Phunnark is usually classified as a herb. I think it would be nice in perfume. Bark, leaves, flowers and roots
are all fragrant.

{{gwi:12341}}
Ankrara's Hobby Corner

How about Osmanthus fragrans or Daphne odora? I did locate some Osmanthus absolut online and I think I will have to order some. I think the pittosporum flowers was a great idea too.

wait, they make osmanthus fragrans-flavored (okay, scented!) vodka?

I would love some Sweet Olive/Osmanthus perfume or oil.
Someone has got to make it. Now we need to find out who
does. I just love that smell. I wish my bushes were a little stronger, It seems they don't waft as much when it's cold. What do you think?

AngelSmell, I notice that the fragrance is not quite as noticeable in cold weather. Just have to wait for one of those mild winter days. www.naturesgift.com has the Osmanthus absolut. Its $45 for 2 ml.
Patchoulijulie, here is more info on Absolut(e)s than you might want to know. Nope its not vodka.

Very delicate aromatics, Jasmine, Linden Blossom,etc. can not survive the process of distillation. To capture their magical aromas, a process of solvent extraction is used.
An extracting unit is loaded with perforated trays of blossoms. The blossoms are washed repeatedly with a solvent (usually hexane.) The solvent dissolves all extractable matter from the plant whch includes non-aromatic waxes, pigments and highly volatile aromatic molecules. The solution containing both solvent and dissolvable plant material is filtered and the filterate subjected to low pressure distillation to recover the solvent for further use. The remaining waxy mass is what is called the concrete and it contains in the case of J. grandiflorum as much as 55% of the volatile oil.

The concentrated concretes are processed further to remove the waxy materials which dilute the pure essential oil. To prepare the absolute from the concrete, the waxy concrete is warmed and stirred with alcohol (usually ethanol.). During the heating and stirring process the concrete breaks up into minute globules. Since the aromatic molecules are more soluble in alcohol than is the wax an efficient separation of the two takes place. But along with the aromatic molecules a certain amount of wax also becomes dissolved and this can only be removed by agitating and freezing the solution at very low temperatures (around -30 degrees F) In this way most of the wax precipates out. As a final precaution the purified solution is cold filtered leaving only the wax-free material (the absolute.)

This solvent extraction actually yields three usable products; first the concrete (as in rose concrete, my favorite solid perfume), the precious absolutes, and the floral waxes, for addition to candles, thickening creams and lotions as a softly floral scented alternative to beeswax.

this was very intersting to me....
The following are descriptions of a number of perfumes that are 'reputed' to contain osmanthus.

Cassini (Oleg Cassini) 1979 - Chypre-Fruity floral
Top Notes: Mandarin, freesia, osmanthus
Heart Notes: Jasmine, Bulgarian rose, tuberose, chrysanthemum, carnation
Base Notes: Mousse de chene, amber, oakmoss

Desirade (Aubusson) 1990 - Floral Semi-Oriental
Top Notes: Italian bergamot, Russian coriander, Madagascar ylang-ylang, pineapple, aldehydes
Heart Notes: Chinese osmanthus, jasmine, rose, cassia, tuberose, orange blossom, violet
Base Notes: Sandalwood, patchouli, vetiver, Somalian opopanax, plum, raspberry, vanilla, musk

Destiny (Marilyn Miglin) 1990 - Floral-Fresh
Notes: Calla lilies, white rose, fo-ti-tieng, osmanthus, karo karunde, white orchid, narcissus

DNA (Bijan) 1993 - Floral-Ambery
Top Notes: Rosewood, minty geranium, ylang-ylang, bergamot
Heart Notes: Jasmine, lily of the valley, tuberose, clove, osmanthus
Base Notes: Myrrh, oakmoss, sandalwood, vetiver, vanilla, benzoin, amber

Elysium (Clarins) 1993 - Floral-Fruity
Top Notes: Jasmine, honeydew, ylang-ylang, dewberry, linden blossom
Heart Notes: Lily of the valley, freesia, rose, osmanthus
Base Notes: Sandalwood, papaya, musk, cedarwood

