Perfumery-Practical Potions Advanced Class
Overview-
Your animated companion will orient you to the page. Please give her a couple of minutes to share her enthusiasm about perfumery. Join your class at the Ship’s Blending Lab. Bring your notebook and scent strips. When you get situated, please read through the notes below. This section contains three videos, one of which is a short Voki video partway down the page.
Introduction:
To refresh your memory on introductory information about aromatic concepts, review your introductory Practical Potions, Perfumery lesson and the accompanying videos before proceeding with this unit.https://www.northernstarcourses.com/lesson/introduction-to-creating-practical-potions-perfumes/
Flowers, Run Off My Tongue-
This lesson will discuss some aromatic classifications usually reserved only for perfumers. However, it is suitable for an aromatherapist to grow some vocabulary in classifying scents. You develop scent vocabulary when filling in a scent impressions sheet for an essential oil. Here are some more words to help you enforce this delicate language of flowers.
Odour Characteristics
Light- Citrus oils, lavender, neroli
Heavy- Tuberose.
Dry- Vanilla, Carrot Seed Oil
Fresh– Neroli, Lavender.
Soft- Sandalwood
Smooth– Benzoin Siam
Rich– Patchouli, Rose Absolute, Geranium, Clove Bud, Cistus
Tropical-Gardenia
Classifying Essential Oils into “notes” is confusing in a few ways:
There is always lively debate about classifying essential oils into perfume notes.
Smell is a profoundly personal experience. How we interpret it varies greatly. A few people smell things; others do not. Some folks perceive a scent as strong, while others find it mild. Some scents are pleasant to some and horrid to others. This subjective ground is where scent classification starts. Even among the experts, there is disagreement about how notes are classified in perfumery. Perfumers make classifications that are different from aromatherapists’, partially because they use many materials other than just plants. They tend to classify many plants as top notes that aromatherapists view as mid or base notes, myrrh and frankincense are two examples.
The diversity of people and plants themselves adds to the variance in opinion.
A) Some essential oils have multiple notes; certain oils like ylang may cover the spectrum from top note to base note.
B) The same plant grown in different locations under different growing conditions may produce different notes. i.e. some Neroli oils are more middle than top notes. Even different growing conditions affecting the exact location can produce this effect.
One reason perfumers prefer synthetic scents is the diversity and unpredictability of essential oils. Artificial scents are more reliable, easy to classify, and produce consistent results. (This is the same reason more individualistic aromatherapists love essential oils; they are complex and create unique products.)
C) Some people interpret a note in different ways. Although it is sometimes scientific and based on measured evaporation rates, others classify it according to what the nose first smells. This more subjective method of classification encourages artistic disagreement in the field.
D) Perfumery is more of an art than a science. If you see inconsistencies, smile, and don’t get crazy.:) There is more perception than perfection in this field! It is valuable to understand a diverse scent vocabulary, part of which is developed by perfumers.
Percentages Used When Blending Aromatic Perfumes With Carrier Oils or 95 proof Vodka-
Blend from the base up (Some perfumers advise blenders to use equal amounts of the base, mid and top notes, i.e. 33% of each. This is an option if you find the math aggravating.)
Traditionally, this is the formula for a jojoba-based or Fractionated Coconut Oil (FCO) blend: base note 25%; middle note 30%; top note 45%.
The percentage for blending with an alcohol-based blend is 40% for the base note, 30% for the middle note, and 30% for the top note.
Perfumers do play with the percentages of how much essential oil is used and how much top, mid and base note are used depending on their preference and the function of the blend. If durability is key the percentage of basenote is often increased. So, the guidelines above are just that they are not rules:)
Having your Practical Potions Journal open to section 7A while listening to the following video will be helpful. If you wish to review video 1 from the introductory course, here is a link: https://www.northernstarcourses.com/lesson/introduction-to-creating-practical-potions-perfumes/
Video Perfumery: 7A–
You can check your Practical Potions Journal-7A for your Blending Guide. You will find a thorough list of perfumery notes (top, middle, and bottom) that you can study and use for perfume creation.
Fixatives: The Sturdiest of Base Notes
Your blending guide in unit 7A downloads—Practical Potions Journal will list many base or bottom notes. Fixatives are a type of base note, and base notes aim to hold your blend intact. They have the most extended scent duration of all essential oils and are important to know about.
Please ensure you have read the sections on top, mid and bottom notes in your journal before reading about how to work with these specific base notes.
