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NaughtieGirl
03-12-2005, 07:40 AM
I'm sure

perfumes and essential oils have been discussed at length, but I just wanted to share my journey into this with you

all.

So after the mones, I started to become intrigued by aromatherapy, since that seems to be the perfect

complement to my experiments here. Looked around on the net a bit, but how much can you do when you have no clue

what sandalwood or ylang ylang smells like!

So off to the mall I went. WOW! Body and Bath and Beyond. Amazing

how we onlt notice what we're interested in. I was in there only last week to get a new spritz bottle of

Mango/mandarin and didn't even notice the HUGE section they have devoted to aromatherapy!

So here's what I

bought:
- The Ylang Ylang/Myrh (called sensual mix)
- The Sandalwood/Rose (called relaxing mix)
- A plug-in

odor dispenser that you can load with wichever mix you like
- A beautiful wooden box with wooden separators inside

that perfectly holds the essential oil bottles but also the little mones bottles and various little mixes I'll be

making

There was another intriguing essential oil mix: Sandalwood/Jasmine and something. Akin to the one I

bought but spicier. I'll be near the mall today and I intend to get another difuser for the bedroom, the

lavender/vanilla mix (called sleep - must be very soothing and relaxing and believe me I can use that! My husband

tends to be extremely moody!) He likes eucalyptus so I'll get some of that as well just to be nice.

After that

I ended up at Victoria's secret for some lingerie and walked out of there with a small bottle of Heavenly. Smells

quite nice but Estee Lauder's Intuition is still my favorite.

Well hope you don't mind the long post. Just

wanted to share some of the nice smells I discovered!

NaughtieGirl
03-12-2005, 07:57 AM
I need to add though. CoolKing1 suggested I Google for "Snowdrift Farm" and the prices there are much-much better

than at the mall. Sooo... to the mall for sniffing and then to the computer for ordering, I guess. I did spend too

much money yesterday!

InternationalPlayboy
03-12-2005, 04:04 PM
I remember my first

buying experience with essential oils. It was at a small herb shop in town. One of the oils I bought was

Ylang-ylang. The woman who owns the shop poured the oil from a large bottle into a 1/4 oz vial for my purchase. As

she did that, the shop became filled with the odor of Ylang-ylang.

We both grew animated and I started

feeling aroused and seeing the woman as more attractive than I thought at first. In addition, there was a guy in the

store who hangs around the post office cleaning car windows for tips. He ended up buying some too, saying that he

may be homeless but he's not poor.

Good stuff!

DrSmellThis
03-12-2005, 05:06 PM
Maybe you'll get the bug as I

did. Have fun in any case, and check out the perfuming basics thread in the women's forum.

NaughtieGirl
03-14-2005, 12:17 PM
I was

just perusing (sp?) the archives of the women's forum. And I found your perfuming basics thread.

I just

ordered a bunch of essential oils: orange - clary sage - sandalwood (my big splurge!) - geranium - lemon - lavandin

- rosewood - tangerine - ylang ylang - a small sample pack of rose absolute and neroli. And then a diluted

jasmin-neroli scented oil and ditto for vanilla bean.

Assorted little jars and bottles and a thing called

"formulator's alcohol". I am so ready to start playing around with this stuff and of course "spiking it".! That'll

be the best part of it - The secret ingredient!

Judging from what I ordered, is there in your opinion anything

in particular that I should add next time? Unfortunately every oil I really wanted was alot more expensive than the

others: rose, sandalwood, neroli, myrrh. I guess I'll add them little by little.

Thanks for your input Dr!



Naughtie

DrSmellThis
03-14-2005, 12:44 PM
Every once in a while you can

get a more expensive one.

You need to add base notes to your collection, besides sandalwood. Vetiver,

patchouli, oak moss, valerian, benzoin are examples. Bergamot, labdanum and French lavender would be good some time

too.

NaughtieGirl
03-14-2005, 01:46 PM
You need to add base notes to your collection, besides sandalwood. Vetiver, patchouli, oak

moss, valerian, benzoin are examples. Bergamot, labdanum and French lavender would be good some time too.


