Familiarizing With Fragrance

Dear readers,

For today’s blog I’d like to provide some updates as well as lessons I’ve learned from speaking to both my wonderful advisors Yosh and Lakenda. Hopefully along the way you learn a little something too!

Updates

This week I sent out the survey! I’m still waiting on some to get back to me, but so far, 30-40 or so partipants have given me both intriguing and more repeated answers—both quite interesting to read. I’m starting to see patterns in what people feel and see within these three paintings, and what made me curious was that there were often two sides to the painting. One in which people saw a common, more surface-level theme, and another where some others interpreted a more hidden, deeper aspect to this theme.

Lessons

From Yosh:

Some suggestions were to have participants be more involved with the perfume-making process itself instead of just the end and the surveys, so having them for example, smelling the accords I blend.

The base of the perfume, whether natural or synthetic, really depends on the plan, or whatever I want to center my fragrance around.

Yosh also taught me the process she recommended for making the perfumes. I’m going to use around 5 main notes/accords/oils, then build up around them. Scent strips to test the lasting power/smell/sillage first!

Buy accords!

From Lakenda:

For fixatives (to make the perfume last, especially important for more natural perfumers as their materials tend to stay for less time): I can make my own with certain materials. Additionally, adding different fixatives/oils to a certain oil scent may help amplify or make the scent fuller instead of just adding more of that original scent. For example, adding cedarwood to citrus makes a fuller scent, instead of a flatter one where there’s just more and more citrus.

I’ll be keeping in mind that some scent strips may hold scent better than others, that synthetics will hold the scent longer than naturals, that perfumer’s alcohol is generally toxic because it’s denatured.

To dilute, you put drops of essential oil into a carrier (oil, alcohol, or water), then smell it (use different percentages of the dilution for different carriers). Always keep in mind the safety of the essential oil/carrier, as for example cinnamon, basil, and wintergreen can burn or be toxic if too much is used. Plus, citrus is photosensitive. Some essential oils may also be really strong, stronger than other oils (therefore why I’m using scent strips first).

Lakenda uses cane sugar organic ethyl alcohol which may be more long-lasting than oils. For oil-based fragrances, fractionated coconut oil or apricot kernel oil may work well. I’m currently looking at what carriers to use. There are different forms of extractions she uses, like distillation, tincturing, and oil baths.

She recommended I write down everything, down to how many drops of everything u add each time so you can retrace your steps, and the same goes with Yosh’s concept of Mods.

Until Next Time

I hope you enjoyed this update on my Senior Project. Thanks for sticking by!

See you later,

Alina : )