nose workout
Jul. 13th, 2005 19:34![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
piranhai looked in the phone book for local aromatherapy dealers, since, aside from the new-agey stuff of high vital energy with a strong life force, they're the most likely to have essential oils around for the sniffing. i also like to give my business to local folks, especially if i can find those who behave well towards the environment.
the first one, "essential aura aromatherapy" turned out to be much harder to find in concretespace than on the web where they have a lovely presence complete with retail and wholesale store. i drove past the building twice until i finally decided it had to be there somewhere based on the street numbers. and it was. hidden in the back. turns out they give walk-in customers a 15% discount because they are so hard to find, *little snicker*.
they were really nice people, asked me what i was there for, and gave me their price list, and then left me alone to sniff. and sniff i did. they had little fragrance sticks all handy, which was excellent, cause i could dip, smell, let them sit for 10-15 minutes, smell again and compare to the fresh scent.
i checked out atlas cedarwood, black pepper (from costa rica), cardamom, coriander, ginger, mandarin, neroli, niaouli, palmarosa, petitgrain, roman chamomile, sweet fennel, turmeric, and vetiver.
wow. a couple of oils were really surprising, such as cardamom smelling a lot more like eucalyptus than i would have expected, and black pepper smelling a lot less than black pepper (but good, as in, not making me sneeze). vetiver smells like what i imagine a haitian graveyard smells like, just before the zombies start crawling out of their graves (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bcholmes might hit me for that :). i mean, not bad, no, just very much like damp earth and roots, but a bit more sweet. vetiveria zizanoides is a grass native to india, indonesia, and sri lanka. huh. not to haiti, eh? wonder where that connection came from.
oh, and neroli? sublime. i am purposely concentrating on groups of scents that i am fairly sure i'll like -- citrus is the biggest one, herbaceous, woody, and green the others. i am not much into floral and fruity scents in my immediate surroundings. but neroli? oh . my . ghod -- well, ok, it is citrus, but it's a blossom (orange), and it's classed with florals. it's sweet, but not cloyingly so; it has a definite edge. wow. of course i would really really like something that's really really expensive. can't afford this one.
luckily they closed at 17:00 so i can sleep on which ones i must have. :)
on to woodgrove mall where another local store is located, "aroma essence". this was more of what i had expected of such a store; lots of tchotchkes and mood-enhancing premixes. but they did have a shelf of essential oils, and they were on sale. on sale so bigtime that the price was under wholesale (hey, i did mention that i've done research, didn't i :).
there i smelled angelica root, benzoin, black pepper (from madagascar), clary sage, green spikenard, lemon-eucalyptus, oakmoss, lemon, and red thyme.
i'll write a separate post with my detailed interpretations of what i smelled. but this was fun: when i came back to the truck (which was parked in the sun, with the fragrance sticks from the first place rolled up in a piece of paper) it smelled lovely inside -- reminiscent of eau de cologne 4711, which is the only commercial scent i've ever used. i can tell it'll be a combinatorial feast once i really get going on mixing things.
olfactory fatigue? nope. best "cleanser" for me to sniff in between scents: my own sweat. works much better than either coffee beans or vanilla.
the first one, "essential aura aromatherapy" turned out to be much harder to find in concretespace than on the web where they have a lovely presence complete with retail and wholesale store. i drove past the building twice until i finally decided it had to be there somewhere based on the street numbers. and it was. hidden in the back. turns out they give walk-in customers a 15% discount because they are so hard to find, *little snicker*.
they were really nice people, asked me what i was there for, and gave me their price list, and then left me alone to sniff. and sniff i did. they had little fragrance sticks all handy, which was excellent, cause i could dip, smell, let them sit for 10-15 minutes, smell again and compare to the fresh scent.
i checked out atlas cedarwood, black pepper (from costa rica), cardamom, coriander, ginger, mandarin, neroli, niaouli, palmarosa, petitgrain, roman chamomile, sweet fennel, turmeric, and vetiver.
wow. a couple of oils were really surprising, such as cardamom smelling a lot more like eucalyptus than i would have expected, and black pepper smelling a lot less than black pepper (but good, as in, not making me sneeze). vetiver smells like what i imagine a haitian graveyard smells like, just before the zombies start crawling out of their graves (
bcholmes might hit me for that :). i mean, not bad, no, just very much like damp earth and roots, but a bit more sweet. vetiveria zizanoides is a grass native to india, indonesia, and sri lanka. huh. not to haiti, eh? wonder where that connection came from.oh, and neroli? sublime. i am purposely concentrating on groups of scents that i am fairly sure i'll like -- citrus is the biggest one, herbaceous, woody, and green the others. i am not much into floral and fruity scents in my immediate surroundings. but neroli? oh . my . ghod -- well, ok, it is citrus, but it's a blossom (orange), and it's classed with florals. it's sweet, but not cloyingly so; it has a definite edge. wow. of course i would really really like something that's really really expensive. can't afford this one.
luckily they closed at 17:00 so i can sleep on which ones i must have. :)
on to woodgrove mall where another local store is located, "aroma essence". this was more of what i had expected of such a store; lots of tchotchkes and mood-enhancing premixes. but they did have a shelf of essential oils, and they were on sale. on sale so bigtime that the price was under wholesale (hey, i did mention that i've done research, didn't i :).
there i smelled angelica root, benzoin, black pepper (from madagascar), clary sage, green spikenard, lemon-eucalyptus, oakmoss, lemon, and red thyme.
i'll write a separate post with my detailed interpretations of what i smelled. but this was fun: when i came back to the truck (which was parked in the sun, with the fragrance sticks from the first place rolled up in a piece of paper) it smelled lovely inside -- reminiscent of eau de cologne 4711, which is the only commercial scent i've ever used. i can tell it'll be a combinatorial feast once i really get going on mixing things.
olfactory fatigue? nope. best "cleanser" for me to sniff in between scents: my own sweat. works much better than either coffee beans or vanilla.
no subject
on 2005-07-14 03:35 (UTC)no subject
on 2005-07-14 03:52 (UTC)no subject
on 2005-07-14 04:00 (UTC)Do they give the mitichlorian count?
no subject
on 2005-07-14 04:03 (UTC)no subject
on 2005-07-14 04:15 (UTC)It's in one of my favorite massage bars from Lush (which is the Therapy one: lavender, neroli, a few other things), my favorite soap (patchouli, lavender, neroli, few other things).
And our most recent initiate works for Aveda, and as thank you gifts, gave us each scents based on stuff we listed. She put lavender, clary sage, neroli, and something else together, and it's a really odd combination, but I really like it.
no subject
on 2005-07-14 04:29 (UTC)Really good neroli is amazing.
no subject
on 2005-07-14 23:47 (UTC)I've never taken much interest in smell, since I find most perfumes either unpleasant or not me or unpleasant on me. 4711 is one of the few I do like, at least until recently, when they've started making more stuff compatible with me.
scents that i am fairly sure i'll like -- citrus is the biggest one, herbaceous, woody, and green the others.
That sounds like you'll like chypres, which is about the only traditional class of perfume I like.
And now I want to go out and smell individual oils and figure out which ones work with me and which ones don't, and which blends I should consider. It sounds like you're doing a bit of the advance research for me :-).