Histoire D'Amour (Aubusson) 1984 - Chypre-Floral
Top Notes: Mandarin, bergamot, basil, osmanthus
Heart Notes: Jasmine, rose, narcissus, orange blossom, ylang-ylang, galbanum
Base Notes: Oakmoss, musk, patchouli

Il Bacio (Marcella Borghese) 1993 - Floral-Fruity
Top Notes: Honeysuckle, rose, jasmine, freesia, orchid, lily of the valley
Heart Notes: Peach, plum, melon, passion fruit, pear, osmanthus, iris
Base Notes: Amber, sandalwood, violet, musk, cedarwood

La Prairie - Floral-Fruity
Top Notes: Bulgarian rose, honeysuckle, peach, tagetes, osmanthus, peony, violet leaves
Heart Notes: Orange blossom, peach, plum, tuberose, heliotrope, rose
Base Notes: Sandalwood, amber, oakmoss, patchouli, musk, cedarwood

Oh La La! (Azzaro) 1993 - Oriental
Top Notes: Raspberry, peach, mandarin, bergamot, fig leaves, muscat grape
Heart Notes: Yellow rose, jasmine, narcissus, ylang-ylang, orange blossom, osmanthus
Base Notes: Cinnamon, sandalwood, amber, vanilla, patchouli, tonka bean

1000 (Jean Patou) 1972 - Floral
Top Notes: Greens, bergamot, anjelica, coriander, tarragon
Heart Notes: Chinese osmanthus, jasmine, rose, lily of the valley, violet, iris, geranium
Base Notes: Vetiver, patchouli, moss, sandalwood, amber, musk, civet

Sunflowers for Women by Elizabeth Arden - 1993
Elizabeth Arden introduced Sunflowers in 1993 as a response to the push on natural products. Arden calls it a "prestige fragrance without prestige pricing". This is a fruity, floral scent for the everyday adventures.
Top Notes: bergamot, melon, peach
Middle Notes: cyclamen, osmanthus, jasmine, tea rose
Base Notes: sandalwood, moss, musk

Realities (Liz Claiborne ) 1990- Fresh, Oriental
Introduced in 1990 by American sportswear designer Liz Claiborne, Realities was her second fragrance launch. A Claiborne spokesperson says that 'Realities celebrates the intimacy and reality of a woman's life as she and her family truly live it. This fresh, oriental fragrance has notes of bergamot, chamomile, sage, osmanthus, Bulgarian rose, jasmine, white lily, carnation, freesia, vanilla, amber, sandalwood and peach.

Escape by Calvin Klein 1991
Calvin Klein introduced Escape in Fall of 1991. It was created to reflect a woman's deepest passions and desires to escape the boundaries of everyday life and discover romance and adventure, uninhibited.
This fresh fruity floral is a blend of ingredients from all over the world. It opens with chamomile, apple, lichee, tagette, coriander, hyacinth, black currant, ylang-ylang and mandarin nuances. At its heart are rose, osmanthus, plum, peach, muguet, clove, jasmine and carnation followed by a base of musk, sandalwood, tonka and vetiver.

Chaumet by Chaumet (1999)
Top Note: Green ivy, freesia, citrus fruits
Middle Note: Tea flower, jasmine, osmanthus
Base Note: White musks, sandalwood, cedarwood

Ultraviolet 1999 - is a spicy floral oriental scent.
The top notes include fresh capsicum, a heart of Japanese osmanthus and a base of vanilla and gray amber. The perfume was launched in Europe before entering the U.S. in early February 2000 through the Dallas division of Dillard Department Stores.

I like escape and I don't like sunflowers maybe because sunflowers don't smell or its just the scent of the perfume....... :) Demeter makes a new perfume "flower show" I bet its pretty flowery although I tend to like citrusyy notes...... :)

Angelsmell: that's quite an informational list! Do you make your own perfumes? Is it from a perfume making book?

Bellie: re the Guerlain perfume: Ernesto's Good Earth in Miami has a medium sized shrub/small tree whose leaves are used in Guerlain perfume.

