True. Not in water. <face palm>
Agreed. Not a problem, simply an interesting phenomenon. A simple shake before use is all that is required.
Thanks for your insight.
Private Reserve - DIY Aftershave Splash Project
- Thread starter todras
- Start date
- Status
True. Not in water. <face palm>
Agreed. Not a problem, simply an interesting phenomenon. A simple shake before use is all that is required.
Thanks for your insight.
Just as equally, thank you for making me think - having people throw questions at you, especially in my case as a novice really makes you test what you have learnt and know, or what you think you have learnt and know
Week 5 - Bottles, Samples, Testing, Storage
It has been a few weeks now since I started this thread and the practical component of this project, I don't think I have ever struggled so hard to remember (from my BSc days) basic concepts of chemistry and indeed measurement of fluids in my whole life.
Prior to commencing the practical component I had spent a good 6 to 7 months reading on perfume forums, searching the web, reading 'ancient manuscripts' ala Toto's Africa in searches and reading so obscure, just to glean a line or two that would assist me to understand scents, their chemistry and how composition effects the final scent of a perfume come aftershave.
Chemistry is a fascinating, beautiful and truly wondrous area of the sciences - the laws and behaviour of compounds and the complexity of their 'behaviour' in dynamic conditions is flawless. I say this quite openly admitting I am a novice, there is an almost infinite amount I still have yet to learn.
Bottled, Rested, Decanted and Tested
Time-scales being what they are, and the non-real time nature of my posts and updates here leads me to this conclusion posts of sorts, a majority of the solutions have been resting and 'marrying' at 6% strength for 2 to 3 weeks now in 500ml dark amber bottles, kept in a cool dark place and agitated for 1 to 2 min every day. They are now looking, smelling and performing as an aftershave should.
Suffice to say I have been using them all daily, making notes on their effects on the face, longevity, feel, etc as well as a subjective test can. My dear wife too has been recruited to the process, yes I have subjected her to wearing a variety of men's aftershaves as I have 2 or 3 work colleagues prior to inflicting them on P&C members who will receive the testers.
500ml Amber Boston bottles clearly labelled with Name, strength, and date make ideal storage for mixed solutions, keep them in a cool dark place and ensure you shake them every day for a minute or two. Pictured at the front in the 5ml amber bottles with drippers and 10gm tubs of post-shave balm to match the scents.
Here we see my trusty 500ml brown Boston bottles with 5ml labelled 'dripper' bottles ready to be sent to the testers. Also visible are 10gm plastic screw tubs containing the matching post-shave balm.
I have become fairly familiar with these fellows over the previous weeks, agitating them for 1 to 2 min daily, every day. The daily agitation is a must to ensure the solution is even, stable and to ensure the oils are distributed. Further to this point, the scents are smelled and compared day after day and notes are made as the scent and overall accords matures.
Here we see 5ml bottles with 'drippers' and drip proof/tamper proof caps. Also in evidence my
artistic prowess in regards to design, using scissors to cut a straight line and labelling!
Decanting to Sample bottles
1ml or 3ml Pipettes
5ml or larger bottles to hold the aftershave
Labels for the 5ml bottles - Pre written with the name of your aftershave
I pour a quantity from the 500ml bottles into a clear 250ml beaker after shaking the 500ml bottle well. I then use a pipette to measure out 5ml and decant it into the smaller bottles and seal them immediately to prevent spillage - not that I personally of course, would spill a 5ml bottle of splash on the dining table and endure the wrath of my wife or anything like that
Australian Private Reserve - The Scents
I have been working on around 12 to 15 scents, of which 6 of them are ready for testing in both aftershave and after shave balm. I will be sending these out to the testers this week. I am bloody nervous about how they will be received especially with the discerning, learned olfactory skills of the average P&C'er.
Australian Private Reserve – Essential Oils & Absolutes
Most essential oils I have used are certified organic by ACO or USDA and I have included the country of origin so there can be no confusion. Where an Essential Oil or Absolute is not organic I have noted it with (NO). All EO’s and Absolutes have been sourced from large, long trading, reputable outlets. If I have made any labelling errors in this regard below they are inadvertent.
I have listed the main base, heart and top essential oils/absolutes. Obviously I have excluded some in the interests of keeping my hard earned scents to myself. Some accords here have 3 or 4 additional EO’s, there are no Fragrance Oils (when used) I have omitted.
Where I have used fragrance oils in every single instance it is clearly noted.
The Splash Ingredients
Denatured Alcohol, Witch Hazel, De mineralized Water, Poly Sorbate 20, Glycerine, Essential Oils, Fragrance Oils.
The Balm Ingredients
I am using a commercial base containing approved ingredients that is prepared by an accredited facility to Australian Standards pertaining to skin and face care products.
