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Showing posts with label Perfumer’s Apprentice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Perfumer’s Apprentice. Show all posts

Sunday, February 23

What’s the difference between a damascenone and a damascone? A Personal Journey Through Fragrance, and the Literature.

 You might be tempted to research and add one of the damascones to your cart (or wish list), instead of trying out damascenone total, itself, but the reality of the situation is that: these aren’t typos that snuck in to the supply chain of retail aroma compounds, although that might be the most common folly, in this situation; it got me, for example, and for years I went about not knowing and discerning between a damascenone versus the various damascones that there are - in other words, I thought that these were typos (the difference in spelling, between one and the other), and that these two distinctions were part of the same family and classification of fragrances. Not until just several hours prior, before preparing this blog article, in fact, did I truly learn and discerned the distinctions and differences between damascenone and the various damascones.

First of all, the difference in use case scenario is fairly large, in this case. I recall a nameless mock-up perfume composition that I threw together with a new haul of fragrance ingredients that I’d procured, and I was relatively new at composing fragrance mock-ups. As such, I had much less familiarity, or sense, for that matter, about the suggestions and or significance of the IFRA limitations upon many various fragrance and flavor compounds, offering guidelines and limits, in percentages, or in “parts per” (million), for example. For that matter, damascenone is used as both a flavor and as a fragrance molecule. In this mockup fragrance composition I had made, years ago, implementing damascenone, I had employed what would be considered an “overdose” amount - the compound is very powerfully fragrant. Here is what the literature has on damascenone.



The article feels timely, seeing as how we’re on the heels of the latest Valentine’s Day, this year (2025). 


As well, here is what Google’s AI-augmented search came up with, when I asked what the difference was/is between damascenone and damascones, since I had gotten things mixed and mushed up, in my mind, until just earlier:



Here, although, absent of smelling the aroma compounds in question “in person,” it would be a far cry from simple, to really invoke the senses in a way that would constitute that the readers could mock up damascenone, for one, and the damascones (there’s a few, at minimum). Regardless, we see that it is the case, that the two distinctions are inherently separate families, separate molecular forms, and different classifications of materials, both chemically and in an olfactory sense. I personally have had a former in-person sampling of damascenone 93%, which I employed in the fragrance composition I had touched on, earlier, and, as well, I recently purchased beta-damascone, thinking that that was the compound that I had employed, previously (without checking my receipts, as notes; therefore, I was wrong). Damascenone is, as well as damascone, distinguished, in composition and form, in the “beta” distinction (it’s known as beta-damascenone, and there are different aesthetics, dependent upon the degree of purity of the beta molecule, versus other variants of the same compound). 


The original haul in question, where I purchased Damascenone 93% from the now defunct CreatingPerfume.com (they’re now at CreatingPerfumeStore.com).






Now, having made my recent mistaken step, in trying to reclaim some of the scent legacy that I had once created, just for the olfactory nostalgia’s sensibilities of the situation, but also, that I felt that that particular historic nuance of the fragrance composition I made would be a distinguished role to fulfill in my latest composition, Eau Pigeonoid (I lost my fragrance collection, years ago, when my belongings, including over 300 fragrance ingredients and oils, were swiftly removed from my possession. As such, I “miss” some of my fragrance compositions that I’d made). In this case, I’d been feeling that my latest make of Eau Pigeonoid (my latest fragrance composition) is “pretty good,” meaning that it’s tolerable for myself, and, conceivably, for others, as well. I can tell, because I sometimes have to admit that I find myself stuck, at times, with fragrance compositions that make me a bit nauseous or embarrassed, being that they don’t smell all that refreshing. Here, I have a pretty good composition that doesn’t make me sick or fatigued; I just feel that the composition could use a bit of smoothing out of some of the slight let-downs that it has, as-is, so I wanted to audition Damascenone Total next to my working composition of Eau Pigeonoid, even though I might only use just a slight amount for it, in the end, I just wanted to sample the two fragrances together, as well as Hedione HC, in which case, I’m opting for the cheaper (and equivalent) Methyl Dihydro Jasmonate HC. Despite that Eau Pigeonoid is touted, currently, as a men’s fragrance, and these are floral-esque (or, moreso floral) effects, I’m just whittling away at slight facets of the fragrance, Eau Pigeonoid, at the moment. Most of the primary and formative work has already been done on it. 


Updating…


02/17/2025 10:11 p.m.


