Dailies

The daily gathering of little white florets from for the Jasmine sambac tincture continues. Although there was a bit of a dry spell of blossoms for about a week, the plants are flowering once more.

These waxy, abundantly scented little flowers have been getting added to 190 proof grape alcohol since April of this year. Thursday morning, while filtering the tincture, I poured a tablespoon into a glass. After finishing the process and cleaning up, I studied the fragrant potion and drank. The first impression was the strong, sharp, astringent taste of the 190 proof organic alcohol followed by the most glorious floral flavor. Like a well blended, complex botanical perfume, there was a journey of notes which ended with the most delectable tang of jasmine flowers...as if drinking an aspect of the soul of the plant which even the hydrosol cannot capture.

While experiencing this exotic and completely new taste sensation I contemplated how the high proof alcohol extracts botanical components that water cannot, making this format of experiencing the flavor of these delicate flowers a completely new and different adventure.

This tincture is meant for the 2015 edition of the Blossom Cologne. The 2014 edition of the fresh and uplifting cologne can be found here, keep in mind there is a specified amount of the cologne due to the finite availability of the hand infused alcohol contained within the fragrance.

Each plant material tinctures up differently, some do not not release there precious aromatic treasures while others do so very eagerly. Jasmine sambac works well as long as you can keep up the task of filtering old blossoms and adding new ones consistently for a period of three months or so. The alcohol in the tincture I've been making is just about completely saturated with aromatics thus, tomorrow I will begin doing an enfleurage with the jasmine blossoms.

Happy Solstice!

Happy Solstice from the Santa Monica Mountains to each of you. The potted jasmine sambacs in my garden started their blooming cycle in April. Each morning I have been gathering the little white blossoms and placing them into the organic, 190 proof grape alcohol. The base starts off a crystalline clear liquid slowly turning toward a golden yellow by the end of the process in the Autumn.

Some days there are no flowers, just a few or like today too many to count. The amount of blooms seems less than last year which may have to do with the un-seasonal warm winter we had. These little blooms will infuse the alcohol until it can no longer take on any scent. At that point I will start a second batch.

In the meantime I am working on the new edition of Blossom Eau de Cologne. There is still a bit of the 2014 edition which can be found by following this link for a sample and/or a 30 ml spray bottle at the website.

This post has been pinned here, follow the process on Instagram here.

Blooming

While straightening up the studio I happened across a few glass amber bottles containing Blossom Eau de Cologne. I poured them all together, then filtered to make sure any bits of the jasmine tincture and botanical extracts were gone and have listed the remnants here. This is all that is left of the 2013 edition.

The 2014 edition is now underway which will feature a tincture of our jasmine sambac blossoms from last years bloom time.

Eternally Jasmine

I remember the day, the moment, that I vowed to make sure I set the intention to have Jasmine as part of my aromatic life for my duration here on planet Earth. It was August of 1997 during a perfume class I assisted in organizing with Mayat for John Steele in Malibu.

Mayat and I were setting up for the event, the topic of Jasmine absolute came up and Mayat said something along these words to me "The reason I got into essential oils is because I always want to make sure I am well stocked with Jasmine." At the time I was working full time as a freelance illustrator and teaching aromatherapy. Jasmine wasn't one of the oils that I worked with because at that time it was only available as an absolutes and in holistic aromatherapy we didn't use absolutes for our healing potions. I also wanted what Mayat had so simply stated.

Years later, when I made the shift to teaching natural perfumery and creating fragrance art from botanicals, I began ordering jasmine essences in various forms and making her a staple in my palette. Although she appears in many of my perfumes, including being highlighted in the Birthday series, she has returned again.

This time it's all about her heady magnificence as a solifleur. Figure 8: Coeur de Jasmin was originally a fairly simple fragrance created to accompany chocolate perfume series begun in December of 2009. That series included Figure 10: Blanc and Figure 1: Noir which was completely re-worked and launched in March. Next up will be Figure 5: Bois, Figure 11: TangleWood (originally called Chêne) and Figure 8: Coeur de Jasmine.