Ingredients: Purified Water, Vegetable Glycerine, Sunflower Oil, Essential Oils/Fragrance Oils, Cetearyl Alcohol, Capric/Caprylic Triglyceride, Jojoba Oil, Almond Sweet Oil, Shea Butter, Macadamia Oil, Phenoxyethanol, Natural Vitamin E, Ceteareth 20, Stearic Acid, Caprylyl Glycol, Carbomer, Dimethicone, Butylene Glycol, Soya Bean Oil, Sodium Hydroxide, Aloe Vera Leaf Juice Powder, Hydrolyzed Marine Collagen, Ethylhexylglycerine
The Scents - Aftershave and Post Shave Balm
PC – Un côtelette de porc – Pork Chop
This is a traditional vetiver based on a discontinued Vetiver by Creed. I don’t for a second think that I have achieved anything even close to Creed’s masterpiece. Vetivers are traditionally darker, woody scents that are autumnal or wintery in nature. They are deep, earthy, damp scents by their very nature.
Composition: Haitian Vetiver, French Oakmoss Absolute, Virginian Cedar Wood, Italian Bergamot, French Lavender, Australian Sweet Orange (NO), French Ginger
GL - les généraux du grand livre – The Generals Ledger
In the modern vocabulary of perfumery, this is a bright Fougère. A traditional Fougère has strong notes of grasses, ferns, damp earth with a slight, top note to brighten it up.
Modern Fougère varieties are generally more floral or, in this case ‘brighter’ – they have multiple notes to lighten them up, make them slightly floral and more welcoming. Another keeper, I am very pleased with this scent (I like the smell personally) and I particularly like the name and in effect tribute to the man himself, all round good guy with an epic razor collection and an equally epic number of spreadsheets.
Composition: French Oakmoss Absolute, Haitian Vetiver, Venezuelan Tonka, French Lavender, Nutmeg, Cinnamon Bark, Egyptian Geranium, Italian Bergamot, Rose Maroc.
AC –choix Alfredus - Alfredus Choice
This is a scent that I made for a friend who happens to be part of the ‘Euro ‘A’ list limited edition shave kit set’, chemist extraordinaire and another all-round good guy. I asked him to name some scents he liked, he did so and thus it was named.
Best described as a traditional Fougère although one that is woody with subdued citrus notes from the White Grapefruit and Bergamot. As this is Alfredus choice, and as yet he has not tried it, the formula may change if he advises me he does not like it, or wants emphasis on certain notes .
Composition: Ambergris, Venezuelan Tonka, French Oakmoss Absolute, Indian Mysore Sandalwood, French Ginger, Virginian Cedarwood, Nutmeg, French Lavender, French Violet, White Grapefruit, Italian Bergamot, Basil.
SV – Sandalwood, Lime, Verbena
This came about as I was dissatisfied with the ‘L’Occitane Verveine’ EDT that I paid $70 for. The problem with citrus EO’s and Verbena in particular is that scent doesn’t last.
Citrus top notes – Lemon, Lime and Verbena particularly are notoriously short lived.I set to making one that would last a little longer, after 15 or 20 formulas I hit upon one that I feel works. It’s nice, but simple – I will keep a bottle kicking around as I like the Verbena scents in summer.
This accord uses Essential Oils and Verbena Fragrance Oil. The next batch I do will Verbena EO that is quite expensive, but is a fragrance I really like in the hot humid months.
Composition: Australian Sandalwood, Lime, Spanish Lemon, Fragrance Oil
CS – Coconut Sandalwood
The first of the 'Mystic' companions, this one is for the limited edition Coconut Sandalwood. I have worked on the scent slightly and added essential oils alongside the fragrance oil that is used in the original soap.
This accord uses Essential Oils and Coconut Fragrance Oil.
Composition: Australian Sandalwood, Indian Mysore Sandalwood, Rosewood Oil (NO), Fragrance Oil.
WG – White Tea & Ginger
The second of the Mystic companions, again I spent some time with the scent of the original and made a few slight alterations to the Fragrance oil base adding one or two EO’s for longevity and roundness of the tea.
This accord uses Fragrance oil and Essential Oils
Composition: French Ginger, Venezuelan Tonka, Fragrance Oil.
I have made a few more scents to compliment the Mystic range as they are soaps I enjoy so much however these are not at the testing stage yet but will be soon. If anyone has a request for a scent based on a Mystic Water soap, please don't hesitate to drop me a PM - If I have the soap I will look into it for you.
SA – Suitably Attired Australian
Imagine a suitable attired gentlemen taking a leisurely walk surrounded by Green eucalyptus trees that remind him of tweed. He chances upon an Irish traveller who makes the Stirling suggestion that they take tea together.
This is another ‘interpretation’ of Creed’s Green Irish Tweed that uses the same Fragrance oil that Stirling and Mystic use in their GIT interpretations.
I have added EO’s for longevity and to liven up the heart and tops as the Fragrance Oil itself is fairly short lived and rather synthetic. It was fun to dabble, I quite like the scent but I am more interested in pure EO formulations and making something new and interesting. This is a one off.
This accord uses Essential Oils and Fragrance oil.
Composition: Ambergris, Indian Mysore Sandalwood, French Violet, Spanish Lemon, Rosemary, Australian Sweet Orange, Fragrance Oil.
