THE INTERNATIONAL PERFUME FOUNDATION
  • Home
  • Bienvenue
  • Qui sommes nous ?
    • Message de Creezy Courtoy
    • Mission
    • Histoire
    • Notre équipe
    • Liens
  • About
    • Creezy Courtoy Message
    • Vision-Mission
    • History
    • IPF Team
    • Links
  • EDUCATION
    • Certified Schools >
      • Online Schools
      • Local Schools
    • Teacher's Academy
    • The Healing Garden
    • The Perfume Roads
    • Empowering Women
    • Children's Programs >
      • Les Ateliers des Petits Nez
      • Earth Keepers
  • ÉDUCATION
    • Ecoles Certifiées >
      • Ecoles online
      • Ecoles locales
    • Teacher's Academy
    • Le Jardin Parfumé
    • Les Routes du Parfum
    • Privilégier les Femmes
    • Programmes pour Enfants >
      • Les Ateliers des Petits Nez
      • Les Gardiens de la Planète
  • CERTIFICATION
    • About Certification
    • Standards and Guidelines
    • Directory
    • Certified Schools >
      • Online Schools
      • Local Schools
    • Natural Perfumers
    • Natural Aromatherapists
    • Natural Aromachologists
    • Olfaction Trainers
    • Perfumotherapists
    • Natural Beauty Products Specialists
    • Natural Candle Producers
    • Natural Incense Producers
    • Flower and Plant Growers
    • Flower and Plant Harvesters
    • Indigenous Flower and Plant Harvesters
    • Natural Raw Material Extraction Methods Specialists
    • Natural Essential Oil Producers
    • Essential Oil Bottlers and Distributors
    • Natural Perfumery Retailers
    • Natural Spa & Beauty Salons
    • Certification Applications
  • CERTIFICATION
    • Importance de la Certification
    • Directives et Guidelines
    • Annuaire de la Parfumerie Naturelle
    • Ecoles Certifiées >
      • Ecoles online
      • Ecoles locales
    • Parfumeurs Naturels
    • Coach Olfactif
    • Aromathérapeutes Naturels
    • Aromachologues Naturels
    • Parfumothérapeutes
    • Producteurs de produits de beauté naturels
    • Fabricants de bougies naturelles
    • Producteurs d'encens naturels certifiés
    • Cultivateurs de fleurs et de plantes
    • Récoltants de fleurs et de plantes
    • Récoltants de fleurs et de plantes indigènes
    • Producteurs d'huiles essentielles naturelles
    • Distributeurs d'huiles essentielles
    • Détaillants parfumerie naturelle
    • Formulaires de Certification
  • AWARDS
    • New Luxury Awards 2023
    • Registration New Luxury Awards
  • AWARDS
    • New Luxury Awards 2023
    • Inscription aux New Luxury Awards 2023
  • Events
  • Événements
  • Research
  • Recherche
  • World Heritage Program
    • Growing >
      • Sustainable Aquilaria
    • Processing
    • Preserving
  • Conservation du Patrimoine
    • Planter >
      • Replanter l'Aquilaria
    • Produire
    • Préserver
  • MEMBERSHIP
    • Membership Info
    • Corporate Members
    • Community >
      • For Students Only
      • Forum
  • DEVENIR MEMBRE
    • Infos
    • Membres Corporate
    • Communauté
  • Blog
  • News
  • News
  • MÉDIAS
    • Revue de Presse
    • Campagnes >
      • Parfumerie Naturelle
  • MEDIA
    • Press Review
    • Campaigns >
      • Natural Perfumery Campaign
      • Healing Garden Campaign
  • Contact

PERFUME LOVERS BLOG

ENFLEURAGE TO CAPTURE THE SOUL OF FLOWERS

31/5/2021

0 Comments

 
Rose enfleurage
THE POWER OF THE RAW MATERIAL AND THE ART OF REDISCOVERING
​THE ORIGINS OF NATURAL PERFUMERY.

