Exotic
Fragrances
Attars
The art of attar making goes back over 5,000 years and the equipment and techniques used to create attars has changed very little in all that time. A true attar is a perfume oil made from flower petals distilled in water using low heat and pressure. Attars are made in what is basically a still that uses no modern gauges or thermostats. Hundreds of pounds of flower petals are collected and placed inside a vessel called a deg. A long bamboo pipe leads from the deg to a copper vessel that contains sandalwood oil. Water is added to the flower petals and the lid is sealed with cotton and clay. A fire is lit under the deg. As the steam collects, it condenses and flows through the bamboo pipe to the copper vessel.
The Master Distiller constantly monitors the temperature by feeling the deg and listening to the sounds inside the deg. If the fire gets too hot it can burn the flowers. The combination of low heat and the pressure from the sealed deg preserves the fragrance oils and makes them much purer than the hotter steam distillation method used to obtain essential oils.
The copper vessel containing the sandalwood oil that is receiving the fragrance oil and vaporized water is continually rotated by hand to blend the oil and water and keep them from becoming too hot.
Distillation is stopped at the end of each day so the mixture can cool overnight. As the oil cools it separates from the water. Each morning the water is poured off and put back in the deg. Fresh flowers are added and the process starts all over again. This is repeated for 15 to 20 days until the sandalwood oil is completely saturated with the fragrance.
Unfortunately, rising prices are causing some of the attar makers to either close their operations or resort to using synthetic fragrances and paraffin bases. True attars are becoming quite rare.
The attars we carry are true attars. They contain no synthetic ingredients and the base is true sandalwood oil rather than the cheaper paraffins.
CO2 Extracts
CO2 extracts are extremely pure plant extracts. The CO2 extraction process uses carbon dioxide under extremely high pressure to extract essential oils. Under high pressure, the carbon dioxide turns into a liquid and acts as a solvent. When the pressure is decreased, the carbon dioxide turns back into a gas, leaving no residue behind.
Many CO2 extracts have fresher, cleaner, and crisper aromas than steam-distilled essential oils and they smell more similar to the living plants.
Crystalized Essences
Crystalized essences are made with a base of refined Styrax tree resin into which essential oils are infused, pressed and crystallized.
Crystalized essences are also created by nature in the form of Ambergris, Hyraceum and other like substances.
Essential Oils
Today, most common essential oils are steam distilled. Raw plant material is put into a distillation apparatus over water. As the water is heated the steam passes through the plant material, vaporizing the volatile compounds. The vapors flow through a coil where they condense back to liquid, which is then collected in the receiving vessel. This mixture of water and essential oil is separated and bottled.
Some companies use a solvent extraction process. In this process a chemical solvent is used to pull out the aromatic compounds. This renders a substance called concrete. The concrete is then dissolved in alcohol to remove the solvent. Residues of the solvent often remain.
The essential oils we carry do not use the solvent extraction process. We only carry essential oils that that have been steam distilled.
Perfume Essences
Perfume essences are undiluted, concentrated perfumes. They are much thicker in consistency than diluted perfumes so are also called perfume oils.
Perfume essences are entirely different from essential oils. Perfume essences are blended by a perfumer to create a variety of scents. Learning to create these blends is an artistic skill that takes many years to learn.
Tinctures
Tinctures differ from essential oils in that they are produced using alcohol rather than steam. This method is used for natural materials that do not give up their scent as easily such as animal matter and very dense or fibrous plant matter. Tinctures are also made with essential oils, absolutes and concretes. All of our tinctures are made using organic non-denatured alcohol.
Attars
The art of attar making goes back over 5,000 years and the equipment and techniques used to create attars has changed very little in all that time. A true attar is a perfume oil made from flower petals distilled in water using low heat and pressure. Attars are made in what is basically a still that uses no modern gauges or thermostats. Hundreds of pounds of flower petals are collected and placed inside a vessel called a deg. A long bamboo pipe leads from the deg to a copper vessel that contains sandalwood oil. Water is added to the flower petals and the lid is sealed with cotton and clay. A fire is lit under the deg. As the steam collects, it condenses and flows through the bamboo pipe to the copper vessel.
The Master Distiller constantly monitors the temperature by feeling the deg and listening to the sounds inside the deg. If the fire gets too hot it can burn the flowers. The combination of low heat and the pressure from the sealed deg preserves the fragrance oils and makes them much purer than the hotter steam distillation method used to obtain essential oils.
The copper vessel containing the sandalwood oil that is receiving the fragrance oil and vaporized water is continually rotated by hand to blend the oil and water and keep them from becoming too hot.
Distillation is stopped at the end of each day so the mixture can cool overnight. As the oil cools it separates from the water. Each morning the water is poured off and put back in the deg. Fresh flowers are added and the process starts all over again. This is repeated for 15 to 20 days until the sandalwood oil is completely saturated with the fragrance.
Unfortunately, rising prices are causing some of the attar makers to either close their operations or resort to using synthetic fragrances and paraffin bases. True attars are becoming quite rare.
The attars we carry are true attars. They contain no synthetic ingredients and the base is true sandalwood oil rather than the cheaper paraffins.
CO2 Extracts
CO2 extracts are extremely pure plant extracts. The CO2 extraction process uses carbon dioxide under extremely high pressure to extract essential oils. Under high pressure, the carbon dioxide turns into a liquid and acts as a solvent. When the pressure is decreased, the carbon dioxide turns back into a gas, leaving no residue behind.
Many CO2 extracts have fresher, cleaner, and crisper aromas than steam-distilled essential oils and they smell more similar to the living plants.
Crystalized Essences
Crystalized essences are made with a base of refined Styrax tree resin into which essential oils are infused, pressed and crystallized.
Crystalized essences are also created by nature in the form of Ambergris, Hyraceum and other like substances.
Essential Oils
Today, most common essential oils are steam distilled. Raw plant material is put into a distillation apparatus over water. As the water is heated the steam passes through the plant material, vaporizing the volatile compounds. The vapors flow through a coil where they condense back to liquid, which is then collected in the receiving vessel. This mixture of water and essential oil is separated and bottled.
Some companies use a solvent extraction process. In this process a chemical solvent is used to pull out the aromatic compounds. This renders a substance called concrete. The concrete is then dissolved in alcohol to remove the solvent. Residues of the solvent often remain.
The essential oils we carry do not use the solvent extraction process. We only carry essential oils that that have been steam distilled.
Perfume Essences
Perfume essences are undiluted, concentrated perfumes. They are much thicker in consistency than diluted perfumes so are also called perfume oils.
Perfume essences are entirely different from essential oils. Perfume essences are blended by a perfumer to create a variety of scents. Learning to create these blends is an artistic skill that takes many years to learn.
Tinctures
Tinctures differ from essential oils in that they are produced using alcohol rather than steam. This method is used for natural materials that do not give up their scent as easily such as animal matter and very dense or fibrous plant matter. Tinctures are also made with essential oils, absolutes and concretes. All of our tinctures are made using organic non-denatured alcohol.