Conclusion
That is it for this week, as I mentioned I will be sending out the testers and balms this week so people can tell me what they think, I am quite happy with some and incredibly happy with others. I will revisit this thread in a short time or in response to questions or such forth. I will also recap issues or steps in the process that I no doubt have forgotten to mention. I spent most of last night to around 3.30am bottling things up, mixing balm and scents, packaging, printing, decanting and so forth.
As always, questions, corrections, criticisms, advice or comments are always welcome. It's been another thoroughly enjoyable week mucking around in the kitchen, learning and smelling the whole time.
It has been a few weeks now since I started this thread and the practical component of this project, I don't think I have ever struggled so hard to remember (from my BSc days) basic concepts of chemistry and indeed measurement of fluids in my whole life.
Prior to commencing the practical component I had spent a good 6 to 7 months reading on perfume forums, searching the web, reading 'ancient manuscripts' ala Toto's Africa in searches and reading so obscure, just to glean a line or two that would assist me to understand scents, their chemistry and how composition effects the final scent of a perfume come aftershave.
Chemistry is a fascinating, beautiful and truly wondrous area of the sciences - the laws and behaviour of compounds and the complexity of their 'behaviour' in dynamic conditions is flawless. I say this quite openly admitting I am a novice, there is an almost infinite amount I still have yet to learn.
Bottled, Rested, Decanted and Tested
Time-scales being what they are, and the non-real time nature of my posts and updates here leads me to this conclusion posts of sorts, a majority of the solutions have been resting and 'marrying' at 6% strength for 2 to 3 weeks now in 500ml dark amber bottles, kept in a cool dark place and agitated for 1 to 2 min every day. They are now looking, smelling and performing as an aftershave should.
Suffice to say I have been using them all daily, making notes on their effects on the face, longevity, feel, etc as well as a subjective test can. My dear wife too has been recruited to the process, yes I have subjected her to wearing a variety of men's aftershaves as I have 2 or 3 work colleagues prior to inflicting them on P&C members who will receive the testers.
500ml Amber Boston bottles clearly labelled with Name, strength, and date make ideal storage for mixed solutions, keep them in a cool dark place and ensure you shake them every day for a minute or two. Pictured at the front in the 5ml amber bottles with drippers and 10gm tubs of post-shave balm to match the scents.
Here we see my trusty 500ml brown Boston bottles with 5ml labelled 'dripper' bottles ready to be sent to the testers. Also visible are 10gm plastic screw tubs containing the matching post-shave balm.
I have become fairly familiar with these fellows over the previous weeks, agitating them for 1 to 2 min daily, every day. The daily agitation is a must to ensure the solution is even, stable and to ensure the oils are distributed. Further to this point, the scents are smelled and compared day after day and notes are made as the scent and overall accords matures.
Here we see 5ml bottles with 'drippers' and drip proof/tamper proof caps. Also in evidence my
artistic prowess in regards to design, using scissors to cut a straight line and labelling!
Decanting to Sample bottles
1ml or 3ml Pipettes
5ml or larger bottles to hold the aftershave
Labels for the 5ml bottles - Pre written with the name of your aftershave
I pour a quantity from the 500ml bottles into a clear 250ml beaker after shaking the 500ml bottle well. I then use a pipette to measure out 5ml and decant it into the smaller bottles and seal them immediately to prevent spillage - not that I personally of course, would spill a 5ml bottle of splash on the dining table and endure the wrath of my wife or anything like that
Australian Private Reserve - The Scents
I have been working on around 12 to 15 scents, of which 6 of them are ready for testing in both aftershave and after shave balm. I will be sending these out to the testers this week. I am bloody nervous about how they will be received especially with the discerning, learned olfactory skills of the average P&C'er.
Australian Private Reserve – Essential Oils & Absolutes
Most essential oils I have used are certified organic by ACO or USDA and I have included the country of origin so there can be no confusion. Where an Essential Oil or Absolute is not organic I have noted it with (NO). All EO’s and Absolutes have been sourced from large, long trading, reputable outlets. If I have made any labelling errors in this regard below they are inadvertent.
I have listed the main base, heart and top essential oils/absolutes. Obviously I have excluded some in the interests of keeping my hard earned scents to myself. Some accords here have 3 or 4 additional EO’s, there are no Fragrance Oils (when used) I have omitted.
Where I have used fragrance oils in every single instance it is clearly noted.
The Splash Ingredients
Denatured Alcohol, Witch Hazel, De mineralized Water, Poly Sorbate 20, Glycerine, Essential Oils, Fragrance Oils.
The Balm Ingredients
I am using a commercial base containing approved ingredients that is prepared by an accredited facility to Australian Standards pertaining to skin and face care products.
