How to Make a Plant Infusion

A plant infused oil, called an infusion, is a process used to extract properties from a plant matter which is sometimes referred to as our Prima materia. In plant fragrance making and aromatherapy we use infusions for salves, solid perfume and oil bases.

First thing to consider is your end purpose, what is the intention of your herbal oil? Is it scent, therapeutics, flavor, magic, color? If you are not quite sure of an intention and just want to experiment, than let yourself be guided by the plant that presents itself to you, it may be in a dream, from your morning pages or perhaps witnessing a plant waving to you.

For making infusions you can use either fresh or dried material. If fresh make sure your material is completely free of moisture by placing the plant matter on or between paper towels, tying up bundles and hanging them upside down from a rafter or by laying them out on a screen. Depending on the climate where you live, allow the plant matter to wilt for approximately 5-8 hours or more,

If using plant matter that is already dried double your quantity.

PLANT INFUSED OIL

There are just two basic ingredients to creating an infusion: plants + carrier oil. It is important to consider your end result when selecting the carrier oil. For example if its for flavor than an organic extra virgin, cold pressed olive oil well be perfect. For a perfume, that option may not be the best because of the scent, thus I would suggest jojoba oil, which is actually a wax and does not go rancid.

Other options:
A 'preservative' for your infusion such as benzoin or Vitamin E Oil

Supplies:
Glass jar with airtight lid or canning jar
Muslim clothe
White wine or a high proof alcohol

Directions:

Step 1: If using leaves make sure to remove wood and hard stems, unless you want those as part of the infusion. With flowers use the 'petals', not the inner regions such as calyx. In the photo below, after drying my sage I removed the leaves from the stems.

I don't worry too much about follow a specific formula, I am more concerned with documenting what I am doing so that when I go to make it again I can either follow exactly what I did or make adjustments depending on past results.

Here is a basic formula if you want guidelines:
15 gm dried herbs or 30 gm fresh herb
1 cup oil

Step 2: Place your plant matter in a glass jar, then pour oil over them, taking care that all of your plant material is covered. Cap with a tightly fitting lid. To help breakdown your plant material add 1 tablespoon of white wine or a high proof alcohol.

Step 3: Leave the jar in the sun, some individuals move the jar in the evening to warm spot. I like to leave mine in the window to observe the night energies which include stars and moon. The length of the process varies with each material, check in on it after for 2 weeks to see if it is to your liking.

Step 4: Remove the top and strain the oil. If you feel you would like it stronger then repeat the process using your infusion as the oil.

If you used a canning jar, remove the top, pop out the inner metal circle, layer the top of the jar with muslin, attach the outer screw rim of your the lid and strain your oil.

There are many other tricks of the trade and ways of working, for example you could plan your infusions according to astrology, if using flowers replacing them every few days is the best way to get a strong scent. The main thing is to do it and learn each time.

A Perfumed Bestiary, Letter B for Bison/Buffalo, Part 2

The second fragrance in A Perfumed Bestiary series was sent at the end of June to the subscribers. It is the intention to send out the perfume in the first half of the month, rather than the second, as occurred with the "B" fragrance.

I began B for Bison/Buffalo by researching the terrain where this wooly, prairie dweller forages, which includes both grasslands and conifer forests. This is what I jotted down when starting to ponder the fragrance:

Prairie, Great Plains, Grassland
Musk
Hay
Clover
Wallowing -> Soil-> Vetiver & Patchouli
Sage
Willows
Cottonwood
Sedges
Artemisia tridentata -> *Primary note*
Wood -> Pinon, Cedar, Juniper, Cypress

Since my friend Meghan Walla-Murphy has spent quite a bit of time in Yellowstone where the Buffalo roam, and I absolutely adore collaborating with a kindred spirit, I reached out to her via email. Meghan confirmed a few of my percolating ideas from the list above.

"Love the concept of your new perfume. For the bison I would suggest Artemisia tridentata. Not sure what the common name is- but it grows in the SB back country and many places inland.... Also bison rub up against lots of conifer trees, so that could be a good scent, they partake in lots of dust baths, and they are grazers, so warm grass smells would work as well."

Following Meghans lead I choose the aromatic Artemisia tridentata, commonly known as sagebrush, basin or big sage to be the specific plant aligned for Bison. Although the bison most likely do not eat this plant they likely get covered with its aromatic molecules while roaming through it.

