A Master Perfumer's Reflections on Patchouli and Vetiver

Post by ajb » Sun, Jul 31, 2022, 6:29 AM UTC

zasdffaa wrote: post #9

mrspuratic wrote: post #7

I (re)discovered an interest in natural scents earlier this year when I tried eliminating petrochemical skin products. Coconut oil and aloe vera (about 80:20), olive oil liquid soap, and essential oils - including patchouli, cedar, oak moss, lavender, vetiver, (European) bay, tea tree, melissa. My best effort so far is a rosemary/eucalyptus/bay aftershave balm.

I guess a word to the wise, or others who may not have your experience, be careful about assuming natural stuff is safe. Some essential oils are irritating, and some can be bad for you unless carefully handled (eg jasmine oil should be well diluted into a carrier oil before it touches your skin).

Post by mrspuratic » Sun, Jul 31, 2022, 10:43 AM UTC

ajb wrote: post #21

zasdffaa wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess a word to the wise, or others who may not have your experience, be careful about assuming natural stuff is safe. Some essential oils are irritating, and some can be bad for you unless carefully handled (eg jasmine oil should be well diluted into a carrier oil before it touches your skin).

I read somewhere that basically all essential oils are dangerous because they are so concentrated. They have to be diluted to be safe. The article claimed that some individuals had given themselves an allergy to lavender by using the essential oil undiluted. Unfortunately I don't have a reference (read that a few years ago). Would be interested to know if it's true.

Post by ajb » Sun, Jul 31, 2022, 12:16 PM UTC

mrspuratic wrote: post #23

ajb wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read somewhere that basically all essential oils are dangerous because they are so concentrated. They have to be diluted to be safe. The article claimed that some individuals had given themselves an allergy to lavender by using the essential oil undiluted. Unfortunately I don't have a reference (read that a few years ago). Would be interested to know if it's true.

Essential oils have high concentrations of lipophilic compounds which have little trouble crossing membranes. As luck would have it chapter 7 "The safety issue in aromatherapy" of Aromatherapy Science (ISBN: 0 85369 578 4) is a freely available sample chapter (pharmpress.com)

Post by vivegi » Sun, Jul 31, 2022, 12:44 PM UTC

antixk wrote: post #24

vivegi wrote: post #6

Vetiver is a Tamil word. Ver literally means root. https://translate.google.com/?sl=auto&tl=ta&text=vetiver&op=... (You can listen to the pronunciation of the English version and the Tamil version in the Google Translate link above). I remember my childhood days when the vetiver roots were used to add fragrance to bath water and fragrance & taste to summer drinks.

Patchouli is of Tamil origin as well. From pachai - green, ilai - leaf.

Post by borroka » Sun, Jul 31, 2022, 6:18 PM UTC

exmadscientist wrote: post #18

serf wrote: post #2

writing so interesting that it makes me wish I was into perfume. I knew that historically perfumers took their job very seriously, but I was unaware that kind of artisanal appreciation was still around; I thought it was mostly a corporate laboratory kind of thing now.

Honestly I read this less as the writing of a perfumer and more the writing of a master. This is just how people who know their subject intimately (and have some writing skill) communicate. It is somewhat rare, as often the people who are truly good at what they do would rather do it than write about it.