Products

Need good descriptions of the plants + photos

Geranium

The freshly distilled oil has a peculiar unpleasant top note. After aging this disappears and is replaced with a powerful green, leafy-rose like top note, with a pronounced fruity-minty undertone and a rich, tenacious sweet-rosy dryout*.

You see the plants every spring in every nursery. The whole upper plant--not just the flower--is aromatic. The oil is steam distilled from the leaves, stalks, and flowers. You'll find it in all kinds of cosmetics, and some foods, and beverages. It is one of the most important and irreplaceable oils in perfumery and therefore often adulterated. The best quality is from the Island of Le Reunion (formerly called Bourbon), near Madagascar. If you want the real thing, you have to have a contact there who buys it directly from the distiller and will airfreight it to you before the French traders, brokers, and exporters get to it. When it arrives we draw off the oil from the top of the drum and pass out the geranium water at the bottom to our friends. It can lend a soft rosy note that does not dominate blends that contain bergamot, clove, lavender, lime, patchouli, sandalwood, juniperberry, jasmine and rose. It's not one of my favorites for perfumery but I use it frequently in early morning bath blends (see Tub Time*.)

Lavender

It has an almost fruity-sweet top note, with a pleasant balsamic-woody undertone that becomes more flowery as it evolves on the skin.

The variety is small and produces less oil. They ? I love it. My grandmother made her own soap. I grow a dozen varieties. My favorite is the Angustifolia and that's what we distill. My friends got sick of me always sending them wreaths so I found a Philippine family that weaves the lavender in with their basket materials. It's also part of my first aid kit and does wonders for burns and bites. It's probably the most popular oil in fresh, sweet, herbal, floral aromatherapy blends and the best selling single note. It marries well with bergamot and other citrus oils, clove, oakmoss, patchouli, rosemary, clary sage, and pine needle oil. Many aromatherapists feel it enhances or builds a therapeutic bridge in almost any blend. It is used in many colognes and perfumes including but not limited to citrus and floral waters, gougers*, chypres*, ambres*, and even many non-floral perfume types.

Peppermint

It has a strong, wake-you-up, somewhat grassy-minty odor with a deeper balsamic-sweet undertone and a sweet, fresh, dry out.

Description and photo

It's hardly used at all in perfumery except in low concentrations with lavender or geranium to give them some lift and freshness. It's plentiful as an organic oil and I guess that is why it is one of the top selling single oils. It reminds me of candy, toothpaste, and chewing gum and honestly I don't use it much except in footbaths.

Spearmint

It has an almost fruity-sweet top note, with a pleasant balsamic-woody undertone that becomes more flowery as it evolves on the skin.

This is one of the most plentiful organic oils grown in the midwestern states. It's one of the oils like patchouli that improves with age. It has a warm and penetrating, slightly green- herbaceous odor that smells just like the crushed herb. The fresh herb makes a great tea. It's stimulating and refreshing (sounds like a commercial for a mouth wash) and blends well with pink grape fruit, jasmine, basil, and vetiver. I much prefer it to peppermint for perfumes. It has a lighter touch. In perfumery it's used to get an herbaceous-green influence in lavender-fougere* and jasmine blends.

Juniperberry

Has a fresh, yet warm, rich balsamic, woody-sweet and pine-needle-like aroma.

The juniper is an evergreen shrub that can grow up to 20 feet high. I seldom use it in perfume work where it can be a top note but I feel fir absolute is a better alternative to give a blend a fresh-balsamic note. It's frequently adulterated so you have to find a reliable source. A distiller I know in XXXXX provides the oil we carry. It is somewhat lighter than the other junipers I tested and has less ambra*-sweetness, and is less rich on dry out. I like it for therapeutic blends so please check our Self Care Recipes*. It warms and empowers blends with fir, benzoin, labdanum, and oakmoss.

Rosemary

It has a strong, fresh diffusive top note with a woody-balsamic body note, that tones down in a pleasant, tenacious, bitter-sweet, herbaceous aroma. It's somehow both minty and woodsy.

