Ask the Perfumer - Sunday, June 26, 2011 - until 10 PM EST

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Hi Everyone!  I'm back from a semi-vacation, a staycation I think it's called, but I'm still refreshed and ready to answer your questions.  The growing season is in full bloom in most parts of the world, and if you have any fragrant plants sending out their beautiful scents now, or will soon, and want to extract their scent, ask away. Or, maybe you have another question about perfumery.  I'll be here, on and off, until 10 or so EST.

Comments

  1. Anonymous6/26/2011 10:43 AM

    Hi Anya,

    Glad you had a nice break. Staycations are a great idea. I've got a few questions but will limit it to two...I've tried the freezing technique prior to filtering you mentioned last time but I notice that there are still trace amounts of sediment. I'm only using a coffee filter but it still puzzles me. It is a minimal amount of sediment but can easily be seen when the bottle is held up to the light. I'm wondering about the professional vacuum filter you mentioned. It's particulars and price, etc. I also don't understand the point of freezing it only to then gradually thaw it out again. Also, have you ever heard of tincturing maple syrup that comes in block form? My dad is Canadian and that's how I heard about it's existence. I love the smell of it. Thanking you in advance :)
    Laura Matheson

    ReplyDelete
  2. Naheed6/26/2011 11:04 AM

    Hello dear Anya,

    My question is about the use of rice note and rice steam note in perfumery. I have heard that it is obtained through chemical molecules and also from the rice plant. It will be worth learning to get to the right resource. I am looking for this answer for my learning and also to mention it in my article.
    Thank you in advance,
    Naheed

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sheila Kriebel6/26/2011 11:10 AM

    What is the best way to dilute Linden Blossom absolute? I adore it's fragrance & have made a lovely new perfume using it along w/ Magnolia flower EO among others. But I'm finding it difficult to blend in pure grain alcohol (190 proof) & so far I've only been able to find the absolute not an EO or SCO2 extract. Suggestions? Thank you, Sheila

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnyasGardenPerfumes6/26/2011 12:00 PM

    Hi Laura:

    Coffee filters aren't adequate for this. Freezing causes the heavier wax particles to precipitate to the bottom, and you carefully decant off the top materials, avoiding allowing the waxy stuff to pour into the filtering funnel.

    Search ebay or online for brake lining vacuum pumps, which are also sold on lab equipment sites. They'll include a beuchner filter, tubing, a hand pump, a meter and a special Ehrlenmeyer flask (sp?) About $50

    Then, at a lab supply, get special filter paper. Inexpensive. Call them or write them and they'll be able to tell you the right kind and micron size.

    Tincturing the solid maple syrup might work, but I'm thinking you might have to distill off the essence.

    HTH,
    Anya

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnyasGardenPerfumes6/26/2011 12:01 PM

    Hi Naheed:

    At this time I'm unaware of a natural source of this note. It does exist in the synthetic form. Maybe you can cook rice and then tincture it, but I think the rice would absorb the alcohol.

    HTH,
    Anya

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnyasGardenPerfumes6/26/2011 1:23 PM

    Hi Sheila:

    Seems blogger.com ate my reply to you about the linden blossom 'sludge'.

    Not to worry: after you add the linden blossom to your alcohol, or compound blend, and subsequently dilute the compound with alcohol to make juice, just shake the flask several times a day as the maturation process goes forward.

    When you're ready to filter, follow the instructions I gave Laura, above, or simply pour off the clear materials and know that the linden scent *has* moved over into the alcohol.

    HTH,
    Anya

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnyasGardenPerfumes6/26/2011 1:25 PM

    Laura, I've posted a photo of the Buchner filter (white item), filter papers and a brake bleed vacuum pump assembly on my Anya's Garden FB page http://www.facebook.com/AnyasGardenPerfumes

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous6/26/2011 1:52 PM

    Hello Anya,

    Where In Miami can I purchase Natural Perfumer's alcohol to use in diluting Essential Oils like rose Otto, Oud (Aloes wood)?
    Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnyasGardenPerfumes6/26/2011 1:57 PM

    Hi Anonymous:

    There is no place in Miami or Florida. You either have to mail order 190-proof Everclear ethanol, which is available thru many sites in New Jersey, or buy it from an organic alcohol supplier, which you can google, and their minimum is 1 gallon, which will cost you about $115 with shipping/haz mat. the Everclear is about $15/quart, but buy at least three, because I think the min. shipping/haz mat from most of the NJ places is $37, and that covers three bottles.

    HTH,
    Anya

    ReplyDelete
  10. margaret6/26/2011 4:56 PM

    Hi Anya!

    I'm confused about something. I read recently where Mandy Aftel stated that her Amber perfume didn't contain animal essences, but you teach us in class that all labdanum has goat essence musk in it. Mandy states her perfume has five labdanums in it, so I'm confused.

    Hugs,
    Margaret

    ReplyDelete
  11. AnyasGardenPerfumes6/26/2011 10:04 PM

    Hi Margaret:

    Excuse my late reply, I got sidelined by dinner and a movie ;-)

    Every speck of labdanum has quite a bit of animal essence in it. Why? Because the goats roam the mountains where the Cistus plants grow, as they have for thousands of years, and their hair, rich with either scent gland or rear-end musk gland exudant, gets stuck on the cistus bush. You can smell the goat musk in labdanum, it's a major scent component!

    They even comb the hair of the goats with a special leather instrument and throw that harvest into the general batch of harvested plant parts.

    Click on the picture of the goat and see one of the scent elements of labdanum http://www.labdanum-creta.blogspot.com/

    The owner of that website sent me some high-res pics of that goat and some others a few years ago. The brown goat has a wild look in his eyes, the pheromones must be making him a bit wild ;-)

    ReplyDelete

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