Natural Perfume – Fougere Workshop
This past Sunday I did it again. I took 2 trains and 2 subways into Brooklyn to attend Herbal Alchemy’s Fougere Workshop. A Fougere is a perfume built around oakmoss, lavender and a coumarin note. It has an herbaceous note and is meant to smell like the forest floor.
Starting the class
Julianne started the class by passing around different Fougere perfumes so we could smell them. Our first task was to make our own Fougere. I started with sandlewood, oakmoss and tonka bean for my base notes, added lavender, clary sage, rose and jasmine for my middle notes and finished it with more lavender, tangerine and pettigrain. It did smell like a forest to me, green and herb like.
The best part
Once we were done we smelled each others perfumes. I find it amazing that we all chose from the same base materials, we all used oakmoss, lavender and a coumarin note, yet all of our perfumes smelled very different. Next we learned about the different types of Fougeres and we each chose one to make. Deciding between an oriental and an amber Fougere, I decided to go with the amber. I used some vanilla in my base along with oakmoss and hay, added lavender, rose, jasmine and tarragon for my middle notes and used pettigrain and rosewood for the top. We wondered if the tarragon was a risk and Julianne agreed with me, we weren’t sure if it would go well. Deciding I was there to learn and take chances, I added it. I have to say I really liked the result. It added a little spicy kick to it.
Julianne’s classes are in her home. It is filled with an eclectic mix of bottles, perfuming material and books.
She keeps her perfume samples in beautiful dishes.
And of course, her perfumes are beautiful.
Yours in Gratitude,
Angela
Thanks, Angela, for such kind words and for being such an uplifting presence in class! Thanks for making the long trip out to Brooklyn. You made beautiful perfumes!
Thanks Julianne, I had such a good time and love smelling all the wonderful essences you have. It was well worth the trip.
What a great article I wish I could smell all the wonderful scents through my computer!
Everything smells amazing Chris. I wish you could smell through the computer too!
Sounds lovely. I love playing with scent. Are you going to use any of these in your soaps?
I won’t use the exact scents in my soaps Donna, but I do use the knowledge I’m learning when I make blends. I know that learning about the proportions of base to middle to top notes and about intensity of strength has helped my blending abilities for my soaps.
Though I am not much of blender myself, I love natural perfumes. As a lavender grower though I think I’ll play around more with lavender based blends.
I was surprised at how many different scents lavender can have. The essential oil smells different than the absolute and the oils even smell different depending on where the lavender was grown. I’d love to smell your lavender. I haven’t had much success growing myself.