Does anyone know of a tree whole leaves are used in Guerlain perfume? Deep green leaves. The fragrance is absolutely wonderful! I have not been able to get the name of it. Yet!!!

My choice for a fragrance would be pure
Viola Odorata.
Lavender
Lemon verbena

thank you for the link. smilacina...and clearing up my brain fuzz. i couldn't quite get OFscented vodka.
will check out the link now.

dawn

JoanMary, No I don't make my own perfume but I would like to, the process seems very detailed. I have always been curious about it. I would love to make my own signature perfume. It would be so fun to sit down with a perfume lab and put together my own scent. I just ordered some books on this subject. The information I posted was just copied and pasted from a website I found on Osmanthus. I saw some Osmanthus oils on E-bay and may purchase one of them. I just don't want it to be some fake apricot scent to seem like Osmanthus. I emailed one of the seller's to see if it smelled just like it and she said as close as can be....
we'l see! Then I saw some Osmanthus Absolute for $40 for 1/2 oz. that is probably the real thing. I have the
Sunflower perfume and I sprayed it last night and I couldn't detect any sweet olive. I just found a new perfume, ( I am a perfume addict ) called Light Blue by Dolse Cabanna, when a co-worker wore it she smelled like the Chinese flowering rice plant... I just had to buy it.
By smelling it you would never believe it dries down to that fresh scent. What's your favorite perfume?

AngelSmell, by far, my favourite perfume is FEMME (Parfums Rochas) I have been wearing it for years. I have tried others, but always come back to this one.

There are so many wonderful essential oil fragrances, but amongst my favourites are violet and lavender.

I have made my own 'skin perfumes' following instructions in some excellent books. I use almond or walnut oil mixed with an essential oil, stirring with a wooden toothpick and storing in a glass vial. (1T to 3 drops)

Do you have any good bath salt recipes?

Wow that sounds so fun! what kind of essential oil? Where do you buy it? So you just buy the little bottles of concentrated oil and mix with essential oil? I have about 15 bottles of oils, I was thinking about doing something like that! I just ordered the Osmanthus and freesia oil, it's synthetic but she said it was pretty close. I asked her what to mix maybe a glycerin non fragrant lotion or something not sure I was just thinking off the top of my head, it's interesting that you mentioned this I was just thinking about it today! I ordered this book so It probably won't get here for 10 days or so. Keep me informed, sorry I don't know how to make bath salts do you?

Ooh! Bath salts? If any of you knows how to make it, I would like to be 'let in' on the secret. I have a few oils that are just begging for new use!

Thanks,
-Kiwini

Anyone pregnant should do research BEFORE they ever use essential oils as there are some which should NEVER be used when pregnant.

I did a brief search on the net and found some easy & interesting recipes:
1. Bath salts:
http://www.google.com.ar/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&q=bath+salts%2Crecipes

2. Bath Oils:
http://www.google.com.ar/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&q=bath+oils%2Crecipes

3. Bath Bombs:
http://www.google.com.ar/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&q=bath+bombs+%2Crecipes

3. Fragrances, essential oils:
http://www.google.com.ar/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&q=fragrances%2C+essential+oils%2C+recipes

4. Perfume, essential oils:
http://www.altavista.com/web/results?itag=wrx&q=perfume%2C+essential+oils%2C+recipes&kgs=1&kls=0

Lots of fun and lovely fragrances.

Let us all know of any other good sites you come across or if you have some really good tried & tested recipes. We really should get a thread going with this subject! Bet lots of people would enjoy making some of these for the Christmas Holidays. Would make delightful gifts as well!

I'm off to San Francsco for the week so will read this thread upon my return. Have fun!

Joanmary

I went to Trader Joes today at lunch and as I was walking down the isle I smelled the scent of Osmanthus, I walked by one of the girls working there and it was her, I asked her what perfume she was wearing, she said she just had on the lotion BABY BEES that they sell at Trader Joes... I was real excited to be in the right place at the right time!
Of course I bought it. It doesn't smell like it too much up close but it wafts the sweet olive scent...

