Oils
|
|
Many different oils can be bought and the
question always seems to be 'which one is the best'. I am often tempted by
the label or the high price to determine quality, but I don't think these are
good guides. A more obvious guide is to go for a certain plant or flower
species instead of names like 'summer breeze' or 'mystic flower', these
latter oils are always compositions so you will be limited in your
possibilities to create your own scent. Another sound argument in deciding
for an oil is to go for the middle and lower notes. That probably needs some
explaining: essential oils can be put into an order from low notes via middle
to high notes. The low notes sustain long but are on the background, the high
notes are sharp, remarkable but sustain quite short because they evaporate so
quickly. Examples of these groups : High notes :
Lemon, Bergamot, Lavender, Peppermint Middle notes:
Orange, Violet, Rose Low notes:
Patchouli, Cloves, Musk and Sandelwood. Sometimes you will be able to buy 'absolues',
which are oils that are not obtained by the process of steam distillation but
by more labour intensive processes like 'enfleurage'. The subject of perfume
is a huge one, to get an idea I can recommend 'Perfume', by Patrick Susskind. We can put oils into an incense stick. The
easiest way to do this is to 'paint' it on an incense stick with a brush.
After the oil is absorbed the stick will be ready to be burned, the heat of
the stick slowly letting the oil evaporate and release its scent. As an
alternative it is very well possible to impregnate charcoal with esential
oil. When we put on too high notes we will notice them badly cause they get
lost in the combustion process. Incenses that are treated with perfume 'leak'
scent. For this reason they will always be packed in plastic to prevent
evaporation. Take this into account when you are using your perfume in an
incense stick, for example by storing it in glass jars. |
|
|
|