I have had many special requests for Figure 8: Coeur de Jasmin thus I taking special requests via e-mail since the fragrance will not launch until 2014.

The original fragrance was very simple, created with five ingredients. In the reformulation I choose to make sure to keep the fragrance extremely jasmine focused, although there was a very strong desire to add notes that would make the fragrance more interesting, I stayed the course and true to Jasmine.

The fragrance has been constructed using ONLY high end botanicals, no animal ingredients or isolates are included.

On my olive complexion, with skin that never has synthetics applied to it and lives in an environ where no synthetics are allowed, the fragrance is extremely fresh and floral with a duration of at least six hours with the jasmine note singing the whole way through. Indeed, I did not skimp on the jasmine. I also included some of the Jasmine sambac infusion from the garden and a plethora of other sacred and precious ingredients such as a ten year vintage of Mysore sandalwood, frangipani, tuberose and coffee flower.

I detect a secondary fragrance note in the perfume which is of a heady floral which I haven't quite placed yet, it reminds me a bit of lilacs. I look forward to hearing the how Figure 8: Coeur de Jasmin performs for all the fans who have received or are about to receive it.

More about Figure 5: Bois soon, I used it in my bath last night and can still perceive it on my skin. I am considering making the synergy as a bath salt as well.

Cimbalom Solid, The 2013 Edition

The last drops of the Cimbalom synergy were used recently for a round solid perfume tin. Thus, more was made from scratch. Cimbalom is a rich, floriental featuring Jasmin sambac, also known as Pikake in Hawaii.

During the making of the synergy I used a different Vanilla than the last time I had made this synergy back in 2010. I mention this because I am very keen that those of you with really great noses are aware of this tiny shift. There will also be a slight aroma fluctuations because the synergy of the other was sitting and marinating for two years before it was all used up where as this one is fresh.

This rendition, although the formula was followed may appear to have more green, fresh, floral notes because the deep balsamics have yet to anchor the jasmines. I say jasmines, plural, because there are several types of jasmine in this rich fragrance. In one month, one year and two years from now this synergy will shift, I guarantee it. This is part of the beauty of authentic natural, botanical perfume, like fresh food and bouquets of flowers, it is a living art form.

Speaking of jasmine and living art forms, the sambac plants are still blooming and thus the daily harvesting and addition to the tincture keeps on going.

I found a honey pot of the 2012 edition of Cimbalom the other day, thus I've listed it in the E-shop here. I also put the last of the Cimbalom pink pots sample here.

Figure 8: Coeur de Jasmin is returning as the soliflore tribute to Jasmine, this fragrance is part of the collection of natural perfume narratives that Figure 1: Noir began. Most of the original chocolates of the figure series will return. Figure 8: Coeur de Jasmin will be ready fairly soon. I will offer it to those of you who ask, but you will not see it formerly launched until the Springtime.

Day and Night Blooms

Of late my days and nights begin and end with jasmine flowers. In the evening, usually just before bed, earlier if I remember, I turn on all the lights that will illuminate the front side of the house where all the clay pots of the jasmine sambac plants are and I slowly begin picking. Quite often I will encounter spiders and their webs, sometimes I hear rustling under the oaks where they have spread a nice carpet of leaves to hear the footsteps of the four leggeds. In those instances I stomp my feet so that whatever is over just yonder knows that I am about. I'm not too concerned about raccoons or coyotes, but skunks I'd rather not have an encounter with.

One of my regular daily friends is this praying mantis pictured above. I've seen her grow from a little babe into this young adult. In the Autumn she'll find a male to mate with and bite his head off.

I have yet to see what insect pollinates the jasmine flowers. Honey bees and hummingbirds buzz around the plants but the pollinator of these intoxicants is probably a nocturnal being like a moth.

