[TUTORIAL] Making Perfume Accords Using Essential Oils

UKSteve said:
Do you design with the aftershave and EdP at the forefront or the soap?
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The EdP or the Extrait more specifically is all I am really concerned with, the rest is just a case of dilution for the product. A lot of people use a different formula in say their soap to their splash to their EDT/EDP but I don't, I use the same perfume for everything which costs more, but delivers a much more consistent and uniform experience and I expect B&M does the exact same thing too.
 
After checking the URL, I don't think I want to click that...
 
If you are like me you love terpenes, those little unsaturated hydrocarbons are gorgeous bastards teaming with potential, utility and beauty. One of my favorites is Limonene and it is found in a majority of the citrus species :)

We probably know or have at least heard about Petrichor and the bacterial compound Geosmin (also found naturally in Beetroot btw) that we experience after a long hot period when rain suddenly occurs, but in using this material it would be the mark of a novice just to work the petrichor facet alone into our formula with no consideration of the other essential component that accompanies it. The other reaction that occurs, the necessary compliment is the reaction of the locally specific bacteria in situ to the falling rain i.e. the area of land where the rain falls - every area smells different due to different bacteria.


When I designed Lightning Ridge the most difficult part of the construction was recreating not only the ozonic accord (not petrichor or bacterial, an entirely different design aspect and area of chemistry that accompanies lightning) but the bacterial component of the design - the smell that occurs when the rain strikes the parched, dry Australian earth based on my experiences as it growing up and living here. In a similar vein, when Will designed his Petrichor release he took his experience in New England and recreated what he experienced over many years. So a good design using Geosmin is so very much more than just the Petrichor aspect, from a perfumery perspective using Petrichor alone is a really novice mistake and an example of very poor design and research.

This article on The science of bottling the scent of rain discusses this area of perfumery and chemistry if you are interested. It's well referenced (with links to the papers), not at all technical or complex and a quick easy read.
 
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todras said:
If you are like me you love terpenes, those little unsaturated hydrocarbons are gorgeous bastards teaming with potential, utility and beauty. One of my favorites is Limonene and it is found in a majority of the citrus species :)

We probably know or have at least heard about Petrichor and the bacterial compound Geosmin (also found naturally in Beetroot btw) that we experience after a long hot period when rain suddenly occurs, but in using this material it would be the mark of a novice just to work the petrichor facet alone into our formula with no consideration of the other essential component that accompanies it. The other reaction that occurs, the necessary compliment is the reaction of the locally specific bacteria in situ to the falling rain i.e. the area of land where the rain falls - every area smells different due to different bacteria.


When I designed Lightning Ridge the most difficult part of the construction was recreating not only the ozonic accord (not petrichor or bacterial, an entirely different design aspect and area of chemistry that accompanies lightning) but the bacterial component of the design - the smell that occurs when the rain strikes the parched, dry Australian earth based on my experiences as it growing up and living here. In a similar vein, when Will designed his Petrichor release he took his experience in New England and recreated what he experienced over many years. So a good design using Geosmin is so very much more than just the Petrichor aspect, from a perfumery perspective using Petrichor alone is a really novice mistake and an example of very poor design and research.

This article on The science of bottling the scent of rain discusses this area of perfumery and chemistry if you are interested. It's well referenced (with links to the papers), not at all technical or complex and a quick easy read.
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Geosmin... I had awesome times at the microbiology courses while undergrad (including quite a few A+ grades, the very few together with the genetic courses, I just got C or C- in zoology and field-wildlife related subjects). I grow wild caught Streptomyces along other bacteria in the lab. At that time we had some freedom that I am sure it is no more allowed (like going to the university cantine and pass a swab along the food processing/selling area and grow whatever was there in some petri dishes, or trough the toilette to see what was going on :ROFLMAO:)

thanks for your comments on what you were looking for lighting ridge. For me it was something like the smell of a dry storm coming (before the water hits you, but you know is on the way), almost something that can make you run home :). This one and lixiviant has been the hardest to pick up or understand for me.
 
@todras, what a wonderfully generous sharing of your acquired knowledge. As a very limited tinkerer [soap making] I can attest to the need for accuracy in measurements and consistency in procedure without which no two "items" are the same.
Again thanks very much for a great article and sharing your thoughts.

Steve
 
nervosa1901 said:
Just a joke. Seeing the word "reformulation" anywhere near the APR logo is jarring...
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It's a legal necessity when selling your product anywhere subject to the EU due to the IFRA rules and risk of litigation. It is incredibly common and par for the course with just about all the perfumes sold in the US and Australia.
 
bald as said:
@todras, what a wonderfully generous sharing of your acquired knowledge. As a very limited tinkerer [soap making] I can attest to the need for accuracy in measurements and consistency in procedure without which no two "items" are the same.
Again thanks very much for a great article and sharing your thoughts.