A sentimental introduction to the extraction of raw materials.
by Andrej Babicky, Certified Natural Perfumer
​The natural raw materials are obtained through different extraction methods: from distillation, pressing, maceration, washing with solvents to enfleurage. Each of these extraction techniques should correspond to precise criteria to be both repeatable and sustainable: the raw material should allow to obtain a qualitatively and quantitatively high yield, be easily executable, sustainable, and have a low production cost. For those who could produce raw materials on their own, some of these factors are only relatively important, allowing them to engage in the extractions that are commercially unavailable or expensive both in terms of the availability of the raw material and the time spent in processing (for example violet enfleurage). 
Violet enfleurage
Enfleurage is one of my favorite methods as it manages to capture the ephemeral soul of a flower, its aromatic breath by entangling it. I find there is something magical and alchemical in this process. 
It is a long, demanding technique and requires constant access to fresh raw material, but for those like me who have a garden where they grow some fragrant plants, or a balcony or just a window, it could be an experiment to try. In my opinion in this way, through cultivation and extraction, we enter a more intimate and personal relationship with the raw material; we get to know it and we are often pleasantly surprised by the result obtained.
Enfleurage is a historical extraction procedure, developed in the Grasse region. Nowadays it is a technique almost completely disappeared, replaced by extraction through solvents. In recent years, a revival of this technique can be observed by natural perfumers who rediscover its potential and magic.
Enfleurage is used for the processing of flowers that contain low quantities of perfumed raw material or that are too fragile for other types of extraction or that can be altered with heat (jasmine, violet, lilac, narcissus, etc.). The basic principle lies in the ability of a fat base to absorb volatile odorous substances from the flowers/plants it comes into contact with. Historically, the fat was made up of animal or mineral fats or a mixture of these.
 
We know two types of enfleurage: hot and cold. Hot enfleurage was used for flowers that tolerated the high temperatures necessary to maintain liquid fat such as broom or rose.
Roses enfleurage
Cold enfleurage, on the other hand, consists of the application of a thin layer of fat on glass plates enclosed by a frame (chassis).
The grease is spread on both sides of the chassis. Fresh flowers are placed on one side in contact with the fatty part. A new chassis is superimposed on top and consequently prepared and so on. An extraction chamber is created between the two plates where the odorous molecules are trapped in the fatty part: on the one hand, due to the direct contact of the material with the fat, on the other hand, the more volatile molecules are trapped in the overlying layer. The exhausted flowers are removed from the chassis (defleurage) and replaced with fresh flowers which this time are placed on the other side of the frame. This process is repeated several times (around 30). Saturated fat is called pommade and is marked by the number of cycles performed. The pommade is further treated by washing with ethyl alcohol, which dissolves the essence and part of the fats. The residual oils and fats can be eliminated through cooling and filtration. The extract can be then distilled at low temperatures to eliminate alcohol, or the alcohol can be left to evaporate to obtain an absolute. The extract thus obtained is called absolue ex enfleurage.
 
As I have already mentioned above, enfleurage, despite being laborious and time-consuming, is one of my favourites due to its magical ability to give us the olfactory profile of a flower as if it were a fingerprint.
I approached this technique because I wanted to capture the characteristic scent of wild violets, which I could not achieve with other types of extractions or replicate through accords. As a base, I have tried several types of vegetable butters and oils with a high melting point and long shelf life. My favourite, both for its durability and its easy availability, is deodorized coconut oil. I had chosen to use it without further additions of other oils or waxes as the temperatures during the period of violets flowering do not exceed 20 degrees. For the occasion, I simplified the classic enfleurage process using oven dishes and glass containers instead of chassison which I spread a thin layer of semi-solid coconut oil. The flowers were left on the grease overnight. After about 80 changes of fresh flowers, I got a faintly scented pommade of violet. You can imagine my disappointment because I was hoping to get a usable extract right away. Unfortunately, this was not the case. After some research, I decided to freeze the pommade of violets and to continue the same process the following year. I would have liked the new flowering season of violets to arrive immediately to be able to continue but I had to wait more or less patiently trying to refine my technique. With 200 refills in total, I got around 600 grams of perfumed pommade that I keep as a memento of this first experiment.
With time and various tests, I discovered that enfleurage can be done almost all year round, as long as you have fresh flowers available. Depending on the external temperatures, I added between 1 and 3% beeswax or rice wax to the coconut oil to make it more solid.
stephanotis enfleurage
Enfleurage, more than any other method of extraction, gives the possibility to experiment and explore. For fun I started to co-enfleurage different types of flowers to obtain a more complex, rich, and multifaceted pomade, mixing jasmine of different varieties, gardenias and plumeria flowers, Stephanotis and Cestrum, jasmine and banana leaf, or roses and tomato leaf. 
In addition to an experiment, it is also a game: to capture the decadent fragrance of dying lilies, I used slightly withered Casablanca lilies intending to catch their last breath. For each flower, I had to remove the pistils because I discovered to my expense that they dyed the fatty base yellow. With 60 refills I got an extremely fragrant pomade. Over time I began to incorporate different types of raw materials into the pomade by often playing with unrefined coconut oil with its tropical aroma and using it as a base for enfleurage of gardenia or plumeria flowers along with bourbon vanilla pods. The finely ground benzoin resin together with the iris powder incorporated into the pomade for Jasmine sambac enfleurage to create new odors or recreate complex and unique bouquets.
Absolue from enfleurage
The manufacturing process has not changed much since my first experiment with violets. I continue to use glass or ceramic containers instead of the classic chassis, coconut oil, if necessary combined with vegetable waxes or beeswax. The pomade is always spread in quantities of about 300 grams per medium-sized container, the flowers are changed more or less often depending on the flower or the result I want to obtain, never exceeding 24 hours to avoid the onset of rot and mould. The pomade is then closed in glass jars with alcohol in a ratio of 1: 1, slightly heated to make the fat liquid, and mixed often. When the alcohol is saturated with the perfume, the mix is frozen and filtered. The extract thus obtained can be used without further processing or by letting the alcoholic part evaporate to obtain an absolute. The residual fat is used in the production of soaps. 
Pomade not washed with alcohol can be used as an excellent base for solid perfumes.
 
