Miscellany of the day

[Oud_Dude]

Just got done putting up a bookcase to stack jars on and then added ~2 dozen freshly made tinctures from natural ingredients. Will be spending the afternoon replicating them all in various carrier oils to macerate.

Absolutely no clue why or what I’ll end up doing with them, but I’ve got a few different ideas and they’re all predicated on these things sitting for a while, so there’s no time like the present!

 

[Oud_Dude]

Just got done putting up a bookcase to stack jars on and then added ~2 dozen freshly made tinctures from natural ingredients. Will be spending the afternoon replicating them all in various carrier oils to macerate.

Absolutely no clue why or what I’ll end up doing with them, but I’ve got a few different ideas and they’re all predicated on these things sitting for a while, so there’s no time like the present!

It begins.

 

[mobyus]

Private deal - Zohor AlSalatin (SQ floral blend)

This mix always brings me to my knees because it’s so beautiful. Its layers upon layers of olfactory enjoyment. The florals don’t have this synthetic feel. It feels fresh, natural and mature. It’s one of those scents that uplifts my mood. Stunning! I’m glad to have a 1/4 tola of this. This came as a nano tola with my Henry Jacques purchase as a private deal and had to have more. It’s not HJ but it definitely has SQ vibes.

 

[Goodness Nose]

some kind of patchouli-forward floral blend from the 1950's, and empty crystal bottle which I plan on filling with something to age, and some fragrant lemon oil and beeswax from the same time period.

well I hit a grail level find while helping a friend clean out a house from 1944-1977. there's been jars of old silver change, mercury dimes, old 70's bills, uranium glass, pre Geneva convention tri-corner bayonets on flintlock rifles, ancient sea shells, fossils, pocket knives, tools, watches, and everything else cool you can imagine... and some perfumes! couple bottles from France, couple old-school American blends, random furniture polishes and attars. I've got more antique tools than I know what to build with (so excited for an entire toolbox full of old un-used files of all shapes and sizes)

here's a picture of the patchouli bottle and polish next to a 1944 ww2 British bayonet

 

[Mr.P]

Making some lazy propolis tincture. Lazy in that i did not break up the propolis, did not weigh it or the alcohol, and i am using a small Patron tequila bottle whose cork has a bit of tequila scent. I don't know how readily this stuff dissolves and I have a feeling I'm going to regret not breaking it up a bit more. This is a test run to see if it might be worth doing a larger batch in the extractor.

I'm not sure who sent me this propolis, it was a gift from some kind soul, about 15 grams in a ziploc. This particular batch has a very distinct balsam poplar type aroma - it is just gorgeous - that reminds me of one really wonderfully fragrant piece of beeswax i got years ago. A truly fine fragrance actually, and one that would be great to have readily available as an ingredient if this particular type of propolis is easy to obtain.

 

[Mr.P]

Turns out there's no need to break the stuff up - easily disperses after heating a bit.

 

[Mr.P]

some nerolidol isolate is my oddball of the moment. what strange stuff - like vinyl and old style chemical carbon paper type stuff.

 

[Kai Leon Art Perfumer]

some nerolidol isolate is my oddball of the moment. what strange stuff - like vinyl and old style chemical carbon paper type stuff.

Try it as a modifier for light flowers and bright woods - as it widens their 'horizons' and supplements their sensual Depth, of otherwise thinner bodies - paradoxically substantial yet transparent. Nerolidol can contribute to create richer Ambience and improving tenacity, but it can be deceptive and occasionally disbalancing, so use it sparingly and incrementally 😉 ah, and some people are super-sensitive to it, while others can barely perceive it.

 

[Mr.P]

Try it as a modifier for light flowers and bright woods - as it widens their 'horizons' and supplements their sensual Depth, of otherwise thinner bodies - paradoxically substantial yet transparent. Nerolidol can contribute to create richer Ambience and improving tenacity, but it can be deceptive and occasionally disbalancing, so use it sparingly and incrementally 😉 ah, and some people are super-sensitive to it, while others can barely perceive it.

It's great stuff for sure and such an unusual tension of notes in it. I try to wear everything on its own on a rotating basis, today was time for another swipe of nerolidol! Fascinating smelling some of these (mostly) isolated molecules

 

[rudymeister]

Had some jordan almonds as a quick treat before going to class.

 

[Shiningrobes]

Today it’s Mesoud Mitti Gulab ( macerated with ambergris and saffron) layered with the out-of-this/world frangipani from Aroma Sublime. Along with a literal dot of patchouli/musk.

Frangipani and sandalwood is a combo that I’ve played with for years in different quantities and varying quality, usually switching up other additions. But it always yields something great.

That AS plumeria is so special I haven’t found the perfect home for, but this might be it. The saffron eases it into a spicy creamy zone. As a layer it’s lush and warm and stately.