Ingredients: Purified Water, Vegetable Glycerine, Sunflower Oil, Essential Oils/Fragrance Oils, Cetearyl Alcohol, Capric/Caprylic Triglyceride, Jojoba Oil, Almond Sweet Oil, Shea Butter, Macadamia Oil, Phenoxyethanol, Natural Vitamin E, Ceteareth 20, Stearic Acid, Caprylyl Glycol, Carbomer, Dimethicone, Butylene Glycol, Soya Bean Oil, Sodium Hydroxide, Aloe Vera Leaf Juice Powder, Hydrolyzed Marine Collagen, Ethylhexylglycerine
The Scents - Aftershave and Post Shave Balm
PC – Un côtelette de porc – Pork Chop
This is a traditional vetiver based on a discontinued Vetiver by Creed. I don’t for a second think that I have achieved anything even close to Creed’s masterpiece. Vetivers are traditionally darker, woody scents that are autumnal or wintery in nature. They are deep, earthy, damp scents by their very nature.
Composition: Haitian Vetiver, French Oakmoss Absolute, Virginian Cedar Wood, Italian Bergamot, French Lavender, Australian Sweet Orange (NO), French Ginger
GL - les généraux du grand livre – The Generals Ledger
In the modern vocabulary of perfumery, this is a bright Fougère. A traditional Fougère has strong notes of grasses, ferns, damp earth with a slight, top note to brighten it up.
Modern Fougère varieties are generally more floral or, in this case ‘brighter’ – they have multiple notes to lighten them up, make them slightly floral and more welcoming. Another keeper, I am very pleased with this scent (I like the smell personally) and I particularly like the name and in effect tribute to the man himself, all round good guy with an epic razor collection and an equally epic number of spreadsheets.
Composition: French Oakmoss Absolute, Haitian Vetiver, Venezuelan Tonka, French Lavender, Nutmeg, Cinnamon Bark, Egyptian Geranium, Italian Bergamot, Rose Maroc.
AC –choix Alfredus - Alfredus Choice
This is a scent that I made for a friend who happens to be part of the ‘Euro ‘A’ list limited edition shave kit set’, chemist extraordinaire and another all-round good guy. I asked him to name some scents he liked, he did so and thus it was named.
Best described as a traditional Fougère although one that is woody with subdued citrus notes from the White Grapefruit and Bergamot. As this is Alfredus choice, and as yet he has not tried it, the formula may change if he advises me he does not like it, or wants emphasis on certain notes .
Composition: Ambergris, Venezuelan Tonka, French Oakmoss Absolute, Indian Mysore Sandalwood, French Ginger, Virginian Cedarwood, Nutmeg, French Lavender, French Violet, White Grapefruit, Italian Bergamot, Basil.
SV – Sandalwood, Lime, Verbena
This came about as I was dissatisfied with the ‘L’Occitane Verveine’ EDT that I paid $70 for. The problem with citrus EO’s and Verbena in particular is that scent doesn’t last.
Citrus top notes – Lemon, Lime and Verbena particularly are notoriously short lived.I set to making one that would last a little longer, after 15 or 20 formulas I hit upon one that I feel works. It’s nice, but simple – I will keep a bottle kicking around as I like the Verbena scents in summer.
This accord uses Essential Oils and Verbena Fragrance Oil. The next batch I do will Verbena EO that is quite expensive, but is a fragrance I really like in the hot humid months.
Composition: Australian Sandalwood, Lime, Spanish Lemon, Fragrance Oil
CS – Coconut Sandalwood
The first of the 'Mystic' companions, this one is for the limited edition Coconut Sandalwood. I have worked on the scent slightly and added essential oils alongside the fragrance oil that is used in the original soap.
This accord uses Essential Oils and Coconut Fragrance Oil.
Composition: Australian Sandalwood, Indian Mysore Sandalwood, Rosewood Oil (NO), Fragrance Oil.
WG – White Tea & Ginger
The second of the Mystic companions, again I spent some time with the scent of the original and made a few slight alterations to the Fragrance oil base adding one or two EO’s for longevity and roundness of the tea.
This accord uses Fragrance oil and Essential Oils
Composition: French Ginger, Venezuelan Tonka, Fragrance Oil.
I have made a few more scents to compliment the Mystic range as they are soaps I enjoy so much however these are not at the testing stage yet but will be soon. If anyone has a request for a scent based on a Mystic Water soap, please don't hesitate to drop me a PM - If I have the soap I will look into it for you.
SA – Suitably Attired Australian
Imagine a suitable attired gentlemen taking a leisurely walk surrounded by Green eucalyptus trees that remind him of tweed. He chances upon an Irish traveller who makes the Stirling suggestion that they take tea together.
This is another ‘interpretation’ of Creed’s Green Irish Tweed that uses the same Fragrance oil that Stirling and Mystic use in their GIT interpretations.
I have added EO’s for longevity and to liven up the heart and tops as the Fragrance Oil itself is fairly short lived and rather synthetic. It was fun to dabble, I quite like the scent but I am more interested in pure EO formulations and making something new and interesting. This is a one off.
This accord uses Essential Oils and Fragrance oil.
Composition: Ambergris, Indian Mysore Sandalwood, French Violet, Spanish Lemon, Rosemary, Australian Sweet Orange, Fragrance Oil.
