The Complete Essential Oils Sourcebook: A Practical Approach to the Use of Essential Oils for Health and Well-Being. Julia Lawless
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version of Mensing and Beck’s color chart is still used widely in the perfume industry to create new scents and to help target specific markets. It has also been adapted for psycho-aromatherapeutic purposes, where it can be employed to help aromatherapists select an essence from the range of natural aromatics. An introverted individual, for example, is likely to be attracted to oriental oils and incense materials, such as frankincense, patchouli, sandalwood, or galbanum—while an extroverted type will prefer fresh, fruity oils such as bergamot, lemon, or grapefruit.
When we move into the therapeutic use of essences, there are other factors to be considered apart from the esthetic appeal. While in perfumery the esthetic consideration is paramount, in therapeutic work the efficacy of the remedy is of prime importance. When dealing with the therapeutic application of essences, there are two separate dynamics to consider:
The need to choose a fragrance specifically tailored to the requirements of each individual client was the conclusion reached by the aromatherapist Marguerite Maury in her therapeutic work. She found that, of all the aspects of plant oils and their fragrances, “the greatest interest lies in the effect of fragrance on the psychic and mental state of the individual. Powers of perception become clearer and [events] are seen more objectively, and therefore in truer perspective.”10
In devising her individual prescriptions, Mme. Maury assessed the physical, mental, and emotional disposition of each patient so that the remedy perfectly mirrored the patient. There is, for example, the case of the sad and anxious elderly man suffering from stress and insomnia, with a heart and kidney weakness. The individual mixture for this client was made up from rose, sandalwood, lavender, geranium, and benzoin. Benzoin dispels anxiety and interposes “a padded zone between us and events. Rose and sandalwood oil compensate for renal and cardiac deficiencies; lavender and geranium normalize…”11
Since remedies are so allied to the patient’s state, blends evolve and change during the course of treatment in a subtle interaction between oils, blender, and patient.
Making a personal perfume
You will need:
A selection of essential oils with dropper tops
Before beginning, lay out all the ingredients and materials needed on a clean surface in an odor-free environment. Using the blotting strips to assess the scent is described in detail here.
1 Select the oils that you think will be required to constitute the dominant notes in the blend (see here), including base note, middle note, and top note oils. Measure out the base oils in drops into a small glass bottle containing 1 tsp/5ml jojoba or fractionated coconut oil, following your intuition as to proportions. Record the name and exact quantity of each oil used.
2 Shake the bottle and assess the scent with a blotting paper strip. Add the middle note oils, measuring and recording carefully. Shake the bottle again and assess the effect as before.
3 Add the top notes, measuring and recording as before. Shake well and test.
4 Fine-tune, either by adding more drops of some ingredients, or by incorporating a new element. Add these oils a drop at a time, as one drop can radically affect the overall balance. Test the revised mixture on a new blotter strip.
5 When satisfied, seal the mixing bottle. Store it in a dark place for several weeks to mature. Check again to ensure the scent is rounded and well balanced.
PERFUMERY IS BOTH a science and an art—it requires precision and sensitivity, but above all the ability to translate an intangible emotional experience or idea into a tangible composition.
In blending a perfume, the “rules of composition” have to be obeyed, as in music or painting, but the blender’s creative skills transcend these rules to produce an indefinable blend that stirs the emotions and echoes a mood. A professional perfumer has to have a thorough knowledge of the properties of a huge range of ingredients, and how they interact, but it is nevertheless possible to make successful perfumes for one’s own use, and as gifts for other people, using essential oils.
People generally prefer a many-layered fragrance, since a combination of different aromas tends to be more interesting and intriguing. When natural aromatic oils are combined, the effect is a chemical reaction that breaks up their original molecular structure and they recombine to form entirely new molecules. The final quality of the blend is always an unknown factor. The aim is to make a “bouquet” or a “seamless scent,” where the whole adds up to more than just a sum of its parts. The famous French perfumer Pierre Dhumez declared that the ideal perfume consisted of a basic harmonious blend of just three or four dominant “bodies.” When combined in “inspired” proportions they form a whole in which it is impossible to distinguish one odor from the other. The scent is a perfectly balanced mixture which smells as a separate entity. This basic harmony, once it has been achieved, is enhanced by the addition of tiny amounts of other fragrances.14
Many of the spicy and more exotic essential oils come from the East.
RESIN | BENZOIN
CITRUS | LEMON
FLORAL | LAVENDER
A good perfume has a range of top, middle, and base notes.
In the art of blending, balance is everything. In his book The Art of Perfumery, Charles Piesse was the first to draw an analogy between odors and sounds. To create a perfect “bouquet” of odors, he chose scents that combined to create a harmonious chord and added other scents to act as half-notes.
Modern perfumery still uses Piesse’s terms to describe the art of blending, although in a simplified form. The perfume should be a perfect balance between the top, middle, and base notes. The top notes are immediately apparent—the ones that are light and fresh—and are the most volatile ingredients. Typical top notes include lime, lemon, and bergamot. The middle