White Lotus Aromatics Newsletter - Absolutes 1, March 29, 2002
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Absolutes 1
Dear Friends,
As you all know there is an infinite number of exciting discoveries to me made in the world of aromatic plants and their ethereal essences. Each essence is a treasure unto itself and exploring even one oil can require a good amount of time and effort(though this type of aromatic adventure is indeed a pleasurable one) When sitting for a session of aromatic contemplation, one begins to realize that the personality of any one oil is something unique. It passes from the top note, to the heart note, to the base note during which time the precious essence is releasing a complex of radiant aromatic molecules that affect each one of us in different ways. It requires some concentration to follow these sublime changes but by paying close heed to this process one not only learns about the unique character of that particular oil but receives inspirational ideas on how to combine them with other oils whereby the interweaving of two or more oils produces a yet more beautiful essence. I think this is a very wonderful time in that the palette of available oils is continually expanding. The opportunity to do intimate compositions that appeal to ones own heart and through that the hearts of others is a reality that few could have dreamed of twenty years ago.
Part and parcel of the quest to understand each oil lies not only in our personal olfactory exploration of that essence but also in our expanding awareness of how that oil comes into being. All of you already know that this is a great interest of mine and I will continue to share what little of this subject that I comprehend as I find time to write down some of the experiences that have become part of my aromatic journey.
In the meantime I would like to share with you some sources for doing individual research on oils that may be of use to you. These are internet resources which can provide excellent information on aromatic and medicinal plants. Along with that each of you may be quite surprised to find local resources in the form of greenhouses, nurseries, botanical gardens, forests, etc where one can come in contact with many living entities of the plant world that share their lovely gifts with us. When we come near to such kind beings we can learn a lot by admiring their beauty, inhaling the elixir of their essence, and quietly listening to the story they wish to tell us. Many times we may feel that we are not very receptive but I think this is often not so. There are many things that are communicated without words that sink deep into our hearts and in due course of time those good impressions arise and we understand things which bypass the usual cogitations of the intellect. I think if we approach the plants with as much simplicity and reverence as is present in our within then we will find new and delightful understandings arising in our awareness. The intellect is fine in its own domain but can also interfere with other levels of communication which are very deep and profound.
So here are some of the internet resources which may prove useful to you:
Some Nifty Web Pages for Researching Information
on Aromatic Plants
http://www.kippewa-gardens.com/cgi-bin/Gatherer.pl
this is a multiple database search engine which can save you lots of time when looking up information on individual aromatic plants
http://www.healthy.net/library/books/Aromatherapy/AromatherapyMM.htm
aromatherapy materia medica
http://wwwHerbal Materia Medica.npicenter.com/library/herbal/materiamedica/
herbal materia medica
http://www.onhealth.com/alternative/resource/herbs/index.asp
herbal materia medica
http://www.fragrant.demon.co.uk/aroma2.html
database on essential oil uses
http://www.aromaweb.com/essentialoils/default.asp
essential oil uses
http://newcrop.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/Default.html
extensive information on essential oil bearing crops
http://astaspice.org/spice/sp_extract.htm
spice database
http://www.educ.ls.toyaku.ac.jp/~s987099/table.html
actions of spices
http://www-ang.kfunigraz.ac.at/~katzer/engl/spice_alph.html
good resource on spices and aromatic plants
http://www.black-spruce.demon.co.uk/Andys%20HomePage%20Site/Pages/Essential.htm
monograms on essential oils
http://www.ars-grin.gov/duke/index.html
ethnobotanical and phytochemical database
http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/library/kohler/taxa.html
botanical illustrations of medicinal and aromatic plants
http://www.ayurveda.com/materiamedica/
ayurvedic materia medica
http://www.thehimalayadrugco.com/cah.htm
some excellent monographs on Indian plants
http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf/D_search.html
plants for a future database
http://www.umd.umich.edu/cgi-bin/herb/
Native American ethnobotany database
http://www.rain-tree.com/plants.htm
tropical plant database
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/mgmh.html.
classic online version of The Modern Herbal
In recent months many new absolutes have started to arrive at our home in California. Suzanne and I delight in experiencing these beautiful oils and then packing them up to share with others. I think I am particularly aware of the importance of sharing some of the exotic absolutes, attars and essential oils in small vials because there was a time when with all my best efforts I could not gain access to such samples. I gently encourage all of you who are exploring any new essence for the first time to procure them in sample form first. Even a 1/3 dram bottle contains a whole world of information and beauty . The precioius drops contained therein are a distillation or extraction of many many plants that have shared their secrets with us.