Conclusion
That is it for this week, as I mentioned I will be sending out the testers and balms this week so people can tell me what they think, I am quite happy with some and incredibly happy with others. I will revisit this thread in a short time or in response to questions or such forth. I will also recap issues or steps in the process that I no doubt have forgotten to mention. I spent most of last night to around 3.30am bottling things up, mixing balm and scents, packaging, printing, decanting and so forth.
As always, questions, corrections, criticisms, advice or comments are always welcome. It's been another thoroughly enjoyable week mucking around in the kitchen, learning and smelling the whole time.
So impressive @todras - no matter what they smell like, the amount of effort in both manufacture and especially documentation is very impressive. It has made me realise how much work goes on "behind the scenes" and at the very least has made me more appreciative of anything I splash on my face!
Bravo!
Bravo!
One thing I neglected in relation to this splash - It has 5% Calendula added (hydrosol).
I became interested in Marigold (Calendula officinalis) hydrosols after noticing their use in B&M, Chatillon Lux and a few others. The purported anti inflammatory/soothing properties aside, the smell of the Marigold is really nice, slightly sweet, herbal and floral and I thought it would sit particularly well with the sweetness of the tea and the deep earthiness of the Ginger. On advice from an Artisan friend who suggested (2% - 15% range) I ran with 5% as part of total solution.
Thanks man for the encouragement and note of optimism
The major issue, and I must say I have NIL experience in marketing and retail of cosmetics or wet-shaving products is that the price point of anything I did would be a major hurdle for people as I am using pure EO's and Absolutes in my splashes and these are very expensive.
The oils are superb, nothing comes even close to their beauty and purity of scent and that's why perfumes such as Creed, Gucci, YSL, etc are so bloody expensive even when they are giant perfume houses. And the same cost exists in making aftershaves and balms as you are using the exact same quality of EO.
When you think that 6ml of every aftershave is pure Essential Oil's the sums as to the cost of a bottle are quite easy to do - if people don't realise this they are highly reluctant and unlikely to want to pay the money for anything I did
When you are working on a large scale making hundreds of bottles of splash there is economy of scale at play, for instance instead of paying $120 for 20ml of sandalwood you may pay $2,200 for 500ml or instead of $85 for 18g of Tonka you can buy 400 ml for$1400, $85 for 5ml of Rose Maroc or $3,200.00 for 200ml and so forth.
While all these numbers seem expensive, insane or even ridiculously expensive and insane to some people the quality of the scents from the pure EO's cannot be compared, even remotely to the thousands of commercially available aromatic chemicals on the market - I don't mean commercial pre-mixed fragrance oils, I mean the aromatic chemicals themselves that are combined in perfume use and for making the bottles of pre-mixed fragrance oil.
A fair portion of the wet-shaving market opt's for the model I just mentioned, not everyone by a long shot, but a fair portion. From a commercial sense this is a very good business strategy and is fairly lucrative in a relative sense.
The real artisans out there however refuse to adopt this approach, they love genuine scents and they love the depth, complexity and beauty that the natural world has produced in making these oils. It's an argument of philosophy and purpose, of an art-form and a genuine desire and commitment to an idea, a scent and what that scent can evoke in us. I cannot express how much I respect the people walking the 'tougher' road and when I see their products (be it soap, balm or splash) and more critically the list of scent compositions I know immediately why I am being asked for a little more cash than usual for what they are offering.
I am thinking about very small run, artisan based avenues if people like my scents and if they do not I will continue to use what I have made, to make new scents and to try again - it was always about the journey, the learning and the enjoyment for me on a personal level and I guess it always will be.
Aside from finding customers or even retailers internationally, there is a mountain of very costly legislative procedural approvals, paperwork associated with shipping alcohol out of Australia and into the US - there is the same mountain of paperwork and hoop jumping for US artisans to send alcohol to Australia by the way.
Who knows though, if people don't think my scents smell like stale toilet water after a night drinking VB and eating a luke-warm curry I might just actually be really happy to keep doing my thing only for aussies anyway
alfredus
Auctioneer-in-Chief + organises many group buys
Staff member
Site Moderator
State Convenor - SA
Grand Society
Group Buy Caporegime
Charity Auction Team
Wonderful scents @todras - I can't wait to sniff them!
Your lack in marketing etc. is in my opinion a great thing. You might end up being one of the people selling an actual product and not an idea. I said it once and say it again: the best artisans I have come across, are the quiet ones who actually make something great. Sure, you might not make millions, but I am sure you would have some very happy customers
Your lack in marketing etc. is in my opinion a great thing. You might end up being one of the people selling an actual product and not an idea. I said it once and say it again: the best artisans I have come across, are the quiet ones who actually make something great. Sure, you might not make millions, but I am sure you would have some very happy customers
Wonderful scents @todras - I can't wait to sniff them!
