Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Personal Perfumes


**(taken from the book: Aromatherapy Pocketbook- by Kendra Grace)pg 104-105
Here the author talks about how and why she makes blends for her clients - it is copied right from the book - in the authors words.
 I am posting it- because it really does make sense and is exactly how I feel about blending for my clients!

"....I became aware of the potential that perfumes have in therapy, especially if the perfume making is done with true botanical oils, which have therapeutic properties.

I have the firm belief that people can access emotional healing and mental harmony by using a personalized perfume, one that contains all of their best memories with favorable emotional content. That is how I began to blend perfumes- by making personal perfumes for clients that I considered "patients". I created sessions in which  clients go thru a screening process where they smell and grade between 24 and 30 EO's and absolutes.
This method uses a kit containing aromas in a set of vials, into which I placed small pieces of blotter paper containing a drop or two of each EO and a chart to note the differences.  The different smells were screened for -2 for sure rejection, -1 for dislike, 0 for a feeling of neutrality, +1 for positive reaction, and +2 for a definite aroma preference.After creating this chart by smelling the aromas, the client turns the scores over to me. At this point , I create the perfume according to their preferences and achieving the right balance between base, middle and top notes.
(base notes- the fixers of the botanical perfumery, they are less volatile and keep other oils in the blend from evaporating too quickly.
middle notes- equalize oppositions, their job it to integrate, becoming invisible- one can sense their work, but cant remember their personality as easily as those of the other oils.
top notes- these make a quick strong presence and disappear so that you can't catch them, important because they add that unforgettable spark to the blend that makes it interesting)

I find this to be a unique method, not only because there is nothing more emotional and aromatically empowering to an individual that a custom made perfume, but also because the process itself is theraputic to the client and educational for the aromatherapy perfumer. I have learned so much about people's personalities and their problems, what seems to empower them and how all this realtes to the character of the different oils, in a perspective of psycho- aromatherapy.

When I am blending a personal perfume for someone, I feel that person telling me how to compose a certain harmony having to do with their very best , then I put it in a bottle."