Ask the Perfumer - Sunday, December 5, 2010 - 10 a.m. to 10 PM EST

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I'm a little late getting this started today, but I will be here the rest of the day.  Post away!

Comments

  1. Unknown12/05/2010 2:07 PM

    Hello Anya,
    Since we know you have a wonderful garden, I wondered how many process's you do. As in enfluerage,distillation etc. The different process's are interesting, on a small scale of course.
    Denise

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnyasGardenPerfumes12/05/2010 2:19 PM

    Hi Denise:

    I carry on many extraction processes on site. Tincturing, infusion, distillation, ultrasonic distillation, enfleurage, and soon, soxhlent and vacuum distillation.

    Due to family and business demands, I am sorely late in getting my book proposal to the book agent for "Perfume from the Garden", which will detail these processes and the raw materials. I should get back to that this week. I'm also working with Elise on a grant that she has to examine reviving the essential oil industry in Florida, and I'll have large-scale distillation units available for that, which is exciting.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Eliam Puente12/05/2010 4:16 PM

    Hi Anya!

    I will hopefully be getting a little bit of Billie Goat Hair (I think from the bottom not the head if that makes a difference) but have not idea where to look to find instructions on tincturing it. Can you help? Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnyasGardenPerfumes12/05/2010 5:08 PM

    Hi Eliam:

    I still have the original tincture I made, and I made it with the oldest strategy known to herbalists - the Simplers Method. That just means put your material in a glass jar, and pour enough 190 proof alcohol over it to cover, with maybe 1 to 2 inches extra.

    I had never made the goat hair tincture before, so I was just hoping for good results, and I got them. It was really, really strong. I still have never had the guts to strain the hairs out! So the hair of Frontrunner, the Canadian goat, is still in the alcohol.

    Just to be safe, I had it tested for microbial activity, and both the tincture and the Pan perfume came out clean. I had it done by Cindy Jones of http://www.sagescript.com/ I think it was $60 for the two. Better safe than sorry. She explained that 190 alcohol can breed microbes whereas 170 proof doesn't . Don't know what that is. I thought I was safe using 190, but at least I had the purity of the tincture and perfume confirmed.

    Good luck, it's pretty easy!

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnyasGardenPerfumes12/05/2010 5:09 PM

    Eliam, I forgot the most obvious - after you pour the alcohol in over the hair, put a tight-fitting lid on the tincture.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Eliam Puente12/05/2010 7:57 PM

    Thank you Anya! I really appreciate it.

    ReplyDelete

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