I have some Pikake oil that is heavenly, but only in the tiniest of doses. Like open the lid, put your finger over the rim, DO NOT TURN THE BOTTLE UPSIDE DOWN and put the lid back on. One vial will last years.

calik8, Is it the real thing or a synthetic?
Does it really smell like pikake?

Last week I had to replenish my favorite perfume, "24, Fauborg", by Hermes, and looked closely at the notes included before tossing away the box it came in. Its made of orange blossoms, jasmine, iris and ambergris. I have always loved it, light and floral, but had never paid attention to its constituents.

While I am on this thread, there was a a heavier floral scent I had used briefly a few years ago, before it was discontinued. It was "Ceylon" by Isabelle. It claimed to recreate the scents of the flowers in the temples of South Asia. I still have a box of this perfume saved.

/blue

My favorite perfume in the late 60s or early 70s was a sampler or "natural" scents including red clover and new mown hay and one other?? I wish that they were still available.

The absolute best sweet olive perfume comes from La Belle Epoque on Decatur in New Orleans. But it has to be the perfume, not the cologne, which I think is just a non-descript sweet scent. It lasts a long time, so I get another bottle every couple of years.

They don't have a website, but you can order stuff over the phone.

(I don't work for La Belle Epoque, unfortunately. I could have become rich off commissions for the number of times I've recommended this particular perfume to others!)

Nancy, you wondering if 'Muguet des bois' is still available--readily! I'm wearing it--smells just like lily-of-the-valley. I would love a perfume that smells like heliotrope...

Hi demeter sells alot of single note fragrances...... quite a few flowers including sweet pea and muguet de bois...... lily of the valley...... yves rocher also makes a nce lily of the valley...... (but of course they call it (french company) muguet de bois)...... demeter also makes not lobelia maritima but honey...... which I think smells similar...... I think they should make a perfume and called it stargazer or lily...... make it smell like an oriental lily..... maybe a little less pungent...... for wearing thta is...... :) since orientals can be sooo strong (and lovely) in the garden..... you'd probably want (slightly) more subdued on your skin though...... I think they also sell honeysuckle...... :) As well as a plethra of other fragrances....... I also love laundrymat, Earl grey tea and apricot...... another garden smell...... though not flowers is grass and I guess dirt! Neither are my favorite (especially grass) but some people love them...... :)

BlueSV, I heard once in an interview that Princess Diana's favorite perfume was 24, Fauborg by Hermes. I have a bottle of that it is very flowery. I got some Osmanthus oil (synthetic) and it does give the scent of the sweet olive plant nothing can copy the exact sweetness though, I bought some lotion that was unscented and put a few drops of the oil and then put it on myself, I did smell it all day long it was pretty close. I also heard on a TV show on HGTV (my favorite channel) to put a few drops of your favorite oil on a cotton ball and hide it around your house where you want the scent, I did that and it really was a great idea, it took about a week to wear down to smell a pretty soft smell, when I walked in toinght I thought what was that beautiful smell and then I realized it was the cotton ball with the oil I hid in one of my silk flower arrangements. It was really nice.
Did anyone make bath salts? If so how did they turn out?

What does osmanthus smell like?

Osmanthus fragrans or Sweet Olive smells like beautiful sweet soft apricots. I love them.

What does pikake smell like? What does datura smell like? Ist it similar to moonflowers? I've grown moonflowers and I've heard so...... :)

Pikake is a sharper or less so sharp scented jasmine. Datura is a sweet scented smell like a brugmansia.

I have always liked the smell of russian olive tree blossoms, it reminds me of summer, and it also relaxes me. I searched all over and can't find any perfume or essential oils from it. if my girl wore that smell I would pounce on her. help me out anyone?

For me it would have to be 4 O'Clocks because the smell is just so clean and light. I just can't describe how much I love this fragrance. Though I have others that will hopefully bloom this year, 2 nicotania and a night blooming jasmine that have yet to bloom. Those just may compete.
Another fav of mine is my honeysuckle, it was given to me by my friends MIL and to me it smells fruity, like a fruity cereal actually-I think of Froot Loops or Fruity Pebbles-cereal is my fav food so I love that too.