One must also realize that no one person has access to the best of every oil. Every enthusiastic person working on the sourcing side of things aspires to discovering the finest distilleries from which to procure oils but it usually requires quite a bit of effort to locate even one oil that seems to one the height of the distillers art and craft. And then wonder of wonders one finds out that the very same plant grown in different parts of the world and distilled or extracted by different methods displays very distinctive characteristics. There is definitely such a thing as a bad distillation but there is also the reality that good distillations of the same plant material can yield quite different results which may not fit into our conception of what is beautiful. One of the true blessings of working with natural oils is that they do not fit into standard categorizations.
In this newsletter I am just going to briefly mention a number of absolutes that are now with me which you may wish to explore. Many more will come in due course of time. Since each absolute and the plant from which it is extracted deserves an entire newsletter in itself(and will in course of time receive that more intimate attention) I am just sharing a few notes here on each oil which may inspire you to explore them. The notes are gleaned from Stephen Arctanders great work, Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin. His comments are not meant to be a definite comment on the absolutes described as he himself humbly admitted. He just wanted to create a reference point to work from to which others can add their own observations.
"Incidentally, very few flower oils will, undiluted and in a pure state, smell like the flower from which they are extracted. Dilutions down to 0.1% or even less will usually develop the true-to-nature odor."
Steffen Arctander in Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin
Cassie Absolute/Acacia farnesiana
Physical Description:
dark yellow or paly brown viscous liquid
clear at room temperatures
separates waxy flakes at reduced temperature
Olfactory Description:
extremly warm
powdery spicy
herbaceous and floral
deep and very tenacious cinnamic-balsamic undertone
Perfumery uses:
Used in high cost perfumery where it lends a unique warmth and woody-floral note
Blends well with bergamot oil, costums, mimosa, orris products, olibanum, ylang-ylang absolute
Champaca Absolute/Michelia champaca
Physical Description:
dark yellow or brownish orange, slighty viscous liquid
Olfactory Description:
Delicately dry floral
Reminds one fo orange flowers, ylang ylang, carnation and tearoee
Notes which resemble those of sage clarly, methyl eugenol and good old fashioned type of guaicwood oil
Perfumery uses:
High class perfumes, where it produces unique, warm, floral leafy noes- like fine grade of teas. Blends excellently with carnation, rose, violet, etc
Effect of absolute not perceiveable unless skillfully backed up with rich but weak smelling blenders and modifiers.. Sandalwood excellent fixative for champaca fragrance
Geranium Absolute
Physical Description:
usually a green or dark green liquid
Olfactory Description:
intense and very powerful
leafy-earthy
soft and pleasant
leafy-green notes quite pronounced
rich rosy-minty undertone remains on the blotter throughout evaporation of oil
Less sharp and more tenacious than that of essential oil
Perfumery uses:
used in perfumery particularly in high class rose bases, chypres, fantasy perfumes, etc
Jasmin grandiflorum absolute
Physical Description:
dark orange(on ageing reddish brown) somewhat viscous liquid
Olfactory Description:
Intensely flroal, warm
rich and highly diffuse odor
peculiar waxy-herbaceous
oily-fruity and tea like undertone
Odor and nuances in the undertone varies according to origin, production, age and method of purification(from the concrete)
Represents one of the most striking examples of natures ability to round off and conceal-or surpassingly utilize, the odor effect of very simple odorants,, eg. benzyl acetate and linalool, the main constituents of Jasmin absolute in respect to quantity
Used in such a multitude and variety of perfumes that it is hardly possible to establish a rule for its use
"No perfume without jasmin" is an old saying
Jasmin-rose complex forms the more important part or "fond" of numberous "grand perfums" as wellk as quite ordinary perfumes and bases
Floral note, when required, is provided by addition of jasmin absolute or any kind of a jasmin base in 8 out of 10 cases
Very little jasmin absolute is required to give the floral note
Method of processing concretes into absolutes is an art and science which demands experience, skill and general "know how"
Lavender Absolute
Physical Description:
dark green, viscous liquid
Olfactory Description:
of very rich, sweet herbaceous, somewhat floral note; in dilution it bears close resemblance to order of flowering lavender shrubs
Woody herbaceous undertones and coumarin-like sweetness duplicate the odor of botanical material far better than essential oil
Absolute sweeter but less floral than essential oil
Two materials can form a very pleasant combination(rose absolute/rose oil, neroli/orange blossom, ylang ylang absolute/ylang extra, are other examples of oils from same plant which can work wonders together)
Used in citrus-colognes, chypres, fougeres, new mown hay bases, forest notes
Blends well with labdanum, oakmoss, vetiver, patchouly, pine needle, sage clary, flouve....
