Perfume Recipes for Violet, Heliotrope, Jonquil, Lilac, Lily & Magnoli – The Parfum Apothecary

Perfume Recipes for Violet, Heliotrope, Jonquil, Lilac, Lily & Magnolia, from 1868

March 01, 2023By Alex Latos

Excerpt from A Practical Guide for the Perfumer by Professor H. Dussauce 1868

"Violet Oil is obtained from the viola odorata. It is a fugacious oil. For commercial purposes, the odor of violets is procured in combination with spirit oil, or suet, proceeding to the methods described to obtain the aroma of some other flowers, such as cassie, jasmine, etc., namely, by maceration or enfleurage; and, when essence is required, digesting the pomade in rectified alcohol.

Good essence of violet is of a beautiful green color, and though of a rich deep tint, does not stain white fabrics, and its odor is perfectly natural.

The essence of violets is thus made: Take from six to eight pounds of violet pomade, chip it up fine, and place it in one gallon of rectified alcohol, allow it to digest three weeks or a month, strain, and to every pint add three ounces of tincture of orris root and three ounces spirit of cassia.

A good imitation essence of violet is prepared thus: -

Spiritous extract of cassia pomade . . . . 1 pint

Esprit de rose, from pomade . . . . . . . . . 8 ounces

Tincture of orris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 "

Spirituous extract of tuberose pomade . 8 "

Otto of almonds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 drops

Filter.

Oil of Jonquil. - The scent of jonquil is very fine for perfumery purposes; it is prepared in the same manner as jasmine. An imitation extract of jonquil is prepared as follows: -

Spirituous extract of jasmine pomade . 1 pint.

tuberose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 "

orange flower . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 ounces

Extract of vanilla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 "

True Extract of Jonquil.

Jonquil pomade. . . . . . . . 8 pounds.

tuberose . . . . . . . 1 "

orange flower . . 8 ounces

Extract of vanilla . . . . . . . 2 "

Oil of Heliotrope is obtained, either by maceration or enfleurage with clarified fat, from the flowers of heliotropium peruvianum or H. grandiflorum. it is not much used now in perfumery. The odor of heliotrope resembles a mixture of almonds and vanilla, and is well imitated thus: -

Spiritous extract of vanilla . 8 ounces

rose pomatum . . . . 4 "

orange flower . . . . 2 "

ambergris . . . . . . . 1 ounce

Essential Oil of Almonds . . 2 "

Oil of Lilac. - The fragrance of this flower is well known. The oil is obtained either by maceration or enfleurage. The odor so much resembles tuberose as to be frequently used to adulterate the latter.

A beautiful imitation is thus made: -

Spirituous extract from tuberose pomade . 1 pint.

Spirituous extract from orange-flower . . . . 4 ounces.

Otto of almonds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 drops

Extract of civet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 drachms

Oil of Lily. - This oil is prepared by infusion, but to obtain anything like its fragrance the operation must be repeated a dozen times with the same oil, using fresh flowers. The oil being shake with an equal quantity of spirit gives up its odor to the alcohol. An artificial extract of lily is thus made: -

Extract of tuberose . . . . 8 ounces.

jasmine. . . . . . 1 ounce.

fleur d'orange . 2 ounces.

vanilla. . . . . . . 8 "

cassia. . . . . . . 5 "

rose. . . . . . . . . 4 " .

Oil of almonds . . . . . . . 8 drops

Macerate for one month, and it is ready for sale.

Oil of Magnolia. - The perfume of the flower is superb, but of very little use, on account of the large size of the blossoms and their scarcity. An imitation of this oil is thus made : -

Spirituous extract from orange-flower pomatum . 1 pint.

Spirituous extract from rose pomatum . . . . . . . . 4 ounces.

Spirituous extract from tuberose pomatum . . . . . 1 pint.

Spirituous extract from violet pomatum . . . . . . . . 4 ounces.

Otto of citron zest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 drachms.

almonds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 drops.

Disclaimer:

The 'Smelling History' series has been published for purposes of entertainment & education. It is not recommended to recreate the formulas and instructions outlined here. The methods and materials in these historical exerts could be extremely dangerous.

Perfume Recipes for Violet, Heliotrope, Jonquil, Lilac, Lily & Magnolia, from 1868

True Extract of Jonquil.

Disclaimer:

Alex Latos

In Glorious Smell-O-Vision

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