Thanks Kathleen for this very insightful post and educational as well. Are you familiar with L'Occitane products and how do they compare etc.? Pure essentials or synthetic? I will try to check the next time I run into one of their boutiques.

I don't know if L'Occitane is pure or synthetic, but they do have a lemon verbena line which is heavenly. I like Jessica McClintock - I think it smells like lily-of-the-valley, and always get compliments on it. Also, Caswell Massey's Old Fashioned Body Milk products smell like hyacinth. Mmmmmmm....

foofna, I have to agree that lemon verbena is yummy. There's a few there that I really like too. When it gets warm here in CA. I usually just use light body mists of Bath-n-body Works. For cooler nights, I like Ralph by Ralph Lauren or Tropical Punch by Escada. Very light, fruity florals notes.

Suzy626,

I'm not familiar with L'Occitane. Another tip off on whether something is made of pure essential oils: probably not if they label it "fragrance or fragrance oils". If you ask the manufacturer, they may tell you the ingredients. But many people haven't a clue about the difference between real oils and sythetic fragrance, so a typical clerk will likely not know.

For a spritzer treat, go to a middle eastern grocery and find some rosewater or orange blossom water. This is the water that is leftover when they use steam extraction to pull out the pure EO. It is heavenly and completely natural. Wonderful to put in spritzer bottles (ask to buy these empty at Bath&Body, Lotions&Potions, or any custom body product store) and spritz face & body. Another awesome recipe for spritzer: 4oz distilled water and 10-20 drops of pure essential oil of peppermint, shake it up and spritz -- VERY cooling effect.

foofna, Caswell Masey's products are likely to use pure essential oils - you can probably tell by reading the label, they are an old fashioned manufacturer and I think at one point did use pure EOs. Yardley of London's Lavender Soap is pure EO. The thing is that the the synthetic versions are SO much cheaper, many are tempted to use them to cut costs. But as I said before, once you get a pure EO scent, you'll never accept the synthetic again -- there is NO comparison to the purity, richness, texture and layers of the bouquet between real EO and synthetic fragrance. These are the precious attars, oils and waters that Cleopatra and all the other royalty used centuries ago.

Kathleen,

Thank you so much for the helpful tips and recipes. Funny you should mention a middle eastern store. We frequent a restaurant called Open Sesame and on their tables are orange blossom water in middle easternish brass perfume jars for people to put into their drinking water. I've never done it but I have on many occasions mentioned that I wanted to put a drop behind my ears in jest. Well, now that confirms my theory that it is better worn than consumed. lol....

I will definitely try your advised concoctions for this season since I love lighter notes for the heat.

Suzy

Lemon verbena is a nice scent but I don't know if I'd want to wear it as an actual perfume (I'm afraid I'd smell like Lemon pledge) Fresh Sugar perfume smells just like lemons though.

As per the orange and rose water they also sell it at Italian specialty stores. I can remember my grandmother's kitchen filled with the scent of both waters when she made various desserts. Both scents/tastes are very common in middle eastern AND meditteranean desserts.

Oh and here are the loccitane scents: many based on flowers etc. some smell like the real thing some don't:
P.S. there honey water is DELICIOUS albeit not a strong/lasting perfume.:

Here is a link that might be useful: loccitane

Yes the waters are wonderful for light scent and refreshing moisture. You can also make a scented water by substituting any pure essential oil you like instead of the peppermint in the recipe I gave above.

For light scent in the summer you would probably LOVE: mandarin, grapefruit, lemon and sweet orange. All of these citrus oils are manufactured by expression - squeezing, just like when you peel the fruit and see that fluid bursting out of the skin -- that is the pure essential oil.

You might also like: rosewood or chinese geranium both a bit heavier but still soft florals and you can control strength by number of drops you add. Personally I just love lavender spritzer, basic but a nice scent and good for your skin.

If you want to mix the oil with the water, you can add a few drops of lecthicin (SP?) but I'm not sure where you'd find it. I got mine through a now closed high end essential oil seller. But the emulsifier is not required - you can just shake well each time you spritz and it will work fine.

I didn't realize that the floral waters were used in Mediterranean cooking too but seems logical being those regions are so close.