Your lack in marketing etc. is in my opinion a great thing. You might end up being one of the people selling an actual product and not an idea. I said it once and say it again: the best artisans I have come across, are the quiet ones who actually make something great. Sure, you might not make millions, but I am sure you would have some very happy customers
+1 I agree too @alfredus
@todras - whenever I read these posts, the same adjective comes to mind - fascinating!Week 5 - Bottles, Samples, Testing, Storage
It has been a few weeks now since I started this thread and the practical component of this project, I don't think I have ever struggled so hard to remember (from my BSc days) basic concepts of chemistry and indeed measurement of fluids in my whole life.
Prior to commencing the practical component I had spent a good 6 to 7 months reading on perfume forums, searching the web, reading 'ancient manuscripts' ala Toto's Africa in searches and reading so obscure, just to glean a line or two that would assist me to understand scents, their chemistry and how composition effects the final scent of a perfume come aftershave.
Chemistry is a fascinating, beautiful and truly wondrous area of the sciences - the laws and behaviour of compounds and the complexity of their 'behaviour' in dynamic conditions is flawless. I say this quite openly admitting I am a novice, there is an almost infinite amount I still have yet to learn.
Bottled, Rested, Decanted and Tested
Time-scales being what they are, and the non-real time nature of my posts and updates here leads me to this conclusion posts of sorts, a majority of the solutions have been resting and 'marrying' at 6% strength for 2 to 3 weeks now in 500ml dark amber bottles, kept in a cool dark place and agitated for 1 to 2 min every day. They are now looking, smelling and performing as an aftershave should.
Suffice to say I have been using them all daily, making notes on their effects on the face, longevity, feel, etc as well as a subjective test can. My dear wife too has been recruited to the process, yes I have subjected her to wearing a variety of men's aftershaves as I have 2 or 3 work colleagues prior to inflicting them on P&C members who will receive the testers.
500ml Amber Boston bottles clearly labelled with Name, strength, and date make ideal storage for mixed solutions, keep them in a cool dark place and ensure you shake them every day for a minute or two. Pictured at the front in the 5ml amber bottles with drippers and 10gm tubs of post-shave balm to match the scents.
Here we see my trusty 500ml brown Boston bottles with 5ml labelled 'dripper' bottles ready to be sent to the testers. Also visible are 10gm plastic screw tubs containing the matching post-shave balm.
I have become fairly familiar with these fellows over the previous weeks, agitating them for 1 to 2 min daily, every day. The daily agitation is a must to ensure the solution is even, stable and to ensure the oils are distributed. Further to this point, the scents are smelled and compared day after day and notes are made as the scent and overall accords matures.
Here we see 5ml bottles with 'drippers' and drip proof/tamper proof caps. Also in evidence my
artistic prowess in regards to design, using scissors to cut a straight line and labelling!
Decanting to Sample bottles
1ml or 3ml Pipettes
5ml or larger bottles to hold the aftershave
Labels for the 5ml bottles - Pre written with the name of your aftershave
I pour a quantity from the 500ml bottles into a clear 250ml beaker after shaking the 500ml bottle well. I then use a pipette to measure out 5ml and decant it into the smaller bottles and seal them immediately to prevent spillage - not that I personally of course, would spill a 5ml bottle of splash on the dining table and endure the wrath of my wife or anything like that
Australian Private Reserve - The Scents
I have been working on around 12 to 15 scents, of which 6 of them are ready for testing in both aftershave and after shave balm. I will be sending these out to the testers this week. I am bloody nervous about how they will be received especially with the discerning, learned olfactory skills of the average P&C'er.
Australian Private Reserve – Essential Oils & Absolutes
Most essential oils I have used are certified organic by ACO or USDA and I have included the country of origin so there can be no confusion. Where an Essential Oil or Absolute is not organic I have noted it with (NO). All EO’s and Absolutes have been sourced from large, long trading, reputable outlets. If I have made any labelling errors in this regard below they are inadvertent.
I have listed the main base, heart and top essential oils/absolutes. Obviously I have excluded some in the interests of keeping my hard earned scents to myself. Some accords here have 3 or 4 additional EO’s, there are no Fragrance Oils (when used) I have omitted.
Where I have used fragrance oils in every single instance it is clearly noted.
The Splash Ingredients
Denatured Alcohol, Witch Hazel, De mineralized Water, Poly Sorbate 20, Glycerine, Essential Oils, Fragrance Oils.
The Balm Ingredients
I am using a commercial base containing approved ingredients that is prepared by an accredited facility to Australian Standards pertaining to skin and face care products.
Ingredients: Purified Water, Vegetable Glycerine, Sunflower Oil, Essential Oils/Fragrance Oils, Cetearyl Alcohol, Capric/Caprylic Triglyceride, Jojoba Oil, Almond Sweet Oil, Shea Butter, Macadamia Oil, Phenoxyethanol, Natural Vitamin E, Ceteareth 20, Stearic Acid, Caprylyl Glycol, Carbomer, Dimethicone, Butylene Glycol, Soya Bean Oil, Sodium Hydroxide, Aloe Vera Leaf Juice Powder, Hydrolyzed Marine Collagen, Ethylhexylglycerine
The Scents - Aftershave and Post Shave Balm
PC – Un côtelette de porc – Pork Chop
This is a traditional vetiver based on a discontinued Vetiver by Creed. I don’t for a second think that I have achieved anything even close to Creed’s masterpiece. Vetivers are traditionally darker, woody scents that are autumnal or wintery in nature. They are deep, earthy, damp scents by their very nature.
