Perfume Illuminated: Apple

“With an apple I will astonish Paris.”

~ Cezanne

The weather here in southern California is still very Summer like, despite the Labor Day weekend indicating the arrival of Autumn. Today, in alignment with the forthcoming season and current offerings at the farmers market we shall highlight apples as our honored fragrance and flavor guest.

“The apple cannot be stuck back on the Tree of Knowledge; once we begin to see, we are doomed and challenged to seek the strength to see more, not less.” ~ Arthur Miller

Malus domestica, the deciduous apple tree, originates in Asia and is part of the same family as the rose. The popular juicy fruit made it's way to North America with the early colonists in the 1600's.

FRAGRANCE

The aroma of apple is classified in the edible "fruit" domain known as fruity. At this moment in time like most other fruits there is no apple essential oil, there is however an apple blossom concrete which was available a few years back. I have used the apple blossom in a perfume ode to the Greek Goddess of Love "Aphrodite" as well as an up and coming perfume.

The essence with the most apple-like aroma is Roman chamomile, Anthemis nobilis. This calming essential oil has a bright, fresh, fruity character that is very reminiscent of the fragrance of apples. The other apple like essence comes to us via the marigold known as Tagetes Tagetes minuta or Tagetes glandulifera it is available as an essential oil or the brilliant flame orange colored absolute.

As with some of the other fragrance and flavor specimens discussed in this series tincturing is the alternative to creating your own fragrant raw material. With apple experiment with the peel as well as the fruit and how about using an heirloom apple for a little history!

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

Images:
Apple Blossoms, also known as Spring, by Sir John Everett Millais 1856-59
Adam and Eve by Albrecht Dürer 1504
Old engravings of mouth and nose photo collage ©Roxana Villa
Text ©Roxana Villa, pilfering content is a violation of copyright, don't do it.

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

Opening image from the Pomona Britannica by George Brookshaw

Forbidden Fruit

In the kitchen the other day I remarked, "Something smells fruity." My teenage daughter rolled her eyes answering, "Mom, everything smells fruity to you lately!"

Well, not everything, although I have been picking out the fruit note in a number of items that normally I would not have. It's as if my olfactory antenna is tuned to that fruity note. Our local farmers markets and CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program is abundant with fruit lately, amplified by the fact that I've been working on a fruity Chypre perfume.

As I develop other perfumes and accords I've become keenly aware of the note. Each time an essence crosses my olfactory terrain that has a semblance of fruit I add it to my expanding list. Some essences are obvious like those in the Citrus family and Osmanthus. I've got some Apple blossom concrete which is within the right family but has more agrestic qualities than fruit. Will see what transpires with the aroma when I dilute it in alcohol.

Why fruit? The addition of the fruit accord for this fragrance is at the request of Ms. Michelyn Camen. Read some of the back story about this fruity chypre by following this link.

The odors of this major fragrance family are of edible fruits such as apple, apricot, banana, berry, citrus, peach, pear, pineapple, and prune. For the botanical / natural perfumer we have plenty of aromatics are our disposal from the citrus subfamily and a few from the berry grouping. However, we rely on other materials which impart fruit notes, like Osmanthus for example. Osmanthus is an evergreen shrub/tree producing fragrant flowers native to China that is often referred to as The Jasmine of the Orient. Boronia and Champa are other exotic, rich floral notes that can be utilized for imparting fruit. Chamomile has a strong apple aromatic note while Ylang Ylang can sometimes convey the banana note. Absolutes from the conifer family contain fruit jam notes that will be part of this bouquet.

Essences which impart "wine" notes (referring to grapes), include Ambrette, Pomegranate, Davana and Cognac. The two later have the ability to impart fresh, fruity notes to the top of the composition when utilized with mindfulness. Sea Buckthorn is an extract from berries commonly used in aromatherapy that has sweet berry notes. I have not used it in a composition as of yet and am sensing it may work well in this accord.

With this fragrance I am also interested in essences with warm, honey notes like Genet, also referred to as Broom, Mimosa, Beeswax and Hay are possibilities. These will work well with conveying the Pampas, which plays an important aspect in my connection with Argentina. I'm just not sure if I will add them to the accord or the overall composition. We will see as this accord progresses and matures....just like fine wine.

Read part three of this segment here: Equus caballus.