Like many of the beasties featured in this series, the sage brush ecosystem is threatened due to conditions brought on by humans such as urban expansion, "conversion to agricultural land, livestock grazing, invasive plant species, wildfires, and climate change."1

"The indigenous people of North America used several plants for ceremonial purposes that are often confused. The basis for the confusion is the common name Sage, which refers to a variety of unrelated plants:

Sage - Salvia sp. is in the Mint Family (Labiatae) with square stems, opposite leaves and two lipped flowers. If you have a Salvia, the leaves will be in pairs on the stem, generally with wide leaves that are entire (no teeth, lobes, serrations, or grooves along the edges of the leaf, just oval shaped). This genus includes garden sage for cooking and white sage (ceremonial) and black sage, purple sage, hummingbird sage, and innumerable others.

Sagebrush (sage) - shrubby Artemisia sp. is in the Sunflower family. They have woody stems and are bushes (shrubs) with often irregularly shaped leaves. These plants have also been used ceremonially. The flowers are small and yellow centered, includes silver sage.

Mugwort (Sagewort) herbaceous Artemisia sp. is related to the Sagebrush, only it is not a woody shrub, it is an herb (botanically speaking, not a tree or shrub). This is the plant used for dreams."2

Basin sage which also goes by the name big sage is an evergreen with a strong pungent odor, it is an Artemisia, as noted above, not a Salvia. The Cahuilla tribe of California would gather the seed, and grind it to make flour.3

I decided to start sketch #1 with a beautiful Hay absolute I have from France to convey the scent of warm grass, to which I added Sage and Woods. After marinating the scent was in the gourmand family and not at all reminiscent of the warm grass of the dry land prairies. Thus, I began sketch #2 leaving out the Hay. 

In total, there are twelve essences in the perfume including a variety of sages, leaves, woods (including a distillation of local Pinon) and resins. The aromatic profile has sweet woody notes with hints of dusty conifer and incense.

Once Doomed, America's Recovering Bison are Saving the US EcoSystem

If you haven't already signed up for the next limited edition perfume, illuminating a beastie beginning with the letter C, you can do so here ->

Choose Your Subscription

One Month: $19.95

One Year Subscription: $210.00

Each month you will receive a small amount of perfume inspired by a specific
imagined or barely imagined being from the animal kingdom.

The next fragrance will be shipped at some pint this month, July 2019, and will be a liquid perfume in 190 proof alcohol along with a special tincture relating to our featured beastie.

1. Wikipedia

2. Henriettes Herb

3. Clarke, Charlotte B. (1978). "Big Sagebrush". Edible and Useful Plants of California. University of California Press. p. 134. ISBN 9780520032675

On the move, again!

Tomorrow, Sunday, we are moving from Tesuque to the old ranch area here in Santa Fe that is turning into the new arts district. No one in the area has told me what the district is called, so I'm referring to it as "the new arts district" until someone corrects me. Tesuque is just north of historic, downtown Santa Fe, where as the arts district is south. Both areas have a very different vibe, Tesuque is more like Santa Barbara where as the arts district has a bit of an edge, like the surrounding areas of downtown LA. Although I will miss Tesuque very much, the new homestead is better in many ways. I'll post more about that once we are settled.

There will be a delay in sending out orders as I unpack and set up once more. Our new space is on our friends property, it's a bit of an art compound with musicians and visual artists, and now an "aromatic" artist being added to the mix of creatives.

The landscape is quite different from the Pinon wood lands we have been inhabiting the last three months. While packing to move last night I found a jar filled with dried plant bits from my California garden. The cowboy pure fume of oak, artemisia and different sages all preserved and ready for inhaling deeply. It’s a very different scent imprint than we have here in the high desert of New Mexico.

Vera Solid Natural Perfume is Back!

Three different lavenders and white sage grown and distilled in Ojai are combined with orange blossom and thirty one other plant essences with two of my own complex chords go into Vera. The labyrinthine orchestration results in a sparkling, sunny, uplifting yet calming pure fume, evocative of the location in Southern California where the inspiration began.

Breath deep, connect to the land, the sunshine, the air, the plants, the honey bees—all guides to our inner sanctum of knowing and peace.

Read more about Vera at these posts here at the journal

The liquid and Eau de Parfum version of Vera is coming along with other fragrances that are sold out and the intoxicating Summer jasmine perfume. I also have To Bee and Blanc as an Eau de Parfum to unveil, which by the way, are fabulous layered over each other. The synergy gives conveys a deep, rich honey note.

I'm a presenter, once again, at the NAHA Beyond Aromatics conference. Yay! This time, the happening takes place at the University of Utah toward the end of October. Come join me and this dynamic community.

In the Garden: Early Spring

Here in the Southern California woodland Spring arrives early, even when we've had little to no rain. The first flowers to appear our on the back slope covered with rosemary, these begin to blossom as early as November. Right now the purple sage, botanically known as Salvia leucphylla, is blooming and the girls are all over it in the morning. I've noticed the honey bees tend to prefer plants when they are hit by the sun, at least in the morning at this time of the year. Probably because they are elemental beings of the sunlight.