Composition: Haitian Vetiver, French Oakmoss Absolute, Virginian Cedar Wood, Italian Bergamot, French Lavender, Australian Sweet Orange (NO), French Ginger
GL - les généraux du grand livre – The Generals Ledger
In the modern vocabulary of perfumery, this is a bright Fougère. A traditional Fougère has strong notes of grasses, ferns, damp earth with a slight, top note to brighten it up.
Modern Fougère varieties are generally more floral or, in this case ‘brighter’ – they have multiple notes to lighten them up, make them slightly floral and more welcoming. Another keeper, I am very pleased with this scent (I like the smell personally) and I particularly like the name and in effect tribute to the man himself, all round good guy with an epic razor collection and an equally epic number of spreadsheets.
Composition: French Oakmoss Absolute, Haitian Vetiver, Venezuelan Tonka, French Lavender, Nutmeg, Cinnamon Bark, Egyptian Geranium, Italian Bergamot, Rose Maroc.
AC –choix Alfredus - Alfredus Choice
This is a scent that I made for a friend who happens to be part of the ‘Euro ‘A’ list limited edition shave kit set’, chemist extraordinaire and another all-round good guy. I asked him to name some scents he liked, he did so and thus it was named.
Best described as a traditional Fougère although one that is woody with subdued citrus notes from the White Grapefruit and Bergamot. As this is Alfredus choice, and as yet he has not tried it, the formula may change if he advises me he does not like it, or wants emphasis on certain notes .
Composition: Ambergris, Venezuelan Tonka, French Oakmoss Absolute, Indian Mysore Sandalwood, French Ginger, Virginian Cedarwood, Nutmeg, French Lavender, French Violet, White Grapefruit, Italian Bergamot, Basil.
SV – Sandalwood, Lime, Verbena
This came about as I was dissatisfied with the ‘L’Occitane Verveine’ EDT that I paid $70 for. The problem with citrus EO’s and Verbena in particular is that scent doesn’t last.
Citrus top notes – Lemon, Lime and Verbena particularly are notoriously short lived.I set to making one that would last a little longer, after 15 or 20 formulas I hit upon one that I feel works. It’s nice, but simple – I will keep a bottle kicking around as I like the Verbena scents in summer.
This accord uses Essential Oils and Verbena Fragrance Oil. The next batch I do will Verbena EO that is quite expensive, but is a fragrance I really like in the hot humid months.
Composition: Australian Sandalwood, Lime, Spanish Lemon, Fragrance Oil
CS – Coconut Sandalwood
The first of the 'Mystic' companions, this one is for the limited edition Coconut Sandalwood. I have worked on the scent slightly and added essential oils alongside the fragrance oil that is used in the original soap.
This accord uses Essential Oils and Coconut Fragrance Oil.
Composition: Australian Sandalwood, Indian Mysore Sandalwood, Rosewood Oil (NO), Fragrance Oil.
WG – White Tea & Ginger
The second of the Mystic companions, again I spent some time with the scent of the original and made a few slight alterations to the Fragrance oil base adding one or two EO’s for longevity and roundness of the tea.
This accord uses Fragrance oil and Essential Oils
Composition: French Ginger, Venezuelan Tonka, Fragrance Oil.
I have made a few more scents to compliment the Mystic range as they are soaps I enjoy so much however these are not at the testing stage yet but will be soon. If anyone has a request for a scent based on a Mystic Water soap, please don't hesitate to drop me a PM - If I have the soap I will look into it for you.
SA – Suitably Attired Australian
Imagine a suitable attired gentlemen taking a leisurely walk surrounded by Green eucalyptus trees that remind him of tweed. He chances upon an Irish traveller who makes the Stirling suggestion that they take tea together.
This is another ‘interpretation’ of Creed’s Green Irish Tweed that uses the same Fragrance oil that Stirling and Mystic use in their GIT interpretations.
I have added EO’s for longevity and to liven up the heart and tops as the Fragrance Oil itself is fairly short lived and rather synthetic. It was fun to dabble, I quite like the scent but I am more interested in pure EO formulations and making something new and interesting. This is a one off.
This accord uses Essential Oils and Fragrance oil.
Composition: Ambergris, Indian Mysore Sandalwood, French Violet, Spanish Lemon, Rosemary, Australian Sweet Orange, Fragrance Oil.
Conclusion
That is it for this week, as I mentioned I will be sending out the testers and balms this week so people can tell me what they think, I am quite happy with some and incredibly happy with others. I will revisit this thread in a short time or in response to questions or such forth. I will also recap issues or steps in the process that I no doubt have forgotten to mention. I spent most of last night to around 3.30am bottling things up, mixing balm and scents, packaging, printing, decanting and so forth.
