Friday, March 26, 2010

Perfume Illuminated: Raspberry


The fruit trees last week were in full bloom here in the City of Angels. I witnessed it on a stroll, regrettably without a camera, just when the blossoms were in flower without any leaves. Such a glorious site. These fruit trees will soon dislay their fresh green cloak for the new season adorned with tiny round balls turning into fresh fruit. What an abundant time of the year, no wonder the birds are singing with such vigor and delight!

Among the fruits soon to be appearing first, if not already, are those from the berry tribe. Raspberry is the illuminated celebrity fragrance and flavor focus for today.


FRAGRANCE

The fragrance of raspberry is within the "fruity" category of the descriptive language used in perfumery. This very popular scent family is defined by the aroma of fresh fruit, it generally depicts a sense of fresh youthfulness and is popular as the months grow warmer.


The palette of the botanical perfumer has no raspberry essence. No one, as of yet, has captured the aroma of raspberry as an essential oil or absolute. Raspberry, Rubus idaeus, does exist as a cold pressed seed oil that can be utilized for lip balms and skin preparations. Raspberry seed oil is packed with essential fatty acids and vitamins. Excellent for use on the skin with a subtle aroma of raspberries.

For the creative and adventurous types I suggest getting some dried raspberry fruit at the market and tincturing it in grape alcohol. This will produce a red raspberry tincture that can then be added to other fruity notes to create the impression of Raspberry for a botanical perfume.


FLAVOR: Beth Schreibman Gehring
Please continue reading about Raspberry at the Windesphere Witch blog

6 comments:

Lucy said...

so many lovely green thoughts and ideas!

AromaX said...

Dear Roxana! Did you try tincturing og frozen-dried fruits and berries? I've heard they preserve their fragrance much better when frozen-dried. I didn't use them yet as I couldn't find any here in Netherlands.

Illuminated Perfume said...

hi lucy, i've been thinking of you.

Illuminated Perfume said...

hello dear AromaX, i would think that the water content in the frozen berries might be a challenge for a tincture. i haven't tried it, specifically because of that. it certainly is worth experimenting with!

AromaX said...

Roxana - the fruit I am talking about is dry fruit, but is dried by mean of freezing, I call it frozen dry (of frozen dried), but may be there is a special name for it. They also have a website in US - if I find it, I'll tell you. There is only some water rests in it, so it should not be a problem for tincturing (as any dry herb). I guess I've read it a couple of years ago in either botanical or natural perfum making Yahoo group.

Illuminated Perfume said...

Yes, we call it "freeze dried" raspberries.
:-)