Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Fragrance DIY › rose attar - what to do with it
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

rose attar - what to do with it

post #1 of 30
4/17/11 at 11:07am
Thread Starter 
Hi all,

This is my first post I found this forum and I must say I love it!

I have a 3 gram bottle of pure rose attar that I bought 5 years ago. I have already wasted half the bottle by applying it on pure. I don't want to waste the rest of the bottle as it was very expensive. I want to know wwhat I can do with it.

Do i find a pure sandalwood oil and mix the two together?

What other options are open to me??

Also I have a 3 gram bottle of pure assam oudh that is incredible. I love the smell, though the rest of thw world think it smells of cow pat. I want the bottle to last. Any idea on if it is possible to mix the oil or to keep it pure.

many thanks in advance.
Reply
Reply

Features on Basenotes

Petals Falling From The Sky - A Report From The Cote d'Azur's Bataille De Fleurs
Basenotes Reader Awards 2013 - Finalists Announced.
Greatest Hits: Annick Menardo
post #2 of 30
4/17/11 at 12:24pm
May I suggest you ask this on the DIY board? There are people there who have lots of experience and may have some good ideas for you.

And welcome to Basenotes!
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 30
4/17/11 at 1:23pm
Thread Starter 
thanks I will do that.
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 30
4/17/11 at 1:28pm
Thread Starter 
Hi all,

This is my first post I found this forum and I must say I love it!

I have a 3 gram bottle of pure rose attar that I bought 5 years ago. I have already wasted half the bottle by applying it on pure. I don't want to waste the rest of the bottle as it was very expensive. I want to know wwhat I can do with it.

Do i find a pure sandalwood oil and mix the two together?

What other options are open to me??

Also I have a 3 gram bottle of pure assam oudh that is incredible. I love the smell, though the rest of thw world think it smells of cow pat. I want the bottle to last. Any idea on if it is possible to mix the oil or to keep it pure.

lastly I have a small bottle of vivitar. the smell is very strong and makes me feel sick. Is there anything I can mix it with to balance it and make its smell better.

many thanks in advance.
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 30
4/17/11 at 4:37pm
If you need a "neutral" high-quality oil in which to dilute essential absolutes then probably Jojoba is the best. It has no scent of its own, whereas if you mix your rose attar with sandalwood oil....
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 30
4/17/11 at 4:41pm
Yes I followed you here from your posting in Starting Out in case you never read replies on that one again.
If you need a high-quality "neutral" oil that does not have its own scent then probably you want to investigate Jojoba oil. Whereas if you used, as per your example, sandalwood oil, you would be getting rose attar AND sandalwood.
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 30
4/17/11 at 7:18pm
Oudh and rose should be the ideal pairing. However, as usual, don't just mix together the whole thing. Mix one drop of each in a medium (oils as Saintpaulia was saying, or alcohol), and see if it works. You can always mix more as you go.

True Mysore sandalwood is nearly impossible to get, so be careful there.

cacio
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 30
4/18/11 at 2:50am
Thread Starter 
Thank you all for the quick replies.

what would the ratios of oils be?

How would I mix them. I suppose I would need a fine dropper or something. Any ideas on what equipment I would need.

I am aware that pure sandalwood is hard to procure so I may have to stay with the jojoba.

I have a mix of rose with sandalwood from Unsfinecrafts that smells lovely. The rose is not overpowering and towards the end there is a hint of sandalwood that smells slightly smoked.

http://www.truemurid.com/rose-attar-...eg0l2bvl5r90q1

uns have run out of it at the moment.