Some of the enfleurage created remains soaked in alcohol for several months, especially those created in the summer as I do not like to heat the pomade to keep it in a liquid state. Many of these are experiments without ever using them in a composition. They allow me to study a certain type of raw material and its behavior during extraction in a practical way. The time has not yet arrived, but I hope that in the future I will be able to create a perfume entirely made from raw materials extracted by myself that come from my garden and the surrounding area.
0 Comments

    Author

    International Perfume Foundation

    Archives

    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    December 2020
    June 2020
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    April 2018
    March 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    July 2016
    April 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015

    Categories

    All
    17th Century
    Absolue
    ADF-PCD
    Agriculture
    A La Corbeille Fleurie
    Andrej Babicky
    Andrew Correl
    Angela Vrettas
    Anosmia
    Anosmie
    AQUILAREA
    Aromacology
    Aromatherapy Market Share
    Artisan
    Australia
    Aux Armes De France
    Awards
    Bee Day
    Bees
    Biotech
    Book Of Medicine
    Branding
    BUSINESS OF PERFUME
    Centifolia
    Challenge
    Chassis
    Chen Li Morisset
    Codex Aniciae Juliannae
    Collectible Packaging
    Cologne
    Colokaterre
    Colors
    Community
    Consumer-first
    COVID19
    Creativity
    Creezy Courtoy
    Cultural Value
    Daffodil
    Damascena
    David Piod
    Defleurage
    Deserts
    Dianne Correl
    Dioscoride
    Distillation
    DNA
    Dr Danica Lea Larcombe
    Eau Admirable
    Eau De Cologne
    Eau De La Reine De Hongrie
    Ebers Papyrus
    Economy
    Ecuador
    Ecuadorian Flower Growers
    EDUCATION
    Emballage Durable
    Emma Leah
    Enfleurage
    Environment
    Esperança Cases Prats
    Essential Oil
    Essential Oil Distribution
    Essential Oils
    Essential Oils Standards
    EU Commission
    EURAF
    Event
    Extract
    Extraction
    Extraction Method
    Fashion
    Father's Day
    Fleurage
    Flower Growers
    FLOWERS
    Flowers MHz Frequencies
    Flowers New Luxury Expert
    Food
    Food Colors For Health
    Fougère
    Fougère Royale
    Fragrance
    Fragrances Belles Lettres
    France
    Françoise Rapp
    Future Of Luxury
    Gallica
    Germinal Law
    Gilles Thevenin
    Giovanni Nicola
    Give Water To Bees
    Greece
    Green Wall Africa
    Hamdane Allalou
    Handmade
    HEALTH
    Heritage
    History
    Houbigant
    Human
    Hyacinth
    Impact Investment
    International Bee Day
    International Perfume Day
    International Perfume Foundation
    Interview
    IPF
    IPFreconnectwithnature
    Isolates
    It Makes Perfect Scents
    Ivan Borrego Valverde
    Jan Kusmirek
    Jean Kerleo
    Jean-Marie Martin-Hattemberg
    La In Concert
    La Laura Paris
    Laurie Arbuthnot
    Laurie Stern
    Lavender
    Lavender Fields
    Leonard Fuchs
