Oils That Get Better With Age?

[Gaianmind]

Hello everybody I'm new to the forums and I would like to extend warm blessings and love to you all!

I have a question if I may? I have been wanting to dabble in the art of perfumery and wanted to know from everyone's experience which essential oils will get better with age? So far I have gathered that these oils will:

Frankincense
Sandalwood
Myrrh
Vetiver
Spikenard
Spearmint
Oud
Rose
Patchouli

Are there any others that I can add to this list, or any that maybe should not be on this list?

Thanks

 

[Ensar Oud]

Hi Gaianmind,

Blessings and lots of love to you too, and welcome to the forum.

In my personal experience, I have not encountered a single aromatic raw material that deteriorated with age save for the citrus oils: orange, lemon, mandarin, bergamot, etc. And that only applies to the citrus peel essential oils, not orange flower absolute or concrete, which I have not witnessed any downturn in over the years.

Personally, I think the whole idea of putting an 'expiration date' on aromatic raw materials is to encourage their consumption & disposal so the industry can keep moving. Expiration dates are always to be taken with a pinch of salt, for that reason.

There are many oils that will improve tremendously with age, and the list includes all the spices, like clove, cardamom, black pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, cumin; the wood oils, like sandalwood, oud, palo santo, guaiacwood, rosewood; resins, including peru balsam, labdanum, tolu balsam, etc; and even the flowers, like jasmine, rose, lavender, and so forth.

Do let us know how your aromatic adventures develop!

 

[Gaianmind]

Many thanks Ensar! From my limited experience I agree about experation dates. Right now I'm just educating my olfactory palate and reading books about perfumery. But I plan on getting hands on real soon. Thank you for you time!

 

[Gaianmind]

So I'm just gonna use this thread as a place for info on crafting Attars...anybody feel free to contribute or ask any questions on said matters! I am only concerned with natural ingredients so any aroma chemical talk will fly right over my head.

Something I have been pondering is....can strongly anamalistic and fecal smelling Hindi Ouds be used as a sort of exhalter in small amounts with a blend?

Also are there any Ouds from diffent regions that just never blend well together?

Thanks
Gaianmind

 

[Ensar Oud]

Gaian, I find the strong animalistic Hindis to be the exalting fixative par excellence for crafting perfumes. Rarely is a Cambodian or a Borneo as effective in transmuting florals and other aromatics into amazing fragrances as effectively as a strong classic Hindi.

As for blending ouds from different regions, I'd imagine just about anything going well together apart from, say a Maroke and a Hindi, a Papuan and a Cambodian, or a Borneo and a Hindi....

 

[Gaianmind]

Thank you for your wisdom Ensar!

Does anybody have any experience with Hawaiian Sandalwood and Omani Frankincense essential oils? How they blend into a mixture? Also I have read that cedarwood is a top note in some places and a base note in others??

 

[Ensar Oud]

Cedarwood is certainly a top note, whether it be the Virginia variety or the Atlas or the Canadian Red. Places claiming it to be a base note are likely using synthetic cedar at the base of a blend.

 

[Gaianmind]

Well I made my first test base cord over the weekend! The sandalwood was more dominating then I thought and the frankincense was less noticable then I would have thought. I will let this cure for a month before I judge it to harshly. The Oud in the blend seems to be doing exactly what I want though.

 

[Gaianmind]

Also I'm slightly confused on the use of alcohol in natural perfumery. Is it always used in every blend.....or only sometimes. What are the pros and cons of using it? I ask because some ingredients that I'm interested in using i.e guaiacwood require something to dissolve them. What about maceration....can it be done properly with something other than alcohol?

 

[Ensar Oud]

Very excited to hear about your first attempt at a scent chord, Gaianmind. The blend will need at least a few months before it starts to show its true character. What you smell now is nothing like what it's going to smell like a few months down the line.

The use of alcohol goes back to the aesthetic of the perfumer. Some perfumers require a 'medium' to blend their creations in. In most cases this is perfumer's alcohol. Others use jojoba or fractionated coconut oil, if they want an oil-based rather than an alcohol-based blend.

Another use for alcohol is its role in dissolving otherwise unblendable ingredients, such as certain absolutes that are solid at room temperature and will not blend with other ingredients save if diluted in perfumer's alcohol. There's a way around that, if you heat the aromatics and then pour them into your blend in the desired ratios, then either gently heat the entire blend or stir it until all the ingredients have blended together.

Best of luck, and keep us posted!

 

[Gaianmind]

Thank you Ensar! The more I play around the more I learn. I'm finding the Hawaiian sandalwood that I have to be absolutely amazing, this is the only sandalwood i have ever owned. If there is better sandalwood than this than I have to try it! I could wear this sandalwood by itself it is so complex and delightful.