In the morning one of the first things I do is go out and check for newly opened blossoms or any I missed from the night before. The plants have been producing such a large number of blossoms that I currently have three different forms of extraction taking place all at once. The tincture was the first extract I started, in that process the sweet smelling flowers are placed into organic grape alcohol. The second might be termed a cold infusion or maceration, in this scenario the white blossoms are put into organic jojoba oil.

The third process, which was begun this week, is an enfleurage. Each morning I place each posy face down covering the entire surface, in the evening before bed I remove them because they oxidize very quickly. After only three days of adding blossoms the base has already been well impregnated with the delicious aroma of the tantalizing florets.

I have also begun a plumeria enfleurage, although I don't have nearly as many flowers and plants to work with as the Jasmine. It's all a bit of an experiment, if it goes well I'll get more plants and move onto bigger production. A plantation in for organic jasmin sambac and plumeria flowers Hawaii is what I will visualize each time I inhale the euphoric inducing aromas.

These type of processes are no longer used by the perfume industry because they require much labor and costs. Since profits are king in this realm synthetics, which are cheaper and consistent, have become queen, Among the indie natural perfume and herbalism crowd you will find quite a few keeping these old world practices alive. Judging from what is happening with the rise of the artisanal food scene, I suspect more and more will be surfacing.

Photos ©RoxanaVilla, taken with a Canon and I-pad via Instagram app.

Causing Great Happiness

We are in mid July and the jasmine harvest is in full swing. In the past I would harvest the delicate, white flowers in the morning. This year I am harvesting them in the evening at about 10pm once the new blossoms are freshly opened with their intoxicating fresh floral pure fume. The word intoxicating is defined as "causing great happiness", I can't think of a better descriptor for jasmine sambac flowers at the moment.

Each night the harvest is different, sometimes it will be only a few flowers, tonight it was about twenty with an even larger harvest coming in the next few days. The cycle, like the moon, expands and contacts.

I keep the glass jars with the organic, grape alcohol and flowers in the refrigerator. Once the jar is full I will filter it, remove the spent flowers and continue to add more until once it is full again. Like the blooming cycle, the process of adding new blossoms is a cyclical pattern.

The 2012 jasmine sambac flower tincture appears in the new edition of Blossom, Chiaroscuro and Cimbalom liquid.. I've added samples in glass, mini spray bottles in the shop yesterday. The jasmine tincture in progress will be featured in the next edition of Blossom and subsequent editions of Chiaroscuro and Cimbalom liquid natural, botanical perfume.

The Tribe Jasmineae

"You need regular doses of unreasonable beauty, sublime anomalies, 

beguiling ephemera, and inexplicable joys." 

~ Rob Brezsny

We have finally hit the time of the year where my Jasmine sambac plants begin their long flowering season here in the woodland. I gathered a handful of the little, waxy white flowers on Moon day morning to begin a new tincture. Before doing so I removed the tincture begun last summer from the fridge, filtered out the blossoms that were in it and now have a glorious, golden liquid which is thick with the vitality and scent of the flower.

The initial plan was to add this tincture to two jasmine perfumes in the works, although that isn't completely clear in my mind yet. Since I only have about 16 ounces of the Summer 2012 vintage, it may only go into one of the fragrances. In the meantime I plan to get even more plants.

Eve returned home from college in Vermont this weekend, thus the house is now filled with regular visitors coming to see her. Yesterday I decided to take advantage of the entourage of people and get impressions of the tincture without them knowing what it was. Here are some of the descriptive words that were shared when I placed the precious liquid on each persons inner wrist:

Gardenia
Hawaiian blossoms
Fresh
Floral
White
Clean
Jasmine

Eve said that it smells very clean and modern with almost a metallic note. To my nose, I also get honey. Too bad the bees don't pollinate these flowers, Jasmin sambac honey would be pretty amazing.

Photos: 1st and 2nd photo by me 3rd photo by Rebecca Fishman.

Chiaroscuro Solid October 2012

 The skyrocketing sales of solid, natural perfume during the last month has created a few shifts in the studio. One of them is creating much larger batches of each synergy.