I placed my order for the materials, finally, and I threw in some patchoulol crystals, to see how they are. The price worked out to be just right, for my budget. 



As an aside, I have some other oils on order from Sheer Essence, on Amazon. I checked out their website, as well, to view their full catalog, and, in this case, I ended up going with a bottle of cardamom essential oil, as well as Melissa officinalus. Right now, I have a fairly (what I might estimate to be) aldehydic fragrance, with recent additions of vanilla, pink pepper, beeswax absolute, and a “named” aldehydic mandarin scent, with Mandarinal. It’s somewhat reminiscent of the type of quality that a Dior fragrance might have, yet it brings out the sensual side of my days, as a quick reminder, here and there, of an animalistic nature, lying beneath the surface (probably also owing to that I haven’t done laundry in a very long time - although, I did a quick run, to make sure I wasn’t too bum, just the other night). What I mean is that body odors would arise, in my senses and periphery, yet, fragranced with the sweetened odors of beeswax absolute and other components, I found it compelling (I know, doesn’t everyone, of themselves?). Anyways, I’m currently cleaning my room. I ordered a new mattress, and it’s a size upgrade, so I have to move and repurpose a bunch of stuff in my room, on this evening. 

“Dior?” You might be remarking. “He compares himself to Dior?” And I know, sure, it’s a bit youthful and unrefined a composition, yet, as I stated, my composition, I would say, to reiterate, that it simply has “some of” the qualities that some Dior fragrances do have. I found it a bit affront, to have landed, stylistically, in a fragrance space that’s already occupied; that’s why I’m seeking new ingredients, perhaps; I’m seeking to surge forth and find my Eau Pigeonoid niche, with a finished prototype, something fantastic and unique enough to stand on it’s own, even though - <_<… it’s not bad, as it stands, right now. 

In fact, I suppose, on second thought (now that I gather my thoughts, a bit), that Eau Pigeonoid was slightly built upon a supposition of that I could, at this stage, in my perfumery knowledge, make a slight mockup of something that smells somewhat like Dior Homme Sport, so I guess that that rightly stood as some of my formative inspiration, in crafting Eau Pigeonoid. Now I’m going with some Cardamom and Melissa, some damascenone and Hedione, with a dash of patchoulol crystals, if it suits; attempting to craft a bit of spicy, a bit of lemon freshness, and I want to fill out and round out the woods, with an aim to barter good intentions for near-cosmonaut euphoria highs, upon smelling my own fragrance (Hopefully? That’s my goal, anyways, with this stuff). I’m hoping that Damascenone and Hedione HC are perhaps the missing actors in making my fragrance composition a fine show of things.


The reason I reopened this project was a drive to explore the undiscovered (by myself), which is always the case, when procuring and experimenting with new aroma chemicals and fragrance compounds. Even if it’s a familiar scent, that I’ve encountered, or know, from experience, smelling it as a bottled product, ready for mixing, is a whole other experience. By the way, I do highly recommend Sheer Essence for procuring some fundamental essential oils, carrier oils, etc. You might be thinking, “well, they ship from India, how do I know it’s good? What if it takes a long time?” The answer to those fears are that, surprisingly, the packages take a much shorter time than expected, and the quality of their oils is fantastic. I recommend that readers try them out. They’re perhaps one of the best bargain merchants in the entire world of natural fragrance materials - not that bargain, here, means “cheap.” As I said, it’s surprising; both the quality of the oils, as well as the promptness in receiving the shipment. Perhaps a week or two, at most, to receive it in the United States. As you can see, from the screenshot below, I ordered a fragrance on the 6th, and I reviewed it, after receiving it, on the 14th of the same month, or earlier than that, that I received it and reviewed it.


Update: I received the fragrance ingredients, and I added them to my fragrance composition, which I tentatively call “Eau Pigeonoid.” Even with around only 1/4 to 1/3rd of a milliliter, of the Damascenone, that I added, it stands as a very prominent feature of the composition, with a relaxing, natural, fruity floral effect to it. I feel that I rested better, after spraying some of the fragrance in my room, as I slept. I’ll plan on waiting for the cardamom and Melissa essential oils to arrive, from India, before I plot out the final and finishing touches on the fragrance, once again. So far, it’s been through it’s fourth cycle of development, since the formula was originally concocted, out of 8 ingredients (now, there’s more like 20 ingredients, some of them just trace amounts, but I wanted the damascenone effect, that I remembered, from my past compositions, and Perfumer’s Apprentice’s Damascenone Total (Firmenich) doesn’t disappoint. 