With the assam oudh. It is quite viscious. I was thinking of mixing a little with the rose but will the two smells work well together as the outh is very pastoral/faecal?
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 30
4/18/11 at 4:54am
What makes you think wearing it pure is a waste?
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 30
4/18/11 at 6:03am
don't use jojoba if you want to keep it for a prolonged period. it will turn bad. rather use some pure alcohol, like a proper perfume.

i suggest you try the chypre formula that i have posted in the 'help with aromachemicals' thread, but then make the rose stand out a bit more to get a proper rose perfume. add a little natural civet (or a substitute civet base) to it, just a tiny bit (this stuff is extremely potent) it is a fantastic fixative for rose, as it will enhance it's scent too.

the chypre accord will give your composition a great top-to-bottom structure to work with.
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 30
4/18/11 at 6:10am
btw. you could also experiment with incorporating both agar -and sandalwood (preferably in combination) to your rose chypre. it think it could work well, in the right ratios.
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 30
4/18/11 at 6:36am
Thread Starter 
I like wearing it pure. This was given to me as a gift so I want it to last hence the mixing.

So jojobo oil will not go the distance.

I am restricted to using a non alcoholic base so I guess it will most probably have to be sandalwood base. Besides I like the combination.

I think I will try chypre.

lastly I have a small bottle of vivitar that is very potent. I don't like the smell when its that strong. What could I possibly do with it.

thanks all for your responses.
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 30
4/18/11 at 11:03am
Jojoba actually has a very long shelf life. But Fractionated Coconut Oil is the best oil for longevity, in my opinion. It is odorless, colorless, non-greasy, and does not go bad. (Jojoba is supposedly odorless as well, but it never seems really odorless to me.)

If you like the scent of the attar as it is, Ahmir, and simply want it to last longer, perhaps you could just dilute it in fractionated coconut oil? Adding other fragrant materials will, of course, change the scent, and you may not find a combination you like as much without a lot of experimenting.

With the vetiver, you could weaken it by diluting it in oil, or you could find other things to mix with it that might make it less overbearing, or -- probably the best option -- you could do both! Experiment with very small amounts first, until you find a combination you like.
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 30
4/18/11 at 11:18am
In that case I would just buy the best sandalwood oil you can find and mix it with that. No need to add carrier oil - the sandalwood is the base oil. Perhaps also add a drop of oud and/or frankincense oil and maybe soem rose absolute too....it is up to your taste.
Start with 2ml sandalwood oil and add a few drops of rose, let it settle for a week or two then try it and add more rose if you like. Work out the proportions that way. 3ml of rose is a lot. Basically it is hard to go wrong with those ingredients as an attar.A couple of swipes will last very well and give excellent sillage too - especially after it ages a bit.
The only real sticking point is finding decent sandalwood. It can be done if you look around. The genuine mysore these days is not all that great as it is made from immature trees and not the best cuts from those either. However it still has the advantage of having quite a mellow scent which makes it a good base oil. You may want to add a little of one of the high quality vanuatu oils to give it a little more woody punch.
Reply
Reply
post #15 of 30
4/18/11 at 2:13pm
Thread Starter 
thanks all I will definitely try this out. Will the rose have staying power as at the moment it only lasts a short while due to it being top note. Will the sandalwood act as a fixture???

Also what equipment do you recommend to extract drops?
Are there droppers that perfumers use???
Reply
Reply
post #16 of 30
4/18/11 at 3:47pm
The sandalwood will fix the rose to a certain extent. Still most of the rose will be in the beginning but it will sink gradually until many hours later you will smell almost nothing but faint sadalwood.
Reply
Reply
post #17 of 30
4/18/11 at 8:56pm
Oud or agarwood already has a smell similar to sandalwood, fresh and woody with slightly musty undertones. You will see the scent open up as you dilute it, same as the rose. Although, I love the smell of pure rose otto.

I have heard that jojoba is a liquid wax that simulates the structure of a human's skin sebum. It absorbs well without leaving a greasy residue and lasts on the skin for a long time. I don't know about its shelf life, but if you're experimenting with a half bottle of a few ingredients, it's worth a try.

Oud would be a basenote. Rose would be a heart note. For an interesting top note, try a little pink pepper. Sweet and fresh and slightly fruity, this is a very unusual spicy note. If you use jojoba oil as your carrier, it will pull down the top notes. Go easy on the basenotes, which you will add first. Then add the other two and adjust to your liking.