During the deluge of the feature the I sat down to make more of the synergies, one was for Chiaroscuro solid. I multiplied the formula by four and proceeded to work. Reports from those who have received the newest version say that the spice note is more prominent and the jasmine note less. Since the formula hasn't changed this makes me think that the multiplication by four has intensified the spice note. I have made a note of this for the next time I sit down to create the Chiaroscuro and any solid synergy I recreate in a significantly larger batch.

In the meantime, I am making a Jasmine soliflore for those who would like a stranger jasmine note added to Chiaroscuro...or any illuminated perfume. You all know how much I adore jasmine. As mentioned here at the journal in the post As Noted: Chocolate 1 and 2, soliflore, means one flower in French,  it is a term used to describe a composed perfume dominated by one single flower, such as Gardenia or Jasmine.

The first soliflores I created were the chocolates, which by the way I am reworking and intend to release shortly. Blanc, the vanilla soliflore, came out of the chocolate solid perfume series. As part of that series there was a jasmine chocolate titled Figure 8: Coeur de Jasmin, that is what the new Jasmine soliflore will be based on.

Part of the reason I am able to move forward so swiftly with the Jasmin soliflore is because while ordering more wax last week I came across a gorgeous purple that will work divinely as the seal for the fragrance. Finding the thread for the pouch may not prove as easy, thus, not sure as of yet of the debut date.

Read more on this related topic here at the journal at these posts:
Mutations
The Fragility of Tactile Materials
As Noted: Chocolate 1 and 2
As Noted

Images: Opening and middle photos are by Rebecca Fishman, Figure 8: Coeur de Jasmin photo by Roxana Villa.

Mutations

One of the biggest challenges for the natural perfumer who works with a restricted palette of botanical raw materials, is that they are rare aromatic gems that every once in awhile disappear off the market. I stepped into the world of aromatherapy in the mid 1990's when many essences were much easier to purchase and substantially less expensive.

Over the last fifteen years some of my suppliers have stopped carrying specific essences, others come and go like the tide. In some cases I must order large amounts if I intend to get more.

My way around all this chaos is to reconstruct the missing essence as an accord, then if the essence becomes available again I can replace it in a formula. I did this last month with GreenWitch and most recently with Cimbalom. Thus, if you notice subtle differences this is the reason.

The jasmine sambac flowers have pretty much ended their flowering season here in the woodland, next up is the violets. Thus, expect to start seeing lots of pictures of deliciously, aromatic violets.

Chiaroscuro Perfume

The Autumnal Equinox Meán Fómhair is upon us, a time to deeply breath in this sacred moment as we begin our preparations for the impending darkness of the seasonal year. On this blessed day I would like to introduce you to my new fragrance Chiaroscuro, first introduced as a sketch last September titled Jasmine Noir.

"Return often and take me at night, when the lips and skin remember."
~ A snippet from a poem by Constantine P. Cavafy

This fragrance is based on a formula created in 1997 during a perfume class with John Steele in Malibu. That particular perfume contained jasmine, patchouli, spikenard, vanilla, sandalwood, nutmeg, blood orange, mandarin and gingergrass. These basic building blocks were the meager beginnings of Chiaroscuro, which now in the liquid form contains more than thirty different botanical essences, including my precious Mysore sandalwood obtained over ten years ago.

The name for the fragrance was supplied by devoted fan and patron Princess Ellie. Chiaroscuro has its origins in the world of painting. The term comes from Italy, referring to the tonal contrasts suggesting volume and modelling of the subjects depicted. The literal translation of the word is light-dark.1 Pricess Ellie suggested this word because she, as well as other fans, noticed a light and dark aspect to the perfume.

The color harmony for Chiaroscuro is a deep violet. The pouch for the solid and liquid, created by Martha of TwoKnit, mimics the shape of jasmine flowers. 