Saturday, September 21

An Autumn Equinox Eve Hydrosol Elixir (Fragrance Recipe)

 

An Autumn Equinox Eve's Hydrosol Elixir 

This composition is for a 2 fl. oz. spritzer.

The starter oil was a bottom-of-the-bottle ring of leftover oil from a trefle magnolia citrus hydrosol. It had an impression of a fresh shampoo.


I added, to begin with:


2 drops of patchouli oil


This shifted the composition to heavily woodsy. I wanted to make a light, feminine, playful floral citrus fragrance, out of it, with a touch of spice:


6 mL IPM

50 mL water

14 drops magnolia

¼ mL Calibrian Bergamot BF

½ mL 10% Tonka bean absolute in IPM

¾ mL 10% Cocoa absolute in IPM

⅛ mL 10% blackcurrant Bud Absolute in IPM

5 drops Rose Otto

2 drops Carnation essential oil

7 drops cashmeran

⅓ mL coniferan

¼ gram Ambroxan 

¼ gram Exaltone

⅓ mL Limetol

¼ mL Fixateur

4 drops Anther

⅛ mL Canthoxal

1 slight drip vetiver oil

2 drops Cinnamon Flavor (maybe try 1; I used 2, and it's a bit prominent)

½ drip Black Hemlock Absolute

⅙ mL Rhubofix

2 drops 10:1 Water to Lavandin mailette Absolute Oil

⅒ gram Prismantol

⅓ mL Coumarex DB


This composition was fairly satisfactory and nice smelling, perhaps a mellis fragrance, citrus fresh, with rich, sweet, and sensuous floral effects to it. I found that spraying it a sensible amount didn't quite feel like enough, so maybe it has some stimulating and addictive features to it.


After carrying the fragrance around for a couple of hours, the fragrance oil, which had grown from ¼-⅓ band of oil on top of water, in to the ⅔ band of milky emulsified lipophilic layer, in water, as pictured.


If you get around to creating this fragrance, yourself, enjoy!

Friday, September 6

Product Review: September 2024 Perfumer's Apprentice Haul.

 Since around October of last year, I decided to make good on an inkling I'd had, with regards to that fragrances would work out well for balancing my mood, so I began purchasing retail designer fragrances by Dior, and alternately, I also began purchasing individual aroma chemicals and natural fragrance products from suppliers such as Liberty Natural and The Perfumer's Apprentice, whom both have delightful catalogs of fine and natural, as well as synthetic (Perfumer's Apprentice) fragrance components. My use case scenario ranged from trying my hand at making a complete fragrance composition from scratch, to developing simpler layers to add, on top of my designer bottles of fragrance. In the past, I've also purchased fragrances such as Spicebomb, by Viktor and Rolf, for such purposes. 


My workflow in fragrance, lately, has been based on developing a fragrance from scratch, stemming from a purchase haul I made two months ago, which was, conceptually, a women's fragrance which had Anise (Licorice) and hyacinth as the feature ingredients, for which I purchased small amounts of over 20 ingredients, in order to create it. The results were moderately amusing, yet I found myself tending towards trying to wear the fragrance, myself, (being a male), so, as the weeks of the month wore on, in that month, I gradually developed the fragrance, staring from a confectionary licorice aroma, initially, to an overpowering floral hyacinth earthy aroma eau de parfum hydrosol, with strong remnants of the Anise and licorice theme still remaining - it was too strong to wear when going out, so I resolved to have it as a room spray. 