I patiently observed them this morning, waiting for the perfect moment to capture one of them at work. On Monday while when I was doing this I got a shot in the arm by one of the girls, not quite sure why (!) but I figure little doses of api therapy are always good as it is used in Europe to assist a wide variety of ailments.

The reason this particular salvia does so well in our garden is because it likes clay soil, something of which we have in abundance. Besides being a great plants for bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, the native quail love the seeds. Once established it needs no water!

This one is on my list to get more of, in fact, might be good to get a bunch of them!

It's happening now!

For the last two months there have been little signs of Spring here in my little wild wood garden. First is the ever persistent non-native grasses, which pop their vital green sprouts up after the first rains in the late Autumn.

While in the Santa Monica Mountains, close to the coast the white ceonothus blooms across the hillsides, my blue variety slumbers...until today! for some reason, this event is always very exciting, I squeal in delight when she surprises me with her beautiful, delicately scented, cerulean blooms.



Meanwhile, the plants and seeds we put into the warm earth of the early Autumn are thriving with lots of volunteer natives making an appearance. In two different locations we have Artemesia californica, cowboy sage, coming up on its own. The wild roses and Matilija poppies are sending out underground shoots and spreading nicely.

Baby oaks are all over the slope, thanks to the acorn fairies, the squirrels.

I can just imagine the excitement in the bees hive, which reminds me, must do a check and add more boxes for the honey flow!

Amethyst and sage

The amethyst cases came and went and will come again, here she is looking mighty fine with Vera.

Strange Flowers of Reason

"There are strange flowers of reason to match each error of the senses."
~ Louis Aragon

The garden is starting to awaken. As mentioned previously the rosemary on the back slope is in full bloom. Out on the front slope where I have all the natives, the salvias have begun blooming. Salvia spathacea, known as Hummingbird Sage, has tall stalks with bright showy magenta flowers beloved by the local hummingbirds. I planted ours under a small oak with the intention that it would spread. It has been extremely slow growing for some reason, but very pretty non-the-less.


The other sage that is currently blooming is the Salvia mellifera, commonly known as Black Sage. I've noticed the honey bees and small bumble bees are really loving these blooms.


Meanwhile in the studio today, I'm packing orders, working on various new natural botanical perfumes and ordering supplies. Since our two main computers are in limbo Greg and I are on a schedule sharing the laptop which has been both good and challenging. Good in that it limits my computer time and thus I am doing lots of other things, like getting the Poco letterpress ready for printing. The challenge is that since we are on a schedule I am limited as to what I can do when.


My SOTD (scent of the day), in honor of the blooming sages, is Chaparral solid perfume. Regrettably Frankincense, which is one for the main ingredients has become quite expensive which equates to a price increase in the perfume once I make the new edition.

Postcard and salvia photos ©Roxana Villa

Lavender Fields

The weather has shifted here in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains and with that trees are in bloom as well as the sage and lavender in the garden. This abundance of nature also heralds in the return of Vera Solid Perfume.

When artist Sands Murray was reviewing perfume at the Perfume Critic he stated this of Vera in her liquid fluid state: "An earthy interpretation sans all pretension, with a surprising influx of the sage and orange blossom."


The creamy solid is very similar to the liquid although the beeswax base highlights some of the resins and gives the aroma a warmer quality.

"We don’t have a language for the senses.
Feelings are images, sensations are like musical sounds."
~ Anais Nin

At the E-shop you will find Vera in the single pink solid mini pot, mini pot sample sets, Honey Bee pots, refill for the compacts and the refill tins for the perfume lockets. The solid perfume compacts will be returning shortly.


Read reviews of Vera solid natural perfume at this links:
- Scent Hive
- The Examiner: Donna Hathaway
- Perfume Smellin' Things: Tom
- London Make-up Girl
- IndiePerfumes

Perfume Illuminated: Sage

The hills are alive with the aroma of the chaparral here where I dwell and make art. Ceanothus, the Oaks, some of the Sages and the Poppies are all in bloom. This post will illuminate some of the notes and attributes of the species Salvia, which grows abundantly in the Santa Monica Mountains.


In the California garden we have been fostering a variety of native salvias dot our landscape including:

• White Sage, Salvia apiana
• Black Sage, Salvia Mellifera
• Cleveland Sage, Salvia clevelandii
• Salvia leucophylla
• Dwarf Black Sage, Salvia tera seca
• Hummingbird Sage, Salvia spathacea

FRAGRANCE

The genus Salvia has a very large variety in the species, the most familiar is common sage, Salvia officinalis, often utilized in the kitchen. The word officinalis comes from the Linneas binominal system of naming plants, this particular grouping has medicinal attributes. The word Salvia comes from the latin Salveo meaning to heal or Salvere meaning to cure, both referring to the curative powers of the plant.