Today marks the cross road when we transcend from the light and warmth of Summer into the cooler clime and darkness of the new cycle, Chiaroscuro represents the balance of the two seasons. The fragrance is imbued with a bouquet of tinctured jasmine sambac blossoms I have gently gathered and extracted all Summer long. As mentioned above the palette of botanical essences: essential oils, absolutes, c02 extracts and tinctures is vast.

This fragrance is depicted in two parts, the liquid perfume represents the dark/scuro aspect while the solid is the light/chiaro side. As a set Chiaroscuro is a voluptuous and sensual fragrance, sweet and dark, naughty and nice. The sweetness of the jasmine is amplified by lemon myrtle, citron, pepper, gingergrass and ginger contrasted against patchouli, jatamansi (spikenard) and oud. The liquid aspect Scuro, is very dark and dirty while the solid Chiaro is sweet and floral.

This is a fragrance for those who love oriental amber perfumes, jasmine and patchouli. If you pay attention to the evolution on your skin, you are in for a wonderous adventure. Chiaroscuro is a shape shifter, she is both the beauty and the beast from mythical heroic stories. She is the spell caster, anoint and envision what you want to manifest for the next season. Enjoy! A very blessed Autumn or Spring Equinox depending where you are on Mother Earth.

Chiaroscuro is available as both a liquid and solid fragrance.

Images:
Illumination by Greg Spalenka
Beauty and the Beast, by Anne Anderson
Photography Roxana Villa

Related posts:
Dancing with Mabon
Autumn
Jasmine
Topless
Moon Garden

1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiaroscuro

Jasmine Enfleurage

Way back in the nineties I was gifted a tiny cobalt blue vial of a Jasmine enfleurage from France. It was extremely special because of its rarity and cost. I've cherished it ever since and never really considered doing the process myself...until now.


The process can be seen really well in the 2006 film "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer" when the lead character Jean-Baptiste Grenouille goes to Grasse and is seen delicately pressing flowers into fat.


Enfleurage is defined as a process of absorbing the aroma of fresh plant material, usually a single flower, into fat. The systematic repetition of adding and removing the flowers may be over a period of many days.

Since the pink jasmine, Jasminum polyanthum, is now blooming here in SoCal I have finally delved into this technique using some key pointers from a soap maker in Valencia, California named Jo Lasky. My first batch is made with flowers from my small, somewhat neglected pink jasmine. As soon as the mango butter arrives I will be going into full production mode using the pink jasmine planted at my mothers house in Encino more than ten years ago when I lived there.

In the meantime here is what I've done on a small scale and what you can do if so inspired:

1. I gently melted some organic virgin coconut oil I had on hand and poured it into a shallow glass dish.


2. I harvested the fresh pink jasmine flowers.


3. Once the coconut oil had solidified, I made sure the flowers had no moisture and gently laid them face down on the top of the fat.


4. I then covered the dish to make sure the aroma chemicals emanating from the blossoms were contained within an insulated headspace

5. Once the flowers have been spent, probably in about 72 hours, I will remove them and add new ones, repeating this process until the butter is fully charged with the scent of the blossoms.

6. Traditionally an enfleurage would then be washed in alcohol to become an absolute. My intention is to use the enfleurage for the body butters I have been formulating.

Once my Jasmin sambac, Gardenia and Plumeria start blooming I will begin this technique with those blossoms as well.

Images and content ©Roxana Villa

J is for Jupiter and Jasmine

It's Thursday, ruled by the planet of luck and good fortune. I'm making solid perfume this morning and will be working on special little gift boxes going out to some special folks.

Eve and I are working on some photos and films, still in the planning phase of the film. We will begin shooting next week when we have the backdrop back.


Herbs associated with Jupiter include jasmine, which is rather perfect since I'm making solids of Lyra and Cimbalom natural perfume today.

I've noticed daily trends with perfume purchases, lately its been for the sweet, delicious florals like Lyra, Cimbalom and Page 47.

Image of Jupiter via Nasa, Cimbalom compact Roxana Villa