Image of hyacinth bulbs in bloom, by Artur Pawlak from Pixabay


I felt determined to not have wasted my investment money, for the month, in purchasing the ingredients for the composition, so I ended up setting it aside, and I made plans, for the next month, to renew my aspirations to create a reasonably wearable female's fragrance, with natural ingredients, from Liberty Natural. I purchased Rose Otto, for a sizable and costly dose of fresh petals and natural floral bloom, and the effect turned out nicely - the scent of Rose, in this case, ends up being a scent modulator, of sorts, and the effect of Rose Otto, rather than as much, the scent and smell, itself, of Rose, served to give the composition a twist, which I could be satisfied with, so I bottled up the oil layer of the composition in to small containers, for preservation and documentation of the creation. Prior to this, I had also given the fragrance a sizable helping of grapefruit essential oil, to brighten up the overpowering effect that the hydrosol composition had. I also added absolutes of Tonka bean and Cocoa, for a sweetened culinary gourmand effect, overall, since the fragrance had a confectionary theme to it, at its outset, with Anise and licorice fragrance at the core of the composition, for which I decided to try Canthoxal, a synthetic component, and it worked nicely. I also added Carnation absolute, for additional fresh petals and spice, being that the scent of Carnation blooms contains a high amount of eugenol, for which, the smell of Clove would be the best reference material (actually, carnation blooms, naturally, would seem to have nearly no scent, at all, so I am referring, here, to the extracted oil, or the absolute). Lastly, from Liberty Natural, which was last month's purchase, I added Champaca CO², for its anti-inflammatory therapeutic effect, rather than that it would seem to be a floral component, being that the scent of this particular extraction of Champaca blooms might best be liked to the exotic spices of Indian (subcontinent) culinary fare, with lightly fragrant hints of cardamom, fennel seed, and cumin to it. Comparatively, the essential oils and absolutes of the Champaca flower have, in increasing magnitude, respectively, much more floral and lovely aromas to them. 


I decided, initially, in creating this Hyacinth and Anise fragrance composition, to complement the natural fragrance components with synthetic ingredients. This might range, in meaning, from that the aroma chemical is a standardized formula, of the manufacturer's own design, or, alternately, that the entire ingredient, itself, is manufactured from sparse chemical raw material resources, through means, perhaps, such as additive or subtractive chemistry processes. For example, for the initial carnation flower effect, I had Carnation essential oil, to begin with, yet, according to my reading studies, and practical, hands-on experience, in recent and former outsets of creating fragrance compositions, essential oils, themselves, sometimes tend towards decomposing (oxidizing) in the fragrance composition, giving the creator (me, in this case),  temporarily false sense of what the fragrance would end up smelling like, being that some of the rarer fractions of scents, in cases where the ingredient is a delicate one; here, the carnation flower scent would have its soft, fresh petals character subdued, or disappeared, as the fragrance sits out, as time goes on. After all, the fragrance composition ought to be stable, over weeks, months, or years, depending on the production stage and packaging materials. In this case, I'm still in the early to mid-stage development process, so I use temporary, reusable plastic spray bottles, for example. In addition, synthetic ingredients also have the added benefit, at times, of being lightly colored, or clear and colorless, which is helpful during The marketing stages of producing a professional designer fine fragrance. The synthetic ingredient aroma compound for Carnation that I employed for this composition was Methyl Diantilis, which is reputed to be a more stable synthetic component. I wanted to experiment with the potential for the synthetic ingredients to have a "stabilizing" effect, as well, in terms overall course of things, given that I'm using a host of natural fragrance extracts, here - synthetic ingredients are relatively cheap ingredients, by comparison, and they tend to be lacking, in various ways, compared to natural fragrance extracts.


This month, I received a surprise fragrance endowment, care of my Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health Peer Support and Caseworkers; in particular, from one of them, named Matt (thanks, Matt), who gifted me with a 3.4 fl. oz. bottle of Dior Sauvage, Eau de Parfum version (there are 5 different versions of Sauvage, for men; I typically like the Sauvage Elixir one, especially during the fall and winter seasons, and I haven't yet smelled the newly released Sauvage eau Forte hydrosol), which gave me a new and unexpected fragrance project to work on, being that I'm mostly unfamiliar with the Eau de Parfum version of Dior's Sauvage line of products. The reason I favor the Elixir variant is that it is lush and heavy; perfect for colder weather, whereas I find that the Eau de Perfume version is pungent and literally perfumey - not so much a problem, however, and Mark, my Department of Mental Health nurse, assured me that the scent is masculine enough. Still, I like an over-the-top good smelling fragrance profile, so, this month, I stocked up on some old favorite ingredients, which I'd run out of, such as Benzoin Oliffac, Ambroxan and Exaltone, two musks, which I'd lost, during the course of a former, unexpected eviction, some new-to-me samples of fragrance profiles that I'd been favoring, such as Siam Benzoin Resin in Benzyl Benzoate, Black Hemlock Absolute, for which I'm sampling as a complement, or as a woodsy, smoky-sweet alternative to Blackcurrant Bud Absolute, and related compounds, such as Labienoxime, and Rhubofix, in the vein of earthy and mailette ingredients I'd initially purchased to create my perfume-from-scratch, such as Terrasol and Sarriete Base. Lastly, I venture off, this month, in to incorporating flavor ingredients in my fragrance compositions, with cinnamon and hibiscus flavor concentrated, being that I'd mostly not found a powerful and pungent-enough cinnamon, for my spice olfactory profile; here, hearkening back to my love of Spicebomb - I felt that i could create a reasonably-distanced and unique take on Spicebomb with my Anise / Licorice / 🪻 Hyacinth fragrance, and I also needed a flavor to fill up a Geek Bar Pulse nicotine vaporizer, which I found I found I could refill, so I chose Hibiscus for the flavor, and it worked out great with my flavorless 50 mg nicotine salts that I purchased locally, from Broadway Smoke Shop. The Hibiscus 🌺 flavor concentrate worked out great, since it has propylene glycol in it, which is a food grade antifreeze that vaporizes (it's in fog juice) in an e-cigarette inhaler, such as the Geek Bar Pulse.