I just went to the L'Occitane web site and I'd be willing to bet that those are natural fragrances using real EOs. They don't give ingredients but they are located in Provence which is a huge area for distillation of pure EOs (notably lavender) and the way they describe their products leads me to believe they are using oils instead of synthetics as they name so many real oil names in their descriptions. Their Immortalle is everlasting which is another high $ EO like rose and the absolute of jasmine (absolute means drawn out with solvent).

BTW you can also pull EOs out of plants you enjoy the fragrance of by putting them in a jar of high proof vodka and soaking. Keep removing and replacing plant material to infuse more scent. Then you will have made your own absolute (in a way, commerically there is more to the process).

Hi Kathleen!

Thanks for looking into L'Occitane's website and answering my questions definitively. Btw: I just love learning about this stuff because it's so interesting and applicable.

I have a huge lavendar bush which smells devine. I want to take your advice and concoct a splash/mist. Can I use rubbing alcohol instead of vodka? Or 1 part distilled water and 1 part rubbing alcohol? I was afraid of smelling like I had been 'hitting the bottle' rather than smelling fresh..lol ;o) Which parts of the lavendar do I use? How long do I soak? Do I need to strain out the materials after a period of time?

Thanks again for your kind response & assistance.

Enjoying being a 'girly girl',
Suzy

Lilac. I've never smelled anything labeled lilac that smelled like real lilacs.

My wife loves the smell of daylilies.

My favorite is lilacs, but I agree lilac perfumes all smell artificial.

~Chills

Suzy,

To make a spritzer, the easiest thing to do is buy a small bottle of 'pure lavender essential oil'; (EO) from your health food store. Just make sure the label says that exactly. Some "fragrance oils" are actually carrier oils like canola or almond oil that has had a few drops of pure essential oil of lavender added to it - you can do that yourself with pure EO and much more. Plus carrier oils are oily to the touch, pure EOs are not oily to the touch, they absorb quickly into the skin. That's another way to tell but best bet is to look for proper label wording and read the ingredient list -- there should be only one ingredient: pure essential oil of lavender.

With pure EO you can just put 10 drops in a 4oz spritzer with some distilled water, shake well and spritz your skin. Lavender is great for the face, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. I use this to set my pure minteral make up powders. Plus you'll have a whole bottle left for other things like:

*Swirl 20 drops on top of your bath water before you step into the tub -- for relaxing and stress relief, lavender can help you sleep and the warm water helps it get further into your skin.

*A few drops on a piece of cotton, tuck that into an old cotton sock and put that into your pillowcase for scent to sleep by, again helps w/relaxation

*A few drops of the pure oil on a burn, immediately - yes it works to take the sting out and prevent blistering. This is an essential natural first aid in the kitchen and will NOT hurt the burn -- this oil absorbs almost immediately into your skin penentrating at the cellular level to heal. It is not like butter which Drs. wisely advise against as it seals in heat. Google Rene Gatefosse for the full story on lavender oil and burns...

*A few drops on cotton balls stashed in pots and other out of the way spots in rooms you'd like to scent naturally

*Mix about 4-6 drops per oz of unscented natural body lotion to make your own lavender lotion. I like Trader Joe's brand - just make sure there is no mineral oil or petrolatum/petroleum products in the lotion.

*Mix about 4-6 drops per oz of pure canola oil to use as a massage oil. Great for sore feet. Add some pure EO of peppermint to make it really refreshing.

*Mix a few drops into a mister filled with rose water or orange blossom water which you can purchase from a middle eastern grocery for a two note fragrance spritz instead of using distilled water. Obviously if you buy another EO that you like the fragrance of, you can mix some of that in too for a light spritzer of 3 notes. Mandarin and graprefruit are wonderful light oils for summer. Be careful, I ended up with over 40 EOs because I got hooked on mixing fragrance! Kept cool and in dark bottles/away from sun, they last forever though...

