Rebecca Park Totilo - The Art of Making Perfume

The Art of Making Perfume

How to Blend Essential Oils forLasting Fragrances

Rebecca Park Totilo

Copyright Rebecca Park Totilo 2012

Published by Rebecca at the Well Foundation atSmashwords

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Table ofContents

Song of Solomon 1:3-4 says, Because of the savour(fragrance) of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment pouredforth, therefore do the virgins love thee. Draw me, we will runafter thee.

It is the sweetness and power of the Lordsfragrance that draws us to him. Like bees attracted to a flower, Hecaptivates us by sending forth His sweet fragrance of love andforgiveness, causing His bride (of Christ) to desire and look uponhim - being conscious of only Him.

His name, like an ointment poured forth, representsthe whole nature and character of the one to whom it belongs -Yahweh in the flesh. And, with Yeshuas life poured out, containedno longer in Heaven, His mercy, grace, righteousness and power havereached out unto mankind.

Those who are found intoxicated by His fragrancehave a deep desire awakened within them to run after Him, annullingall other worldly matters.

Department stores filled with a myriad of fragrantaromas know how much women love perfume. Researchers believe womenfind perfume irresistible because of the scents or perfumesability to trigger an increase in the production of pheromones intheir bodies.

In addition to a perfumes capability to helpenhance a woman bodys pheromones levels, they are appealing towomen because of the attention they get from a member of theopposite sex or even from another woman. Many women will tell youthat the reason they purchase a particular perfume is that it makesthem feel better about themselves. It also makes them feel a bitmore feminine. Not only does smelling great make a woman feel goodabout herself, but it will also make her feel attractive.

In studies carried out, nearly 80% of all women willmake a perfume purchase at least once each year. Its no wondersince perfumes are made to attract the customer via the olfactorysystem (sense of smell) in order to persuade people to buy theperfumes or perfume-laced products (womens magazines) they areproducing.

In this book, we will be looking at ways to makeyour own perfume so that you can produce a scent which is uniquelyyou, distinct from any of those that you can buy in a store or overthe internet.

Historical records reveal that peoples use ofscents, aromas, fragrances and essential oils have been used inalmost every culture for millenniums. The Egyptians used aromaticsin embalming, while the Greeks attributed sweet aromas to theirgods by burning incense and the Babylonians perfumed the mortarwith which they built their temples. In fact, Cleopatra, the Queenof Egypt drenched the sails of her ships with the most exoticfragrant essential oils so that their essences would herald herarrival along the banks of the Nile. The Hebrews scattered freshleaves, twigs, and stems of fresh mint, marjoram and other herbs onthe dirt floors of homes and synagogues. By walking on these, thefragrant essential oils would be released into the air. Thispractice was also common in the temple, where they sacrificedanimals where the scent acted as a disinfectant as well as an airfreshener.

Both the Assyrians and Egyptians used scented oils.Because of this, the demand for the raw materials necessary toproduce both fragrances and remedies led to the discovery of newways to extract scents from the plants used. Such techniques aspressing, decoction, pulverization and maceration were developedand mastered by both the Assyrians and the Egyptians. They evenmade attempts to produce essential oils by distillation. Thesemethods will be discussed in the next chapter.

Slowly, the use of perfumes spread to Greece, wherenot only were they used in religious ceremonies, but also forpersonal purposes as well. When the Romans saw what the Greeks weredoing, they began to use fragrances even more lavishly. There aremany manuscripts that ascribed to how herbs were brought from allover the world to produce the fragrances they used.

After the Roman Empire fell, so the use of aromasfor personal use declined. However, during the Middle Ages,perfumes again were used, this time only in churches in Europe forreligious ceremonies and to cover the stench of disease and deathwhich abounded at that time.

When trade with the Orient was reestablished at thebeginning of the 13th Century, exotic flowers, herbs and spicesbecame more readily available around Europe. Venice quickly becamethe center of the perfume trade. It was not long before perfumerysoon spread to other European countries. The perfume trade thendeveloped even further, as those returning from the crusadesreintroduced perfume for personal use.

By the late 18th Century, the synthetic material forfragrances was being produced, which led to the beginning ofperfumery in the modern age. Thus, with the introduction ofsynthetics, perfumes would no longer be exclusively used by therich and famous. Now with synthetics readily available to produceperfumes, they could be made on a much larger scale, althoughnatural oils were still being used to help soften the synthetics.Today, natural products still remain a very important part of theproduction of perfumes in modern formulations.

More and more people today are turning away from theindustrial techniques of producing perfume, preferring to make itthemselves. Most find it is not only easy to do, but a great sourceof pleasure and fun.

According to Miriam Stead author of Egyptian Lifethe process of distillation using steam was not known for theextraction of essences but there were three techniques availablefor producing perfumes from flowers, fruits and seeds. She writesThere was effleurage the Saturation of layers of fat with perfumeby steeping flowers in the fat and replacing them when theirperfume was spent. In this way, the Egyptians were able to createcreams and pomades.

The Original Coneheads

A popular form of pomade was the so-called cosmeticcone which was worn on top of the head. Those frequentlyrepresented in banqueting scenes worn not only by the guests butalso by the servants. The cone was usually white with streaks oforange brown running from its top. The coloring represented theperfume with which the cone was impregnated. As the eveningprogressed the cone would melt and the scented oil run down overthe wig and garment creating a pleasing scent and no doubt a stickymess. Throughout the course of an evening it became necessary torenew the scent on the cones and the tomb scenes show servantscirculating among the guests replenishing the perfumed cream.

A popular late-night comedy television show calledSaturday Night Live use to include an skit of a family withConeheads. I am sure the writers of this routine thought they werebeing original although cone shape heads was all the rage inancient Egypt.

The second process for creating perfume wasmaceration that is dipping flowers, herbs or fruits into fats oroils heated to a temperature of about 65 degrees Celsius. Thistechnique is depicted in a number of tomb scenes. The flowers orfruits were pounded in mortars and then stirred into the oil whichwas kept hot on a fire. The mixture was sieved and allowed to cool.It might then be shaped into balls or cones or if liquid pouredinto vessels. An alternative process may have been to macerate theflowers in water, cover the vessel with a cloth impregnated withfat and boil the contents of the vessel until all the perfumes hadevaporated, fixing them in the fat which was then scraped off thecloth. This technique is still used by Peoples living near thesource of the Nile.