Sacred & Transformational Scents -An introduction to my work of Alchemical Natural Perfumery
"Sacred
&
Transformational Scents"
_
I have always loved perfume since I was young, since both my parents used it daily. The complexity of the scent and the images it evokes, the tangible effect upon ones aura all enamored me deeply enough, that at one point I got my first distillation equipment and dove into exploring essential oils, their origin, making and use in perfume.
Over time I discovered Floral Absolutes, Resins, Flower Waxes and Concretes as further material to use in my natural perfumery.
My studies in alchemy opened up entirely new doors and perceptions regarding the art of perfume making. Not only did it open up a new plethora of ways I could create my own ingredients for my perfumery from natural herbs, flowers, spices &resins, but also how to potentiate these materials, take them to another level, in which I could turn the perfume into a true communication device between the one wearing it and the spirits of the plants and herbs that were used.
The fragrances I make differ from the synthetic perfumes you encounter in the shops. While those are aesthetically beautiful and can smell divine as well, they are dead. They are if anything filled with the intention of profit and a quick buck. They are mass-productions intended for a consumer who no longer gets to come in contact with the high-quality materials that are now limited and restricted to high-end boutiques.
These perfumes I craft are intended to be magical potions that merge and meld with the aura of the individual wearing them, energetically attuning to him and imparting its lessons subtly among the evolving notes that dance from start to finish in and out of perception.
A synthetic perfume can be quite a linear experience, while it does evolve as it progresses, it is a lot more subtle than the way a natural perfume behaves on the skin. The Journey is much more nuanced, progressing from the top notes that are bright and clear, into the depth of the heart, that is rich with the worlds above and below meeting each other. As most of the top notes fade eventually, we venture into the domain of the base, colored by the dark, earthy, spicy, powdery, woody aspects which begin to shine through and gently fade out into the end.
I will be soon releasing some of my first perfumes online on our store. The first few creations will be Eau de Parfum's which are between 20-30% perfume concentrate(Essential oils, Resins, Absolutes etc) which are then diluted in 70-80% alcohol. The price tag is around 90-100€ for a 30ml bottle, but each bottle contains 6-9ml of undiluted precious oils. To give persepctive 3-4ml of jasmine absolute costs anywhere from 50€-100€ and upwards.
I use high grade material that I source mostly through Hermitage Oils, which is a shop focused on high quality aromatheraphy grade perfume material. For the rest I do my own distillations and also create my own tinctures and alchemical preparations which I use as material.
I will be making small batches of fragrances available, but they will be unique each time. I do not repeat any one fragrance ever again.
I am limited to working with what I have on hand in terms of material, but if you enjoy my style of scent, you can always make a request for something custom made. Although I can not create something clear cut defined, but I can help create an identity through the scents. I can create a certain theme, or atmosphere.
If you have any questions or are curious about anything, do not hesitate to leave a comment, I will definitely get back to you!
You can visit my site Catharsiopa for more infos about my work.
It's an interesting craft that you describe here, even though I guess it is hard to describe exactly the things that you are talking about using only words! Do you use historical techniques and recipes as well?
I have featured you and this post for a Curation Contest here:
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You can join the fun here:
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Woah highly appreciate the support mate and for entering me into the contest! :D
The Fullness of it can only be truly experienced, but the words can impart an inkling of the fragrance the exploration offers pursuing the craft!
Yes I am very much investigating the historical techniques both in perfumery and alchemy, and there are many interesting aspects that bridge the two realms.
I will be producing my own essential oils to a small extent for my perfumery, yet at the same time, these same oils are also used in alchemy to create potent elixirs. What is interesting if you produce an alchemical preparation of the plant properly, the scent profile of the oil changes tremendously over time, literally sweetening and changing in complexity.
Offering entirely other dimensions of scent, similar to its raw essential oil, but acquiring depth, sweetness, complexity that transforms it entirely.
I practice both alchemy and perfumery, and along the line there are moments where there is an opportunity to bridge them both practically.
Spiritually or Internally, alchemy is a holographic means of relating to life that is applicable to any Art or Craft or even Life Approach.
I formulate my own perfume recipes, the alchemical preparations are different in that you always work with one singular plant or material, so there is no recipe per se involved in that only technique is involved in those depending on what your material is or which plant it is.
Alchemy practically transmutes one thing through evolution into a higher form.
Perfumery creates a relation between different materials, allowing the integration of polarity/multiplicity in the truth of the unity that unites all souls.
The alchemical preparations focus inwardly and transform from within to without.
The Perfumery preparations are more relational in that their effect works from the outside penetrating within, by imparting lessons or acting upon how we relate to the world.
My pleasure! The historical ideas really are interesting to me... I am a musician specialising in Early Music... and so we are a branch that tries to re-create the past conditions for interpreting and performing music... it has some parallels!
@bengy Ooooh I am a musician as well, do you have some tracks of yours online? Will go check your steemit profile after replying to see for myself sounds interesting what you do :)
If interested I have my tracks available for free streaming here
https://catharsiopa.squarespace.com/music
it's a mix of triphop with blues/rock/electronic/downtempo/psychedelic influences. :)
I play mostly in ensembles and large groups... So generally stuff I don't have the rights to post online.
However, you can see some of my stuff that I do have personal rights to :
https://soundcloud.com/arinellisround
https://www.youtube.com/user/MusicaPoetica1606
This is very interesting, it made me think about the book Perfume, by Patrick Suskind. Thanks a lot for sharing this article... and keep up with the good work.
Congratulations on being featured by @bengy in an entry for the Pay It Forward Contest
I've heard about the book but never seen the film nor read it! I really should give it a try :)
I am glad you enjoyed the article, thank you for stopping by ;)
Which one would suit me? 🤔
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What type of scents do you enjoy wearing? :) Or what would you love to smell like? 👃✨
Hi @ravenking13 😁 This is great article. I've always been interested in alchemy, well anything that challenges the mind and the 'normal'
You were featured in week 53 of @pifc's Pay It Forward Curation Contest by @bengy. @pifc is a Pay It Forward Community which believes in by helping others grow we build a stronger community. We run this contest each week, it is open to everyone. It's a great way to show off people you find that might need some more exposure or meet new people.
Thank you, it is a pleasure to see that people enjoy taking a peek into what I do and can share the interest for what I share with you guys, hoping to bring some magic to you all with all of this :)
You are very welcome 😊