Can you help me? I need two things from my readers. There will be a freebie gift for two helpful souls who reply, one for each subject. First: Back in late 2006, I stumbled across *fresh* ginger root essential oil at liberty natural. There were two - one from Madagascar, one from Indonesia. I immediately told my perfumery friends about it, and I used the fresh version in the kits for my students. Why the excitement? Fresh grated ginger - zest, fresh, hot, spicy fragrance Previously, the only ginger root oil available was from the peeled, sun-dried roots, and it was a middle note for perfumery. It had a mellow, soft fragrance, much like the dried ginger powder you get for baking purposes. This fresh ginger, on the other hand, smelled just like the fresh cut or grated root! Hot, spicy, wet, luscious, and a top note! I've used the aged, dried ginger EO, because it is valuable in perfumery and for food and drink purposes, but its soft character was just that, soft, c
Hi Anya…I got a lot of Carissa grandiflora (NATAL PLUM) growing around my building and the surroundings ,it has such a great and lovely smell..I really would like to keep some of it in a bottle. can you lead me to the best way of doing anything with this flowers?
BTW,,it has lovely fruits as well,which i intend to make into jam..as they do traditionally in Africa…
Thanx in advance for any help…
Hi Anya,
I recently received a bit of Ambergris & am wondering
what is the best method to tincture Ambergris?
Should it be ground to a fine powder or left as a solid chunk?
Thank You for All the info you generously share!
Bright Blessings 🙂
Hi Helene:
Ambergris should always be made into a fine powder, either through using a microplane, as i do, or by using a mortar and pestle. You then weigh the ambergris and make a 3% tincture. For example, if you have three grams, tincture it in 97 grams of 190 proof alcohol. It needs at least six months to mature, and shake the bottle occasionally to allow more surface area of the ambergris to come in contact with the alcohol. I don’t filter the tincture, but many do, it’s your decision.
HTH,
Anya
Thank You!
Blessings <3
Hi Ariel:
This brings back memories of me doing midnight harvesting of the Carissa flowers at midnight from my next door neighbor’s side yard. I was accompanied by Bernie, my humanoid cat, pitch black himself, and faithfully staying by my side as I picked flowers by moonlight 🙂
I advise you to tincture the flowers in 190 proof alcohol. Allow them to remain in the alcohol one day, remove them, and recharge. You may have to do dozens of recharges to obtain a strong scent, but it’s worth it. You may also enfleurage the flowers, again, with many recharges. You’ll then have a nice fatty scented pomade that you can use as-is, or “wash” with alcohol to obtain two products: a slightly-decreased scent pomade, and a slightly-scented alcohol to use in perfumes.
Good luck!
Anya
Hi Anya..thanx for the reply..a small thing.. what will be the ratio flowers-alcohol in the tincture?
Ariel, no set ratio – just pack them in.
Good afternoon,
What SDA alcohol is recommended for natural perfumery or perfumery use in general?
Thank you!
Best,
Lora