Steve
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Thanks Steve, Ill drop a few more interesting articles in here from time to time :)

Measurement and accuracy is critical in perfumery - as much so as it is in soap-making which is chemistry again after all. The weights are much smaller in perfumery and to a degree more critical... .005mg of error becomes 50mg, then 500mg and so on when a forumula is produced or compounded at scale - initial conditions are the key to a complete design and as I have learnt the hard way, imperative. Something as simple as a light breeze, a hot day or even less that absolute focus introduces error that is so easily compounded and can destroy a design.

Perfumery is also mostly about love, intuition and artistry which some people have and unfortunately some people do not have. The concept of a muse and the ability to see the parts as a whole into the future prior to them becoming what they will be (how 70 components change chemically in response to each other over a timescale)...t is also concurrently the individual compounds and how the relationships between the marriage that is a fragrance exist. I smell a lot of pedestrian rubbish frankly, a lot of mixing a few EO's and so on - that is not perfumery, it is the mixing of a few EO's - no narrative and no design.

You may enjoy this long-form piece :)
 
todras said:
Thanks Steve, Ill drop a few more interesting articles in here from time to time :)

Measurement and accuracy is critical in perfumery - as much so as it is in soap-making which is chemistry again after all. The weights are much smaller in perfumery and to a degree more critical... .005mg of error becomes 50mg, then 500mg and so on when a forumula is produced or compounded at scale - initial conditions are the key to a complete design and as I have learnt the hard way, imperative. Something as simple as a light breeze, a hot day or even less that absolute focus introduces error that is so easily compounded and can destroy a design.

Perfumery is also mostly about love, intuition and artistry which some people have and unfortunately some people do not have. The concept of a muse and the ability to see the parts as a whole into the future prior to them becoming what they will be (how 70 components change chemically in response to each other over a timescale)...t is also concurrently the individual compounds and how the relationships between the marriage that is a fragrance exist. I smell a lot of pedestrian rubbish frankly, a lot of mixing a few EO's and so on - that is not perfumery, it is the mixing of a few EO's - no narrative and no design.

You may enjoy this long-form piece:)
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@todras those two paragraphs above show the passion you have and what I have gracing my skin and at home in my den is the product of your passion and artistry/knowledge/magic....
From my personal perspective it’s the handful of artisans like yourself that create and add to the joy I get from wet shaving....
 
fruityasu said:
@todras those two paragraphs above show the passion you have and what I have gracing my skin and at home in my den is the product of your passion and artistry/knowledge/magic....
From my personal perspective it’s the handful of artisans like yourself that create and add to the joy I get from wet shaving....
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Hey, thank you :)
 
fruityasu said:
@todras those two paragraphs above show the passion you have and what I have gracing my skin and at home in my den is the product of your passion and artistry/knowledge/magic....
From my personal perspective it’s the handful of artisans like yourself that create and add to the joy I get from wet shaving....
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Absolutely - this is why i am aiming to significantly reduce my stash of soaps/splashes to be left predominantly with the APR stuff. The other forum often speaks of the desert island thing - well mine is so simple - APR all the way...
 
tim33z said:
Absolutely - this is why i am aiming to significantly reduce my stash of soaps/splashes to be left predominantly with the APR stuff. The other forum often speaks of the desert island thing - well mine is so simple - APR all the way...
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I have also reduced a lot of what I keep, you can see this in my SOTD's and the products I use in them as these are the ones I really like aside from my own stuff. People often ask me why I post other artisans products in my photos (as I post daily) and I quite happily tell them that they are products I respect, love and enjoy using like any other shaver.

With so many players in the market I have found myself being much more discerning in relation to the soaps/splashes I buy and use. So much of it does not pass my personal muster, eithers its FO based or the fragrance design just isn't there for me to drop the dollars on yet another set.

There are a few really good artisans producing wonderful products, its just that for me personally they are few and far between and I have so much stuff as it is.
 
tim33z said:
Absolutely - this is why i am aiming to significantly reduce my stash of soaps/splashes to be left predominantly with the APR stuff. The other forum often speaks of the desert island thing - well mine is so simple - APR all the way...
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I just got today mail call from a new Aussie artisan today, and well, I'll talk on the SOTD.... There is another artisan from Oz I wanna try a full tub (whispers from the woods) as they are Australians, and I wanna try most Aussie stuff I can, but otherwishe I am doing like you. I'll buy mostly samples from other makers, so I can try, as that will allow me to get at least one full comb from one of each seasonal APR releases and the splash from the others (at minimum), keeping in mind to grab other small limited releases that eventually will pop up. Good thing is maggards or shavedash sell samples :)
 
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