Guest guest Posted February 10, 2010 Report Share Posted February 10, 2010 In all the books I have read about Essential Oils so far, they all talk about the oils being either top, middle, or base notes. However, I have been noticing between authors that several of the oils they mention like Clary Sage, Neroli, Petitgrain, Rose, and Ylang Ylang, one author writes they are top notes and another writes they are base notes, or an author may say the oil is two of the three. I'm really getting confused. Can an Essential Oil be all three, could one of the authors be wrong, or is it a matter of personal opinion? I just noticed this recently and I'm really confused on this. Edwina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 11, 2010 Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 When I was writing aromatherapy lessons, notes was something we concentrated on. This is what I told those who were learning. Take a qtip, put a drop on it and sniff. Strong eo fragrance? definately a top note. Leave it and come back like 15 minutes later. Can you smell it now? Faint or strong? If it's strong now then it's a middle note. Leave it and come back in half an hour. Smell. Smell strong? It's a bottom or base note. Do it with a bunch of different oils, make notes, you'll want them later. Most EO's are one or two notes. Few are all three, although there are a few that some believe are all three. Have fun with it. Doing it yourself will give you a better understanding of notes. Then when you make your own perfume (for example) you can combine top middle and base notes to have a well rounded perfume. Hope that helps K -- Kathleen Petrides Bead Hussy http://www.BeadHussy.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 11, 2010 Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 HI Edwina, The classification of EO's into top, middle, or base is a tricky business. It's based on evaporative rates (aka " volatility " ) and tends to be rather subjective and relative, so that's why some people say " x " is a middle note, and some say it's a top note. Furthermore, the evaporative rate may vary based on atmospheric conditions (e.g.temperature, humidity, airflow). These evaporative rates exist on a continuum, so one EO may act more like a middle note in one composition and a top note in a different composition. Adding to the confusion is that each EO consists of different chemicals which themselves may have different evaporative rates which cause different EO's to have odor variations during drydown. Sorry Edwina, I'm afraid I've made things more confusing, rather than less confusing. Behold the complexity of nature! Patty Ganache for Lips http://www.ganacheforlips.com ________________________________ familytreeclimber <familytreeclimber Wed, February 10, 2010 2:33:28 PM Using Notes with Essential Oils In all the books I have read about Essential Oils so far, they all talk about the oils being either top, middle, or base notes. However, I have been noticing between authors that several of the oils they mention like Clary Sage, Neroli, Petitgrain, Rose, and Ylang Ylang, one author writes they are top notes and another writes they are base notes, or an author may say the oil is two of the three. I'm really getting confused. Can an Essential Oil be all three, could one of the authors be wrong, or is it a matter of personal opinion? I just noticed this recently and I'm really confused on this. Edwina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 11, 2010 Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 Can everyone just disregard what I just posted? This is why I get so many headaches. Kathleen's post much more useful. Think I'll kick back and have a beer now. Patty Ganache for Lips http://www.ganacheforlips.com ________________________________ Kathleen Petrides <Beadhussy Wed, February 10, 2010 5:35:50 PM Re: Using Notes with Essential Oils When I was writing aromatherapy lessons, notes was something we concentrated on. This is what I told those who were learning. Take a qtip, put a drop on it and sniff. Strong eo fragrance? definately a top note. Leave it and come back like 15 minutes later. Can you smell it now? Faint or strong? If it's strong now then it's a middle note. Leave it and come back in half an hour. Smell. Smell strong? It's a bottom or base note. Do it with a bunch of different oils, make notes, you'll want them later. Most EO's are one or two notes. Few are all three, although there are a few that some believe are all three. Have fun with it. Doing it yourself will give you a better understanding of notes. Then when you make your own perfume (for example) you can combine top middle and base notes to have a well rounded perfume. Hope that helps K -- Kathleen Petrides Bead Hussy http://www.BeadHussy.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 11, 2010 Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 Actually I enjoyed your post. Mine was simplistic and was written for beginners. Your's was more useful for the more advanced student. both have their merits. Enjoy the beer. On Wed, Feb 10, 2010 at 5:45 PM, Patricia West <tribalpattywrote: > > > Can everyone just disregard what I just posted? This is why I get so many > headaches. Kathleen's post much more useful. Think I'll kick back and have a > beer now. > > > Patty > Ganache for Lips > http://www.ganacheforlips.com > > -- Kathleen Petrides Bead Hussy http://www.BeadHussy.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 15, 2010 Report Share Posted February 15, 2010 I have always wondered what those " notes " meant. Now I know. At least a bit. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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