Definitely read the DIY section here for more ideas. There are tons of members with more experience.
Reply
Reply
post #18 of 30
5/1/11 at 10:02am
Ahmir, I wouldn't use sandalwood in your blend. In my experience oud and sandalwood don't produce a great result when mixed and much better on their own. Your best bet is to use alcohol or FCO (I'd go with alcohol) and first create a small amount of tincture from your oud - say 0.5 or 1ML of alcohol and 1-2 small drops of oud. Let it sit for a week or two (the longer the better) and see if it has enough projection and if yes, add a tiny drop (say 1/3 or 1/4 amount of the oud oil used) and let the tincture sit for couple of more weeks. Only if the result is something you find to be more than the sum of its individual parts, you should consider using the rose and the oud in a blend. Not all ouds and not all rose oils go well together, the blending will change both the scents and you may not like the blend enough to use up both of these that you seem to enjoy very much on their own.

If I were you, I'd keep using both the oils without mixing them. Don't worry about running out of the rose, there are many other rose oils that are also great, you may enjoy exploring the different types of rose with their different characters and scent profiles. Taif, Bulgarian, Indian, Turkish, White (my favourite) - all are amazing in their own different ways.
Reply
Reply
post #19 of 30
5/1/11 at 10:13am
Well that's just taste. I think sandalwood and oud are excellent blended.
I even think sandalwood is bland on its own.
Reply
Reply
post #20 of 30
5/1/11 at 10:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by sarıpatates View Post

Well that's just taste. I think sandalwood and oud are excellent blended.
I even think sandalwood is bland on its own.

I can only speak of my personal experience and don't claim to be any kind of authority on the subject, but I personally am not seeing the same magic in sandalwood/oud mix as that often found in rose/oud/musk for example. I suspect that the use of "oud attars" where sandalwood is a significant part of the blend is not due to a particular type of synergy these two produce when mixed but as a vestige of the traditional Indian deg hydrodistillation method where sandalwood was the only available medium for extracting oud oil.

I, too, often crave more from sandalwood, and found good ambergris to be the best enhancer, while all my expreriments with oud/sandalwood so far produced nothing I'd actually want to wear as a fragrance, with one exception perhaps - a vintage Mysore sandalwood (white creamy, buttery, soft, without any sharp woodiness) and a touch of Oriscent's Blue Brunei oud, but I am still not entirely sure about that one either.

My opinion is hardly unbiased though, I lean heavily towards preferring pure oils over blends, even the best ones, they seem to press all the right buttons for me. There's only a handful of oud-based blends I wear once in a blue moon and even when I do, I often find myself wishing the oud aspect or the rose or the frankincense to be stronger, and thinking that I should have just wore a straight oil
Reply
Reply
post #21 of 30
5/1/11 at 11:33am
Oh I must have misunderstood. I don't think sandalwood and oud go together exceptionally well. I just think they are good blended with something appropriate, not each other. Saffron, oud, rose, patchouli for example is a classic and winner combo. I like oud straight as well, but not sandalwood.

Cheers.
Reply
Reply
post #22 of 30
5/1/11 at 2:09pm
If you want to extend your rose a bit for a very small cost, you could add just a bit of geranium/rose geranium, along with your sandalwood or oud. It will give your rose a nice, fresh dimension, but use judiciously. You might make a separate small blend to experiment with first.
Reply
Reply
post #23 of 30
5/11/11 at 6:36am
Thread Starter 
Thank you everyone for your input.

The first thing I need to do is get some decent sandalwood oil.

Would you recommend this sandalwood oil http://www.essentialoilsonline.co.uk...to_Z.html#a146
Reply
Reply
post #24 of 30
5/12/11 at 3:26pm
Seeing as I just protected QT from slander in another thread, I may as well pop him in here. I got two lovely real sandalwoods from him, but it comes at a price. Personally I think it's worth getting a smaller amount of the better stuff and diluting it in fractionated coconut oil, then getting more of a lesser quality. But that's just my opinion. http://www.qt-store.com
Reply
Reply
post #25 of 30
10/24/11 at 1:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by sarıpatates View Post

Oh I must have misunderstood. I don't think sandalwood and oud go together exceptionally well. I just think they are good blended with something appropriate, not each other. Saffron, oud, rose, patchouli for example is a classic and winner combo. I like oud straight as well, but not sandalwood.