Specific fixatives to enhance different perfume types.
Knowing which fixative to use for various blends gives you a real advantage in creating scent blends. These fixative tips are from Marcel Lavabre- The Aromatherapy Workbook.
One note of caution. Many base notes are too strong to comprise the total base blend. They suggest a direction but would often need to be softened with another base, such as sandalwood. Check their odour intensity factor (how strong they smell) before creating your whole base with them.
Fixatives Used In Perfumery Adapted from Marcel Lavabre
Benzoin Siam: Use small doses for light florals.
Cedarwood: For woody perfumes.
Elemi: Freshening for citrus.
Guaiac Wood: For woody floral mixes.
Jamaican Sandalwood (Jaaican Rosewood): For most perfumes, chypre, conifer, and florals.
Labdanum: For chypre, orientals, Fougere, and non-floral blends.
Myrrh: For oriental, chypre, conifer, and woody types.
Oakmoss: Use with chypre, Fougere compositions.
Patchouli: Useful for earthy blends with florals and exotics.
Peru Balsam: Used with carnations, roses, and orientals.
Sandalwood: For most perfumes from florals to Fougere to orientals.
Storax: For floral, benzoin.
Tonka: For chypre, Fougere, tabac, and orientals.
Vetivert: With woody scents, orientals, and specific florals.
Video 7A on perfumery elaborated on the language used to discuss head, heart and base notes. These terms listed below expand your perfumery vocabulary even more. You don’t need to memorize them, but you can look at them to gain familiarity.
More Terms of Odour Description Used In Perfumery:
Intro. to Perfumery- adapted from Tony Curtis, David Williams
(We will cover only those families used in aromatherapy.)
The flower family includes broom, carnation, gardenia, geranium, hawthorn, heliotrope, honeysuckle, hyacinth, jasmine, jonquil, linden, magnolia, mimosa, narcissus, neroli, osmanthus, orris, rose, tuberose, violet, and ylang.
Lavender is also sometimes classified as a floral; it blends with fruit, vanilla, and some green notes. Lavender usually constitutes about 5% of a blend.
Woody Family: cedar, rosewood, sandalwood,
frankincense; cypress and juniper have woody notes.
The woody family adds a warm heart to most blends. 10-20%.
Balsamic family: (Also called “Vanilla” notes) vanilla, Balsam of Peru, benzoin, balsam of Tolu
Blend with any oil for a soft, characteristic scent. 2-5% Max 10%.
Herbaceous family: rosemary, sage, basil, hyssop, and marjoram.
Sometimes classified as herbaceous: lavender, chamomiles, helichrysum.
It blends well with balsamic scents and woods. Herbaceous scents can work with some coniferous. They generally overpower the floral family.
Agrestic and Mint Family Video
Coniferous family: pine, spruce, and fir.
It can overpower fruits and flowers. It can warm scents—small amounts except with woods and herbals.
Beach Family: Seaweed Absolute
Seaweeds give an ocean-like note. They can be overpowering.
Medicated family: camphor, eucalyptus, thyme, birch, and wintergreen.
The medicated family gives an almost antiseptic scent reminiscent of doctor’s offices. Please don’t use it with florals or fruits. It is best with wood and herbal scents.
Fruity Family: (Citrus Subclass) bergamot, grapefruit, lemon, lime, mandarin, orange, tangerine, and yuzu. Citrus essential oils are relatively inexpensive and easy to blend. However, they do not mix well with some woods, which smell medicinal, like camphor, birch, eucalyptus, and anise seed.
Champaca flowers can give an apricot-like note. Wild Blue Chamomile gives an apple-like note. Use both in small proportions.
The spicy family includes bay, celery, cinnamon, clove, coriander, cumin, fenugreek, ginger, nutmeg, and pepper. These oils can be used in small amounts, up to 5%. The spicy family adds an exciting note and can make or break a blend.
Other Classifications
Musty, earthy: cistus, frankincense, myrrh, patchouli, angelica.
Earthy scents give depth to a blend. Use 3- 10%.
Anise-like: aniseed, basil, caraway, fennel, tarragon.
Difficult to use in blending. Use only in small amounts.
Herstory Video of Perfumes with Bridgid
Much fragrant information can be found in your Practical Potions Journal, Downloads below.
Here is a link to an article about an ancient, female perfume maker.
https://worldsensorium.com/tapputi-badakallim-the-oldest…/