As always, questions, corrections, criticisms, advice or comments are always welcome. It's been another thoroughly enjoyable week mucking around in the kitchen, learning and smelling the whole time.
The scents are really well chosen, Mate.
This has been some journey for you, and you have documented it eloquently.
The word now is - anticipation!
I must make a special mention and sincerely express my gratitude to @alfredus @TomG @GregP before I neglect to do so. I planned to do it in my conclusion post but it had been a long night and there is only so many cups of coffee you can drink before the caffeine ceases to have the intended effect.
Anyway, having professional, highly proficient and qualified chemists and Lab Assistants to scrutinise your concepts, ideas and 'demonstrations' has been of immeasurable help - I'm bloody lucky you guys use P&C truth be told. Even simple things like measurements, scales and so forth through to being able to verify my thinking, rationale and explanations with people who actually know what they are talking about has been awesome. Sometimes just dropping in with a comment saying 'keep it simple stupid' or 'you are doing it wrong' was really helpful along the way.
Additionally a big thank you to all the other folks from around P&C who have dropped past to take a look, comment, ask or even like - I very much appreciate you taking your time in this regard, once I have sent the test stuff out to those folks I will move forward with the remaining test bottles (I made up a fair few and the missus is hinting that it would be a good idea to maybe reduce their number).
I'll be doing the posting tomorrow, Tuesday and Wednesday - I have the addresses of the 'test subjects', there is about 6 of you or so and you will get all six scents and six balms with the exception of @alfredus who is being sent his own testers and some for the 'SA crew'. I have a 3 or 4 page copy of what I posted here included, scent compositions, balm ingredients and a little detail on each scent - all spelling mistakes, grammatical errors in it are my own - ask here if something in it is wacky or makes no sense.
Cheers guys, I will kick off a review thread in this forum in a few weeks so the testers can let us know what they think as experienced wet-shavers who have smelled many splashes in their time.
I will continue to update this thread with new ideas, scents going forward. I have a few more irons in the fire - more mystic companion scents, a few other new ones unrelated to these I posted and a rather interesting one involving Eufros/Jabonman who I have been corresponding with...
Anyway, having professional, highly proficient and qualified chemists and Lab Assistants to scrutinise your concepts, ideas and 'demonstrations' has been of immeasurable help - I'm bloody lucky you guys use P&C truth be told. Even simple things like measurements, scales and so forth through to being able to verify my thinking, rationale and explanations with people who actually know what they are talking about has been awesome. Sometimes just dropping in with a comment saying 'keep it simple stupid' or 'you are doing it wrong' was really helpful along the way.
Additionally a big thank you to all the other folks from around P&C who have dropped past to take a look, comment, ask or even like - I very much appreciate you taking your time in this regard, once I have sent the test stuff out to those folks I will move forward with the remaining test bottles (I made up a fair few and the missus is hinting that it would be a good idea to maybe reduce their number).
I'll be doing the posting tomorrow, Tuesday and Wednesday - I have the addresses of the 'test subjects', there is about 6 of you or so and you will get all six scents and six balms with the exception of @alfredus who is being sent his own testers and some for the 'SA crew'. I have a 3 or 4 page copy of what I posted here included, scent compositions, balm ingredients and a little detail on each scent - all spelling mistakes, grammatical errors in it are my own - ask here if something in it is wacky or makes no sense.
Cheers guys, I will kick off a review thread in this forum in a few weeks so the testers can let us know what they think as experienced wet-shavers who have smelled many splashes in their time.
I will continue to update this thread with new ideas, scents going forward. I have a few more irons in the fire - more mystic companion scents, a few other new ones unrelated to these I posted and a rather interesting one involving Eufros/Jabonman who I have been corresponding with...
There are no standards in this regard, generally the base is listed first, then the heart then the tops however even in this there is no standard. The base notes a rarely overly detectable unless they are used with 1 or 2 other scents. The aim is that they are not prominent.
Scent descriptions are the best guide.
I have Smart Dressed Man, Executive Man, Island man splashes and a few others from Stirling but I appreciate the offer
It probably is nothing overly special or exciting to other people really, but I am enthusiastic and somewhat excited about it.
I have had some correspondence with him and asked him about 'Brisa de Oriente' as I really like the scents and composition of the accords he used (in relation to another scent I am doing at the moment) anyway he kindly gave me the 5 major elements he used to make the scent of this specific soap. I worked out the formula and ratios myself which was not difficult having been given the components themselves.
As I do not have an aftershave or a balm for this wonderful scent and soap I am making my own unofficial aftershave and balm of Brisa de Oriente (Oriental Breeze). The perfume base has 4 current iterations which are resting for 1 week as pure EO's. After a week I am planning to look at the 4 formulas, compare their smell and go with the one that most resembles the tub of Brisa de Oriente that I have here.
Korbz
Member
Very exciting for me
My daughter calls that one "jelly bean" and is a huge hit with her. Been trying to find an EDT to match it unsuccessfully.
Very exciting for me
I will get some out to you when I bottle it up, I'll be glad to hear your thoughts on it.
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