 

[Shiningrobes]

Yesterday I had the craziest experience. One of my sisters lives out in the country and has been letting me build something in her barn. It was a warm beautiful day, 75 degrees F. I was wearing Indian oud layered with rose and I walked out of the barn to be smacked with the smell of the rose bushes blooming next to the barn and the smell of manure waiting to be spread on a field and almond tree blossoms in the distance. It was like the world had become what I was wearing. I always get introspective when I wear oud. I let my mind wander with the changes and I was deep into the experience and all of a sudden those real world scents opened up vast layers of depth. It was so uncanny. One of those magic scent experiences we all chase.

 

[Mr.P]

Photos of packaging of musk grains, seen in a Chinese herb shop in the Portland Oregon area in the early 2000's. just eye candy for historic/general interest purposes…

 

[Mr.P]

Ambrox natural isolate is wild stuff - 1 or two drops of 10% dilution applied to your wrists will have you catching faint whiffs of natural smelling ambergris for a loooong time. At this very minimal level the aroma is quite refined and beautiful. I can't stand ambrox in overdose but in traces it is really nice. i'm trying to figure out if this natural isolate (fermented) version is really any different from the synthesized versions

 

[Mr.P]

Again surprised by the ambrox - best material to show the effects of dilution that I can think of, just about.

One of the things I've had to learn through trial and error even though it's kind of obvious in retrospect is that more concentrated versions of the same fragrance don't smell the same.

A little bit too much Ambrox (natural isolate version) and it smells artificial and sweet like some kind of cheap cotton candy over blown chemical affair. but just traces of it are the most appealing natural white ambergris scent. really striking- the character changes completely at different strengths.

 

[Mr.P]

It begins.

View attachment 52515

how are the tinctures coming along? 🙂

 

[Mr.P]

Labdanum is amazing stuff and the difference between the different extractions is pretty incredible. I find the majority of it difficult to work with but there are some oils that are very refined and don't have so much of this one thick cloying musky note that dominates many of the others. Fascinating stuff I just was layering a very clean smelling one today with some oud oil and it resonates so beautifully!

 

[Mr.P]

I continue to struggle with oakmoss. On its own it is amazing especially the old stuff – wild, natural, brings woodlands to mind. Now I recognize that this merely reflects my own lack of skill and experience but from my perspective every time I add it to a fragrance the effect is the opposite: it makes it smell ordinary, manufactured, mainstream. I'm recognizing that oak moss in the context of other sweet smelling things (or at least oak moss related aroma chemicals) is such a common place thing to encounter that I have this Pavlovian association with ordinariness, and as a result I don't have any fragrances that I'm crazy about that involve this material and I always end up abandoning the experiments that use it.

I think I have to go in a direction that is different, keeping the oakmoss in the context of materials it's not traditionally combined with... make it the centerpoint instead of a fixative or something like that

 

[MaxFromHolland]

I continue to struggle with oakmoss. On its own it is amazing especially the old stuff – wild, natural, brings woodlands to mind. Now I recognize that this merely reflects my own lack of skill and experience but from my perspective every time I add it to a fragrance the effect is the opposite: it makes it smell ordinary, manufactured, mainstream. I'm recognizing that oak moss in the context of other sweet smelling things (or at least oak moss related aroma chemicals) is such a common place thing to encounter that I have this Pavlovian association with ordinariness, and as a result I don't have any fragrances that I'm crazy about that involve this material and I always end up abandoning the experiments that use it.

I think I have to go in a direction that is different, keeping the oakmoss in the context of materials it's not traditionally combined with... make it the centerpoint instead of a fixative or something like that

What if you treat it as if it was vetiver?

 

[Shiningrobes]

Amber/Musk/Oud

Another blend I made. Indian oud, Thai oud, amber, musk, ambergris, saffron, rose, sandalwood, gardenia. Macerations on top of macerations. Nothing revolutionary here. Actually pretty safe, but man oh man is it satisfying to combine these classic scents. Starting with great oils to begin with helps. I have nowhere near the finesse, or skill, or experience of so many thousands of others but making these simple blends really makes me appreciate the real showstoppers attars and mukhallats out there. I used Ensar’s EO no. 3 amber accord which really feels like cheating. Its so concentrated that one drop makes anything into a perfume. Here it bridges a lot of gaps. Tobacco, tea notes. Like a milky lapsang souchong, with smoky notes coming from the amber. Getting an insanely strong musk maceration and some grains a few months ago has really changed the game for me. The gardenia enfleurage from Enfleurage is a powerful little workhorse. It’s like a clear little bell wherever you put it. It really rings out and organizes top notes. I’ve gotten bubblegum notes, jasmine, and something that just lifts up all other scents around it when I mix it with heavier oils. It’s a wonder in simple floral blends as well.