Thanks! I had ordered these just based on internet research. Then after reading your perfuming basics thread, I

called them and added vetiver. Patchouli I'm really going to shy away from, I remember as a little kid, smelling it

on people and I didn't like the smell of it. It stuck with me. BTW did you ever get a chance to smell Christian

Dior's Poison (for women)? Yikes! One drop of that and they can smell you from a mile away.

Oak moss,

valerian, benzoin - I need to go sniff them for real I guess. Is French lavender so different from lavandin? I

thought it was a variant of it, that just grows at lower altitudes and therefor is cheaper to produce (and to

buy).
And yes - Bergamot seems to me popping up left and right in recipes.

DrSmellThis
03-14-2005, 02:21 PM
Lavandin is different than

lavender for perfuming.

Too bad so many have a prejudice against patchouli. It's in most great perfumes for men

or women, and is one of the most useful fixatives. I've tried to explain it many times.

A lot of times

people even think they're smelling patchouli when they're not.

But the best of luck in your fun

experiements!

NaughtieGirl
03-14-2005, 02:30 PM
Lavandin is different than lavender for perfuming.

Too bad so many have a prejudice

against patchouli. It's in most great perfumes for men or women, and is one of the most useful fixatives. I've

tried to explain it many times.

A lot of times people even think they're smelling patchouli when

they're not.

Hey, I have an open mind. I'll do a search for it so I can read what you said about it

before. If I need to use it as a fixative, well... moderation will be the key. <img>

DrSmellThis
03-14-2005, 02:34 PM
Moderation and quality are the

keys. Every oil smells bad in innapropriate concentrations.

Let us know how it goes, and feel free to post

questions.

DrSmellThis
03-14-2005, 02:39 PM
You might also want to buy

something from the spice category. Clove would be my recommendation to start. Vanilla (though very expensive) is

also useful, or a balsam, for sweetness.

Otherwise, you seem well prepared to start.

NaughtieGirl
03-14-2005, 03:25 PM
So I could

pick a balsam instead of clove?
(I don't like cloves in my food). Does black pepper qualify as a spice? I love

tons and tons of freshly ground black pepper on anything I can put it on!

DrSmellThis
03-14-2005, 06:37 PM
So I could

pick a balsam instead of clove?
(I don't like cloves in my food). Does black pepper qualify as a spice? I love

tons and tons of freshly ground black pepper on anything I can put it on!Balsam cannot act as a spice.

Pepper is good too, but more as a novelty, whereas clove is a staple of perfuming, due to its eugenol content. If

you've ever enjoyed curry, you've enjoyed clove. Still, if you love a particular smell or taste, go for it. That

approach is necessary to create things you'll love.

NaughtieGirl
03-17-2005, 04:37 PM
Hey Dr

of scentology,

Just wanted to tell you that I finally found a real store locally that carries essential oils.

So out of curiosity I checked out the patchouli, and it's not anything like I remembered! I'm glad you spoke up,

and I will certainly get some as soon as my checking account allows me to spend some more! <img>

Holmes
03-19-2005, 01:49 PM
The Scent Of The Nile (http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/index.ssf?050314fa_fact)

Fascinating

piece on the creation of a new fragrance.

DrSmellThis
03-19-2005, 04:38 PM
Hey Dr of

scentology,

Just wanted to tell you that I finally found a real store locally that carries essential oils. So

out of curiosity I checked out the patchouli, and it's not anything like I remembered! I'm glad you spoke up, and

I will certainly get some as soon as my checking account allows me to spend some more! <img>Hmmmm....I

wonder what the difference was for you? Was it aged? Was it the quality? Was it disrobing yourself of cultural

prejudice? I'm happy you rediscovered the musky leaf, in any case. :)

DrSmellThis
03-19-2005, 04:41 PM
The Scent Of The Nile (http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/index.ssf?050314fa_fact)



Fascinating piece on the creation of a new fragrance.Fantastic read -- interestingly revealing of the

process. Burr is a great writer. It's a little elitist, but that's perfume culture.