On your questaions: Yes you can pull fragrance from plant materials using alcohol but don't use rubbing alcohol - it smells bad, just take a whiff and you'll see what I mean, very harsh. Vodka has no scent - it's the closet alcoholic's favorite for this reason - that's why it's used but the highest proof will be most effective. Yes you have need to strain out the plant materials and after you are finished with your extraction process you can add some distilled water (non-distilled might let bacteria grow). You will also need to add copious amounts of plant materials to the soaking jar (I'd use a mason with lid), crushing the flowers down into a small amount of liquid over a period of weeks to get some fragrance into the vodka. Placing on a warm windowsill will probably help speed the process. Rose is probably a better choice as you can gather a lot of petals if you grow a few bushes in your yard. With lavender, the scent comes from the flowers and you'll need a lot of them. I think it takes about 2000 lbs of lavender blossoms to steam distill out just a pound of pure essential oil. Obviously leaching the oils out in alcohol is not quite the same and will result in a much weaker fragrance than steam distillation done professionally.

Go get some lavender essential oil and maybe a few others and begin playing!

Don't worry flowersandthings - the L'Occitane Lemon Verbena doesn't smell anything like Pledge... LOL ... it smells like you just cut open a lemon! I have it on right now, but unfortunately, it fades quickly, at least on me. I have some lemon balm growing now and was wondering what I could do with that as far as creating some type of scent to wear or use around the house.

Hi Suzy, I came upon this forum topic when I was trying to find a supplier for Osmanthus, as I make my own all natural perfumes and have been doing so for a couple of years, yes it is expensive,but if you can't or don't like the chemically made fragrances it's great.I now have 3 of my own blends that I make for myself and friends, I've got the perfume descriptions that was listed above, and with my hundreds of essential oils and absolutes,and trial and error,I make fragrances that closely resemble them.. I've become Dr.Jeklll or maybe Mr Hyde..LOl.. Seriously, if you'd like some perfume recipes and ideas on how to make them check out "http://www.snowdriftfarm.com/";.. it's a real informative site.. Ps have fun, but be careful not to get addicted, like I did, Margaret

Freesias!!!!!!

Kathleen: Thank you so very much for the great, informative tips on spritzes, lotions, EOs, Vodka, and Lavendar's medicinal uses. I had no idea. Well I certainly look forward to trying these out. I just mentioned to my DH that the next time we're out, I'm stepping in a health food store or a middle eastern grocery for some aromatherapy finds.

Margaret: Thank you for sharing also. I will definitely look into this site and gather as much information as I can. Now you've peaked my interest on Osmanthus. That's one flower I've not smelled yet or don't recall smelling.

I must add also that this is the reason why I come to these forums. I have learned so much and I truly appreciate the kindness that comes with all the helpful hints. I will keep you posted on my findings and progress into the wonderful world of essences & aromatherapy.

Cheers,
Suzy ;o)

I would like a perfume that really smells like a rose, not a synthetic cheap smell like most.

Sweetmichelia grow some Demask roses steep the nearly full open rose pedals in a warm distilling manner. You could even name this one Fragarance de Ole Lady. Also a mutitasking perfume one can even use this distilled fragarance to make the middle east filo dough and almond treat named baklava, scented candles.

Mimosa (Albizia Julibrissin) aka Silk Tree, should by all means be made into a perfume. It is a perfume on July nights, and somehow even smells pink to me.
I think it is something young ladies would enjoy a great deal.

Matt Di Clemente

I nominate Bahama strongbark (Bourreria succulenta), a small tree, and smooth strongbark (B. cassinifolia), a shrub. Both are native to pineslands in far south Florida and the Bahamas. They belong to the Boraginaceae and have small white flowers with an exquiste fragrance. It is not wafting but wonderful up close. Pick a flower and hold to the entrance of a nostril and inhale. The unique fragrance is sweet and complex. To be a good perfume it probably would need something to make it more volatile. I have both species in my yard in S. Florida. The flowers attract butterflies and the orange fruit attract birds. They can be purchased at a few native plant nurseries in S. FL.
In the Bahamas these plants are often called strongbacks and are used as aphrodisiacs for men whose backs are apparently strengthened by it. I have noted that Bahamian women tend to giggle when they encounter strongbarks.

Strongbark perfume would probably need a warning label.