Cheers.

Hi there

In what proportions would you recommend the Saffron, oud, rose & patchouli ?

Thanks,
Reply
Reply
post #26 of 30
10/24/11 at 4:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ahmir View Post

Hi all,

This is my first post I found this forum and I must say I love it!

I have a 3 gram bottle of pure rose attar that I bought 5 years ago. I have already wasted half the bottle by applying it on pure. I don't want to waste the rest of the bottle as it was very expensive. I want to know wwhat I can do with it.

Do i find a pure sandalwood oil and mix the two together?

What other options are open to me??

Also I have a 3 gram bottle of pure assam oudh that is incredible. I love the smell, though the rest of thw world think it smells of cow pat. I want the bottle to last. Any idea on if it is possible to mix the oil or to keep it pure.

many thanks in advance.

I fear most respondents here have missed what might be a vital point - you say you have Rose Attar - that is rose oil (either Rose Otto or Rose Absolute or possibly both) diluted in sandalwood oil (or possibly a substitute).

If what you have is really pure Rose Otto then much of the other advice in this thread is good - if it is Attar then, by definition it's already diluted (though traditional attars are very strong and they were once always made with sandalwood as the carrier).

Quote:
Originally Posted by gido View Post

don't use jojoba if you want to keep it for a prolonged period. it will turn bad. rather use some pure alcohol, like a proper perfume.

i suggest you try the chypre formula that i have posted in the 'help with aromachemicals' thread, but then make the rose stand out a bit more to get a proper rose perfume. add a little natural civet (or a substitute civet base) to it, just a tiny bit (this stuff is extremely potent) it is a fantastic fixative for rose, as it will enhance it's scent too.

the chypre accord will give your composition a great top-to-bottom structure to work with.

Agreed - especially about the jojoba - rose and sandalwood will keep for centuries - jojoba goes rancid in a year or so. Fractionated coconut is a good alternative (though it can still go off eventually it lasts years) and so is DPG - DPG is what most companies use to make non-alcoholic perfumes. Another option is cyclomethicone which is a silicone oil used to make a sprayable perfume for people who need to avoid alcohol for religious reasons.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ahmir View Post

Thank you everyone for your input.

The first thing I need to do is get some decent sandalwood oil.

Would you recommend this sandalwood oil http://www.essentialoilsonline.co.uk...to_Z.html#a146

Yes, I've bought from this small company before, their sandalwood isn't cheap, but it is good and they are nice people to do business with and deliver quickly.
Reply
Reply
post #27 of 30
10/27/11 at 7:42am
Why do you want to dillute, it is already made for wearing pure.
Reply
Reply
post #28 of 30
10/29/11 at 3:36pm
Try adding one drop of the rose to your favorite designer fragrance decanted to 1ml that has the word 'Geraniol' (a major compound of rose) on the back of the box. It will smoothen the designer feel and make it more niche.
Reply
Reply
post #29 of 30
10/29/11 at 4:06pm
most fragrances have geraniol in them. I don't know about elating a "designer" feel to "niche" feel, but tampering with a blend on an information that vague is misguided. can't make all desserts better with the addition of honey.
Reply
Reply
post #30 of 30
10/30/11 at 8:52am
Agree with Chris. As soon as I saw the word attar Im thinking its already distilled into sandalwood oil. If what you have is otto its truly magnificent stuff....and expensive. I like rose all by itself or with oud,sandalwood and my favorite thing to mix with it is ambergris tincture.
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Fragrance DIY

Features on Basenotes

Petals Falling From The Sky - A Report From The Cote d'Azur's Bataille De Fleurs
Basenotes Reader Awards 2013 - Finalists Announced.
Greatest Hits: Annick Menardo
Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Fragrance DIY › rose attar - what to do with it