In aromatherapy and natural, botanical perfume we have quite a treasure trove of Salvias to work with, each with their own specific aroma and therapeutic blueprint. Salvia officinalis, originating in the Mediterranean, has a warm herbaceous scent with camphorous notes. It is the camphorous notes which make this distilled gem wonderful for the respiratory system. The essence also contains thujone in it's chemical make-up, which has been found to cause seizures in those susceptible as well as irritate the skin. Although I personally have had no reactions, please be mindful when using this essential oil. Other varieties of sage available for aromatic potions are Greek, Spanish and Dalmation sage some available as essential oils, some as Co2 extracts and some in both formats.


The other essential oil commonly used in aromatherapy is Clary sage, Salvia sclarea, distilled from the flowering tops and leaves. Historically this salvia was used to flavor wine and create a digestif. The aroma is much sweeter than its officinalis family member retaining an herbaceous character with a rich wine-like quality. For the botanical perfumer Clary sage is also available as a concrete and an absolute. All of these work well in the creation of a faux Ambergris accord/chord. In aromatherapy I have used Clary sage in blends for balancing hormones and emotions.


Since the leaves of sage are so aromatic and release their aroma and medicinal qualities with ease sage makes a fantastic tincture and infused oil. I use the native Sage apiana, pictured at left, for a tincture in the botanical perfume Vera, the infused oil will be highlighted in the upcoming solid version. This sage is an evergreen perennial sun loving shrub which is sacred to the native people of California and used in ceremony. Here is an excerpt from a book by Chumash woman I had the pleasure to meet at Topanga Days:

The healer, or an elder from the village, put a small branch of dried white sage in a suitable container such as a seashell, typically an abalone shell. The white sage was ignited with fire. The flames were blown out allowing the white sage to smolder and smoke. The smoke from white sage has a pleasant smell and is thought to help carry prayers to God. The healer prayed for the health of the patient while moving the seashell to allow the smoke to touch every part of the patient's body including the soles of the feet. The healer sometimes touched the patient's back with an eagle or hawk wing to draw out harmful spirits (nunasus). The wing was then flicked down to send the harmful spirits back into the underworld where they originated. Smudging with white sage is still practiced by Chumash people today.*

One of the classic culinary herb mixes is Herbes de Provence which includes sage. Here is a traditional blend for cooking which can easily be translated into an herbaceous cologne or perfume. For a perfume I suggest adding some wood in the base and citrus in the top notes. The recipe can be enhanced with tinctures of sage, lavender, bay etc. Consider taking this idea one step further and creating an aromatic that is based on the local native plants in your area. The Herbes de Provence formula comes from the native flora the grows in southern France.

Sage
Thyme
Chervil
Rosemary
Savory
Lavender
Tarragon
Marjoram
Oregano (has a strong aroma, use minimal amounts)
Mint (has a strong aroma, use minimal amounts)
Fennel
Bay leaves

FLAVOR: Beth Schreibman Gehring

Please continue reading about Sage at the Windesphere Witch blog

* Spirit, Mind and Body in Chumash Healing, James D. Adams, Jr and Cecelia Garci, Oxford Journals

Resources and reference:
California Gardens
Las Pilitas Nursery
Theodore Payne Foundation
A Modern Herbal by Mrs. Grieve
The Hortus Medicus
The Epicenter

Images
Photographs and old engravings cleaned and placed on parchment by Roxana Villa

Purple Haze

I power walked up the steep street which leads to the Santa Monica Mountain trails early this morning. The birds were singing, bees a humming and as the landscape shifted from homes to plant life the scent of white sage filled my lungs.

There are areas of the mountain with clusters of the native sage shrubs, Salvia apiana, which give a soft purple cast to the side of the hill. It is quite stunning. Best to appreciate it now before the city comes in to clear cut all of it as fire prevention. I am not fond of them doing this. I’d rather they mindfully go in and remove all the deadwood and non-native mustard. The
Salvia apiana, is a member of the California Chaparral Biome and held sacred by the Native People of America. It is the sage often used for smudging. We use it as our incense for its warm and woody fragrance.

Our perfume Chaparral, consisting of botanical essences and handcrafted tinctures, is starting to run low. Inhaling the fresh, woody aromatics of the landscape, I contemplated deepening the palette of this fragrance.

It’s time to go on a hike with Meghan, Queen of the Chaparral. Meghan is one of my girlfriends who has a deep connection with the flora and fauna. She is adept at tracking and embodies earth element. We’ve been attempting getting together since she returned from a sojourn in South Africa. The time is ripe!

Roxana Illuminated Perfume™
Chaparral Botanical Perfume
The Chaparral Institute