We get ours from Tunisian where I have a long time ex-pat friend. We buy it in small quantities. The poorer qualities we've tested tend to have a dry out note that is more reminiscent of eucalyptus and household disinfectants. There is some controversy about what the best type is for therapeutic applications. We went with what smelled the best. It blends well with lavender, pine needle oil, thyme, petitgrain, cedarwood, and I like to marry it with labdanum or olibanum, and spice oils. It's extensively used in citrus colognes, lavender waters, fougeres, spicy-oriental perfumes.

Roman Chamomile

I think it has one of the most mysterious scents. Some people say it is apple like, yet others noses describe it as herbaceous and bitter. It's odor is both diffusive and tenacious. We buy it fresh so it seems to be extra sweet. It's herbaceous but tempered with a fruity warmness and has a slight tea leaf like odor.

The truth be told: it's my favorite. I grow it in large borders surrounding the lawn of three different varieties so I can roll around in it. The daisy like flowers is one of the reasons for the name of the site. We have tried a number of the organic oils and to me they were too ………We found a source in Oregon. _______ grows the roman chamomile without using any fertilizers or pesticides but rotates his crops with __where he does have to use _______________. Again there is a consideration of which type: clear Roman, blue German or Blue, or yellow Moroccan and again we choose it over others because of the quality of the oil. With the Roman the top note effect is more pronounced. It is used in certain liquors like the D.O.M or Benedictine type.

I add a drop or two to some green teas. It imparts a unique warm yet fresh note and depth when blended with bergamot, clary sage, oakmoss, jasmine, neroli, rose, geranium, and labdanum. As it evolves on the skin it's herbal note becomes warmer, drier, and more natural. It has a high odor intensity and I tend to use too much but I can't help myself.

Patchouli

It has a powerful richness, a wine-like sweet and fruity top note, a rooty-spicy herbaceous heart note (that I was shown if not properly distilled smells moldy or musty) and a woody- balsamic finish. It's a mint but more wet-earthy than sweet.

I think it has one of the most mysterious scents. Some people say it is apple like, yet others noses describe it as herbaceous and bitter. Its odor is both diffusive and tenacious. We buy it fresh so it seems to be extra sweet. It's herbaceous but tempered with a fruity warmness and has a slight tea-leaf like odor.

Patchouli is perhaps one of the most controversial fragrances. Folks either love it or hate it. It reminds a lot of baby boomers of the 60's, love-ins and drugs. Locally* it is considered an aphrodisiac. They drink a home brewed palm wine with a twist of patchouli oil from a gourd--and yes, if you drink enough of it, you will be !

We steam distill the plants that are grown without pesticides at our plant in ___? Indonesia. Our plant manager ___?, and its curious that one of the magical applications of this oil is to attract money. First they rupture the walls by slow fermentation of the plant by stacking the dried leaves in bundles until the master distiller, by smell alone, determines that they are ready. I've seen it done scalding the leaves with steam or fermentation but this results in an inferior end product.

I did not fully appreciate the life force of the plant until I stood in a field of these bushy sage-like three feet high beings at dusk and felt like I walked back in time. Some perfumers consider its odor to be the most powerful of any plant derived essential oils. The oil, like wine, significantly sweetens with age. Since we just started ours is a year old but we are setting aside and dating barrels to be compared in the future. It can easily overpower a blend, but in moderation can strengthen, ground and balance blends using labdanum, vetiver, angelica, sandalwood, cedar wood, clove, rose, neroli, clary sage, myrrh, and cinnamon. It's used in oriental-type and woody bases, but also in fougeres*, chypres*, opoponax*, and powder type perfumes. We're coming out with out own body powder blend that includes labdanum, and bergamot.

Labdanum or Cistus

Its aroma is sweet, herbaceous and balsamic, somewhat amber like reminiscent of a natural animal like smell.

The plant is also known as rock rose probably because it is a small shrub with small white rose like flowers. It grows wild in most countries around the Mediterranean Sea. Our source is from Spain and it is steam distilled from the plant. Its resinous form is associated with incense. It has a number of aromatherapy uses, used in food and beverages but to me it's a very fine and rare perfume material. It settles well with oakmoss, clary sage, lavender, cypress, patchouli, sandalwood, vetiver, frankincense, and myrrh. It's an excellent fixative in amber type blends and oriental perfumes.