Orange Flower Absolute/Citrus aurantium
Physical Description:
dark brown or dark orange colored somewhat viscous liquid
Olfactory Description:
intensely floral
heavy, rich, warm
delicate fresh
long lasting odor
closely resembles odor of fresh bitter-orange blossoms
Notes in common with jasmin absolute
much more versatile appliation as a floral "fond" when used at comparitively low concentration
Shows a pleasant, but peculiar and characteristic sweet-herbaceous undertone,
which is similar to one found in Jasmin grandiflorum
Great advantage is in its freshness which is surprising as it is a extract with great tenacity
Neroli will produce a beautiful pair with orange flower absolute
Two products reperesnt altogether different parts of orange flower gamut
Used in countless types of perfumes-heavy oriental as well as light citrus colognes, chypres and ambres, floral bouqets
Absolute forms excellent combinations with all citrus oils, petitgrain oils...
Naturally forms an important part of fixative base in high class citrus colognes and perfumes of similar type
Rose Absolute, Damascena
Physical Description:
orange yellow, orange reddish or slightl olive-yellowish color viscous liquid
Olfactory Description:
extremely rich, warm, spicy floral
very deep rose odor with more or less pronounced honey-like undertone
Diffusive power only realized when absolute is diluted or used at concentration of few percent
Used extensively in high class perfumes
forms important part of conventional rose-jasmin complex
Unusual radiation compesates for high cost to certain degree
Tobacco Leaf Absolute
Physical Description:
dark brown, semi solid mass
Olfactory Description:
of strong, almost repulsive odor, faintly reminsicent of cigar tobacco
In dilution has a typical cigar-tobacco fragrance
Used not only in 'tabac' type of modern or aldehydic perfumes
Also for dry and masculine effects in fantasy types
Blends well with sandalwood, castoreum, labdanum, clary sage, vetiver, bergamot
Produces effects which are hard to imitate or match
Tuberose Absolute
Physical Description:
orange to brown colored viscous liquid
Olfactory Description:
Heavy floral, somewhat nauseatingly sweet
heavy and somewhat spicy odor
reminiscent of honeysuckle,peru balsam, orange flower absolute, ylang ylang residue fractions
Used in high class perfumes of heaviest and sweetest type
Takes more than aerage experience to pick out a true 100% tuberose absolute
Vanilla Absolute
Physical Description:
very viscous dark brown liquid just about pourable at room temperature
Olfactory Description:
very rich and true to nature odor
Lend unsurpassed richeness and depth to many type of sweet floral or heavy ambre bases, oriental perfumes
Blend excellently with sandalwood, vetiver, oppononax, spice oils
Violet Leaf Absolute
Physical Description:
Viscous liquid, intensely dark green
Olfactory Description:
powerful and peculiar odor
truly green leaf odor
also indisputable delicate and floral note
immediately recognizable as flowers in a bouquet
Used extensively in perfumery where its tremendous diffusion and delicate naturalness is obtainable at very low concentrations in perfume or base
In certain floral bases, eg. hyacinth, muguet, reseda, violet, in high class chypres, in aldehydic woody-fragrances and in many fantasy types it lends and unsurpassed elegance when skillfully used
Blends excellently with tuberose, narcissus, tea leaf absolute, michelia leaf oil, boronia, clary sage absolute, estragon, cumin, basil
Ylang Ylang Absolute
Physical Description:
pale yellow to straw yellow, oily liquid
Olfactory Description:
intensely sweet floral
very diffusive odor unusual power in its topnote
fragrance fades slowly and elegantly in a long lasting, floral spicy and very sweet note which is truly reminiscent of fragrance of flower
It is a typical balsamic floral note-distinguished from the odor of the oil('extra") by its lightness and uniformity
one of the finest floral materials in high class muguet perfumes where its power and yet very delicate undertone blend excellently with jasmin and rose materials
Used in countless floral bases as well as oriental perfumes.