Herbal Scents: Creating Your Own From Your Back Yard
Posted: Friday, August 13, 2010
by Dr. Carla Goddard
The fragrances and aromas of nature can calm, dazzle, even heal. The aroma of a bouquet of roses instantly brightens your spirits while the aroma of pine can remind us of past holiday memories. Creating your scent collections can be even more rewarding than just the aroma's that will delight the senses.
Create a Potpourris
Gently pull off the petals and discard any that are brown or wilted. You can simply place the petals on a piece of newspaper but the most effective method is to place the petals on a small screen to allow them to be exposed to the air on both sides. Placing the petals on the screen will provide a shorter drying time which helps to retain the oils. Dry the flowers in a warm, dark, airy place and turn the flower petals often.
The leaves can be stripped from the stem and dried in the same way. The other option is to hang the bunches of the herbs to dry. If you are drying citrus peel, first scape all the fruit pulp from the inner skin and break the peelings into the small pieces and allow them to dry until they are brittle on the screen.
Check on the herbs that you are drying daily and turn them. The time it takes for them to dry is truly dependent on the climate and weather conditions were you are. The most important part of the process is to make sure that your herbs completely dry until brittle. Skipping this vital set will result in the potpourri developing mold. Herbs can be collected any time during the growing season and dried. Once they are dried keep them in airtight containers in a dark place until you are ready to use them.
Moist Potpourris
A traditional style recipe may in fact be a moist potpourris. Collecting rose petals are the most popular, but any fragrant flower petals can be used. Add any oil or spice to the petals and layer them in a wide mouthed jar with unionized salt. Over the next several weeks, stir the potpourri. The traditional method requires tat you compress the potpourri under a weighted plate and once the fermentation of the mixture begins let it sit for one to two weeks without stirring it until a cake like formation is made. Break the cake into small pieces and combine with spices or oils and let it blend for a few more weeks before putting it in a decorative container. This is a more complex process and is not very pretty to look at; however, the aroma is subtle and lasts much longer than dried potpourri.
Soap
How can the flower of petals be used in your soap. The sweet smelling aroma for soaps is unique in the fact that it needs to be oil based. Some of the scents that work the best for soap making are laveder, rose, or sassafras.
Perfume
There is much mystery and legend surrounding perfume from the times of the Roman baths to the Egyptian Goddess. Fragrance has always had the ability to create a mystical ambiance to a aphrodisiac attracting the opposite sex like flies to honey.
To create your own perfume seems like an exotic practice only for only the seasoned. However, it is really quite simple. The most difficult part of the process is gathering the herbs that you need to extract the essential oils.
Although the famous commercial perfume makers talk of the 12,000 pounds of jasmine flowers to produce even 2 pounds of oil, it is easier than it sounds. Large quantities of flowers are needed to produce the precious pure oil, to create fragrant water and oil right from the flowers and herbs that you can grow in your backyard.
To extract oil one of the easiest ways is to soak the petals or oils in oil. Oil atracts oils and will bring it out of the leaves and flowers that the are soaked in. The most vital part of the process is to not use metal containers nor covers. The metal will change the fragrance. Glass or ceramic works well. Simply pour in either pure olive oil or safflower oil to over the fresh flowers and herbs. Let it steep in the oil for 24 hours then strain. As you strain press gently on the flowers and leaves to release more fragrant oil. You can repeat this process as many times as you wish to strengthen the fragrance of the oil.
Scenting Oil
Personally, I always have scented oil steeping and use it as a decor item as well. By using clear bottles and making my own cork covers I have a section of my counter that is not only purposeful but essential in always having fragrant oil work with. The oil will keep for up to 9 months in a tightly sealed bottle.
Another simple method is to soak the plants in undenatured ethyl alcohol. Don't use rubbing alcohol. If you can't find the proper alcohol use vodka. The process is exactly as it is above. Most perfumes purposed from a store most contain alcohol because it evaporates quickly from the skin and sends out a blast of fragrance. If you want to remove the plant oil from the alcohol put it in the freezer. Vodka does not freeze but the oil solidifies and then can be skimmed from the vodka. This solvent method is particularly good for flowers such as jasmine.
Just before pouring your soap into the molds add a simple oil to the mixture or create one of these simple recipes for a unique blend as unique as your soap.
Rose Blend
A simple scent of roses is a blend of the favorite flower of many. Mix the following items into a clear bottle and shake well before setting aside for at least 4 weeks. 1 cup of alcohol, 1/4 cup rose water, 1 tablespoon of rosemary oil, 2 tablespoons rose oil, and 1 tablespoon of orris root).
Lavender Blend
For a lavender combine 1 pint of alcohol, 1/2 cup lavender water, 2 tablespoons of lavender oil and 1 tablespoon of orris root.
This Article has been viewed 234 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (0 total)No comments yet.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.