I felt that the fragrances I was wearing (Dior Homme Sport), working with (Dior Sauvage Eau de Perfume), or creating (the Anise / Hyacinth spice fragrance), lacked a certain degree of Amber and Musk, so Ambroxan and Exaltone became two iconic favorites that I could implement in to layers of fragrance that I could apply, as separate perfuming sprays in different spray bottles. They both smell great, at different price points ($15.00 and $72.00, respectively), and, in the case of this purchase haul, the both of them smell a bit more powdery and less base-y than I'd recalled, off-hand, yet they work well, for my situation, since the low end of the fragrance spectrum I'm working with, and fragrance profile I'm trying to fill out, such as with the Sauvage Eau de Perfume, is reputably satiated by the addition of the Black Hemlock Absolute, which has a rich woodsy, syrupy, sweet, and smoky fragrance to it that I'd been looking for, all in one ingredient. Rhubofix is a nice, spicy, earthy fragrance ingredient - a bit pungent, so I only incorporated several drops, as opposed to a few squirts that I put in, when it came to Benzoin Oliffac and Calibrian Bergamot (I'd forgotten, during the course of writing this blog, about needing to refill my Bergamot supply, and the Calibrian Bergaptene-free Bergamot from Perfumer's Apprentice is far more delightful than a standard Bergamot oil, with a bright and sweet citrus aroma to it. It's just great, as far as that slice of citrus fragrance profile is concerned.


September's haul of fragrance ingredients.

In diffusion, this little stub fragrance layer, in combination with the Sauvage Eau de Perfume, ends up giving off the impression of bubblegum anaesthesic, in my opinion. On the skin, the combination smells like a powerfully artificial cinnamon feature, dressed up in the fanciest of decolletage, with what I consider to be the feminity of the Dior fragrance feeling subdued; perhaps veiled, in that it might still be inferred.

Thursday, October 21

Product Review: Alpha Ionone (Natural), from Perfumer’s Apprentice.

 Dedicated botanists, as for backdrop to a fragrance-making and mixing enthusiast “hobbyist” sort of pseudo-professional profile of perfume-maker - not quite a lab chemist, ever, foreseeably, yet not quite an elementary-level “essential oils only” type of fragrance mixer, by moonlight, as it were… would not quite classify the Iris as a notably fragrant flower. No, by it’s formative traits, it is a perennial tuberous root-replicating crop; a rhizome, that is. The flowers? Classic, via our Art History lessons, as Jean Claude Van Damme, though… man, he could kick some ass. 

I’m still on, like, my last blog post’s lingering persona and effects, and attitude. 


Sorry about that. It’s Claude Monet, who did the famous landscapes of the folk-ish peasant pastorale, he, himself, a master of observation, and an indulgent one, when it came to large strokes, and goop, with his impasto technique, with the tube of acrylic, forming some of the characteristic primary favorites of art lovers, of the Early Modern Period; here, Impressionism, as it’s known, along with Van Gogh, who did similar work, stylistically.

Botany enthusiasts ex art lovers-slash-historians would instantly draw a connection, between Claude Monet and his Irises. 

Latest post.

What’s the difference between a damascenone and a damascone? A Personal Journey Through Fragrance, and the Literature.

  You might be tempted to research and add one of the damascones to your cart (or wish list), instead of trying out damascenone total, itsel...

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