perfume: homemade rose attempt #1

[sapote]

So I've been trying to figure out rose perfumes, which generally smell nice in the bottle and morph immediately into cheap soap smell on my skin. I had passing success with Andy Tauer's Une Rose Chypree and Incense Rose, but it was pretty clear that my nose was fighting the urge to read everything as SOAP SOAP SOAPY SOAP again.

But today I deposited my tax return check and consequently was in Whole Foods buying a foam roller, because that's how I - roll, sorry, it was right there. Anyway, the yoga/massage stuff is right by the essential oils and on a whim I globbed some frankincense and then some rose otto from the testers onto my wrist.

Reader, I smell amazing. I suspect that frankincense would make me like anything, but this generic Auracacia dilute rose otto smells, on my skin, plant-y and foggy and rich, with that hint of mintiness or grape-ness that really redolent fresh roses have. It's not the rosa multiflora I grew up with and still love above all other rose smells - there's not that spicy cinnamon note, but I suspect the frankincense is filling in the gaps there. And I've had it on for an hour and a half, and it hasn't gone to soap yet.

Comments

[pebblerocker]

Oooh. Must try this! I have both rose and frankincense at my disposal and have been planning to mix up some new smells to use. Would you go heavier on one or the other? I suppose it depends a lot on the characteristics of the particular oils you use.

Winter is starting here and suddenly I have a lot less skin available to apply smells on...

[sapote]

Honestly, this was the most beginner of beginner attempts at literally glopping undiluted samplers on my arm - I'm lucky I'm apparently not allergic! but I will say that the rose otto was diluted to 20% in jojoba oil, and was still quite strong compared to the undiluted frankencense.

[pebblerocker]

I'm enjoying using this combination, thanks for the idea! The frankincense really adds a lot to the rose. My partner complimented me on it when it was on my skin ("a leafy rose") but then said the scarf I had been wearing smelt like it belonged to an old lady. I still don't know if rose is really my thing, but this scent is definitely nice to wear.