    LES ROUTES DU PARFUM
    Lily Of The Valley
    Links Between Perfumery And Pharmacy
    Louis XVI
    Lubin
    Luxury
    Magali Quenet
    Marketing
    Market Share
    Market Survey
    Materia Medica
    Michelle Palmer
    Muguet
    Muriel Balenci
    Napoleon
    Narcissus
    Natural
    Natural Aromatherapists
    Natural Aromatherapy
    Natural Perfume
    Natural Perfume Market Share
    Natural Perfumers
    Natural Perfumery
    Natural Perfumery In Australia
    Natural Perfumes
    Naturals
    Natural Skin Care
    Nature
    Nature Life Cycle
    Newluxuryawards2019
    New Luxury Awards 2020
    New Luxury Awards 2022
    New Luxury Code
    New Luxury Products
    New York
    Nextgen Pharmaceuticals
    Odorat
    Olfaction
    Olivia Larson
    #OnlyTogetherCanWeSucceed
    Origins Of Perfumery
    Oud
    Packaging
    Packaging Durable
    Paracelce
    Param Singh
    Parfum
    Pascal Morabito
    Patent
    Patrick Worms
    Perfume
    Perfume Bottles
    Perfume History
    Perfume Market Share
    Perfumeria
    Perfumeros
    Perfumery
    Perfumery Art
    Perfumotherapist
    Perfumotherapy
    Pharmaceutical Art
    Pharmacist
    Pharmacy
    Pharmacy History
    Pierre Dinand
    Plant Flowers For Bees
    Planting Program
    Pommade
    Post-pandemic
    PPAM
    Processing
    Protecting Aquilaria
    Protecting Oud
    Raw Material
    Reconnect With Nature
    Reconstruction Of A Silent Flower
    Refillable Packaging
    Replant
    RESEARCH
    Retail
    Reusable Packaging
    Rhizomes
    Robespierre
    Rodney Hughes
    Roots
    Rose
    Saeed Alquarni
    Salerno
    Save EU Lavender Fields
    Save The Bees
    Scent Family
    Scent Of Life
    Sense Of Smell
    Sens Olfactif
    Sentido Del Olfato
    SEOS
    SEOS Standards
    Shaneela Rowah Al-Qamar
    Silent Flower
    Spring Flowers
    Standards
    Stephanotis
    Strategies
    Study Perfumery
    Sumerian
    Supply Chain
    Support The Bees
    Sustainability
    Sustainable Agriculture
    Sustainable Essential Oil Standards
    Sustainable Packaging
    Sustainable Products Strategy
    Synthetics
    Teacher's Academy
    Teachers-academy.org
    TEMIAR FOREST PROJECT
    Terry Johnson
    THE VALUE OF PLANTS
    Tincture
    Tous Au Parfum
    Toxic Chemicals
    US Market
    Vennie Chou
    Veronique Coty
    Versailles
    Violet
    Wild Poppy Perfumes
    Wild Wood Oils
    William Perkins
    WORLD HERITAGE PROGRAM
    Zayed Foundation

    Share

    RSS Feed

THE INTERNATIONAL
​PERFUME FOUNDATION

The Perfume Foundation is a non profit organisation based in Paris 
 ASBL number:  BE 0455.479.930
USA Non Profit Organisation Tax deductible 501c3​
​IPF © COPYRIGHT 1995-2022. All Rights Reserved  

    RECEIVE OUR NEWSLETTER

Subscribe to Newsletter

The International
​Perfume Foundation

    RECEVEZ notre newsletter

Subscribe to Newsletter
The Perfume Foundation est une organisation sans but lucratif  based in Paris 
ASBL : BE 0455.479.930
Tax deductible USA organisation  501 c3     
​
IPF © COPYRIGHT  1995-2022. Tous droits réservés     

SOUTENEZ NOS ACTIONS!