Almost Accidental Jasmine Enfleurage
Lise
Look what happened to be growing over the fence from my neighbour around the end of August. These beautifully fragrant jasmine flowers were picked the same day they flowered. I know because I had been eyeing (what I could see of the plant) with great interest.
This ‘haul’ of 10 blossoms was carefully spread out to dry in my lab. The next day, a new bunch showed up and was promptly plucked. This went on for a little more than a week (I stopped counting). I picked every blossom I could with a clear conscience as only a very small area of the plant had decided to grow near enough for me to reach.
The entire batch was a relatively modest amount (about 100 flowers in total), but the fragrance was quite powerful.
And as I brought them into the lab to dry, there were other lab things going on… like little swatches of freshly made balms undergoing a bit of scrutiny.
The Enfleurage Urge
It has long been one of my desires to learn proper enfleurage. I’ve read a bit about it and listen with great interest to those who practice it and are willing to share their wisdom and experience with me.
Enfleurage originated in France in the 1700’s and is a perfuming technique used to capture the scents of plants that are otherwise hard to capture by distillation or maceration. There are several different enfleurage methods that can be employed. One method calls for freshly picked blossoms being placed ‘face down’ on – or very near – a thin layer of neutral smelling fats in a special container/tray. They then ‘breathe’ their fragrance molecules onto the fat layer. Blossoms are replaced regularly until the fat is satisfactorily fragrant.
With this method in mind, a couple of balm swatches became impromptu fat layers for some jasmine flowers.
Guess what?
Even without the correct equipment, the scent transferred beautifully.
To be sure my own nose wasn’t playing tricks on me, I brought one of the balm swatches (sans flowers) to my husband and asked him what he thought it smelled like. He immediately said jasmine (wrinkling his nose a bit as he doesn’t much like jasmine).
Doing proper enfleurage just got bumped up my to-do list.
Do Tell
Have you ever tried enfleurage? Which flowers and method did you use?
More Enfleurage Stuff
The inspirational Jade Forest on Enfleurage (LINK)
My interview with Jade (Jade Grows her Own Perfume) on this blog
A previous enfleurage attempt using lilacs in coconut oil (LINK)
Want to make your own balms? Below is my ebook about natural balms. Click the picture to learn more about what’s included.
