be dried and distilled to produce a pale oil with a light, peppery top note and an earthy, herbal body note that is slightly musky and animal-like, with a spicy undertone. It is one of the lighter base notes and lends an astringent and herbal base to a
blend, but its power can easily be underestimated. Each batch must be carefully smelled for variations in concentration. It has a unique tenacity and great diffusive power, and it blends well with patchouli, opoponax, costus, clary sage, vetiver, and oakmoss.
Patebouls is a dark brown oil distilled from the stems and leaves of the pogostemon plant, which resembles garden sage, but with less fleshy leaves. For many the smell of patchouli is wrapped in memories of the sixties, but in the mid-nineteenth century, it was used to scent Indian paisley shawls and to discourage moths from damaging them. French manufacturers, having discovered the secret of their odor, began to import the dried leaves to perfume knockoffs of their own manufacture, which they passed off as genuine.
Patchouli
The odor of patchouli is the most powerful of any essence derived from plants. It has a sweet, rich, herbaceous top note and an earthy, slightly camphorous body note that evolves into a dry, woody, spicy note. As Arctander notes, it will remain perceptible on a perfume blotter for weeks or months, with a sweetness that âis almost sickening in high concentration.â A well-aged patchouli develops a rich, almost fruity note. Patchouli blends well with labdanum, vetiver, sandalwood, cedarwood, lavender, angelica, clove, and clary sage. It also works well with rose, extending and fixing its sweetness. Patchouli imparts strength, character, allure, and lasting quality. It is an aphrodisiac that is also grounding and balancing.
Oakmoss ( mousse de chêne ) is the soft, treacly, greenish-black lichen Evernia prunastri, which grows primarily on oak trees. In its natural state it has no discernible fragrance, but after it has dried and rested for a while, it develops a scent reminiscent of seashore, bark, wood, and foliage. In sparing doses, it lends the scent of a wet forest to the
dryout note of a perfume, giving the whole a naturalness and a rich, earthy undertone, along with great fixation. Oakmoss requires restraint on the part of the perfumer; too much can ruin a creation.
Lidanisterion
Labdanum has been used since antiquity in incense and as an embalming agent. It is the resinous exudation of rockrose ( Cistus ladaniferus ), a small shrub that grows wild around the Mediterranean. Long ago, the oleoresin was collected by shepherds, who combed it from the fleece of sheep that had been browsing among cistus bushes; the first-century Roman writer Dioscorides mentions that it was combed from the beards and thighs of goats as well. In Crete, an instrument called a ladanisterion âa sort of double rake with leather thongs instead of teethâwas used to collect the resin. These days, the twigs and leaves of the plant are boiled in water to yield the aromatic gum. (The flowers, which have only a faint scent, are not exploited in perfumery.)
Labdanum has a pronounced sweet, herbaceous, balsamic odor, with a rich amber undertone found in few other essences. It works well with oakmoss, clary sage, all the citruses (especially bergamot), lavender, and opoponax, and it is particularly useful as a fixative in ambery blends. Labdanum is comforting and centering.
Â
Green scents are fresh and leafy. They include tarragon, lavender concrete, clary sage concrete, flouve, elderflower, and deertongue.
Tarragon , with its sweet and spicy, aniselike scent, is one of my favorite oils; I use it as often as I can. The oil is a pale yellow-green liquid that turns dark yellow and viscous and more resinous as it ages. (Like the citruses, it is perishable and should be stored in the
refrigerator.) Tarragon blends well with galbanum, lavender, oakmoss, angelica, clary sage, lime, fir, juniper, and bois de
blend, but its power can easily be underestimated. Each batch must be carefully smelled for variations in concentration. It has a unique tenacity and great diffusive power, and it blends well with patchouli, opoponax, costus, clary sage, vetiver, and oakmoss.
Patebouls is a dark brown oil distilled from the stems and leaves of the pogostemon plant, which resembles garden sage, but with less fleshy leaves. For many the smell of patchouli is wrapped in memories of the sixties, but in the mid-nineteenth century, it was used to scent Indian paisley shawls and to discourage moths from damaging them. French manufacturers, having discovered the secret of their odor, began to import the dried leaves to perfume knockoffs of their own manufacture, which they passed off as genuine.
Patchouli
The odor of patchouli is the most powerful of any essence derived from plants. It has a sweet, rich, herbaceous top note and an earthy, slightly camphorous body note that evolves into a dry, woody, spicy note. As Arctander notes, it will remain perceptible on a perfume blotter for weeks or months, with a sweetness that âis almost sickening in high concentration.â A well-aged patchouli develops a rich, almost fruity note. Patchouli blends well with labdanum, vetiver, sandalwood, cedarwood, lavender, angelica, clove, and clary sage. It also works well with rose, extending and fixing its sweetness. Patchouli imparts strength, character, allure, and lasting quality. It is an aphrodisiac that is also grounding and balancing.
Oakmoss ( mousse de chêne ) is the soft, treacly, greenish-black lichen Evernia prunastri, which grows primarily on oak trees. In its natural state it has no discernible fragrance, but after it has dried and rested for a while, it develops a scent reminiscent of seashore, bark, wood, and foliage. In sparing doses, it lends the scent of a wet forest to the
dryout note of a perfume, giving the whole a naturalness and a rich, earthy undertone, along with great fixation. Oakmoss requires restraint on the part of the perfumer; too much can ruin a creation.
Lidanisterion
Labdanum has been used since antiquity in incense and as an embalming agent. It is the resinous exudation of rockrose ( Cistus ladaniferus ), a small shrub that grows wild around the Mediterranean. Long ago, the oleoresin was collected by shepherds, who combed it from the fleece of sheep that had been browsing among cistus bushes; the first-century Roman writer Dioscorides mentions that it was combed from the beards and thighs of goats as well. In Crete, an instrument called a ladanisterion âa sort of double rake with leather thongs instead of teethâwas used to collect the resin. These days, the twigs and leaves of the plant are boiled in water to yield the aromatic gum. (The flowers, which have only a faint scent, are not exploited in perfumery.)
Labdanum has a pronounced sweet, herbaceous, balsamic odor, with a rich amber undertone found in few other essences. It works well with oakmoss, clary sage, all the citruses (especially bergamot), lavender, and opoponax, and it is particularly useful as a fixative in ambery blends. Labdanum is comforting and centering.
Â
Green scents are fresh and leafy. They include tarragon, lavender concrete, clary sage concrete, flouve, elderflower, and deertongue.
Tarragon , with its sweet and spicy, aniselike scent, is one of my favorite oils; I use it as often as I can. The oil is a pale yellow-green liquid that turns dark yellow and viscous and more resinous as it ages. (Like the citruses, it is perishable and should be stored in the
refrigerator.) Tarragon blends well with galbanum, lavender, oakmoss, angelica, clary sage, lime, fir, juniper, and bois de
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