not meld with the oil and wax.  After all concrete is just waxes

and absolute, right?  I've tried to dissolve benzoin in jojoba oil and it just

didn't work. I wonder how Mandy Aftel does it(benzoin is in her Oud Loban solid

perfume)?

 

[Guest guest]

brian, i have collected a nice container of pine resin (i couldn't say which

variety) from the black hills of south dakota... do you have interest in it? i

would gladly share....

here's a photo...

cheers! einsof