(photo from www.grandpalais.fr)

On May 15 from 7 pm until 1 am the Grand Palais opened their doors to allow, for the first time, the public free access to the whole building. Perfumer Francis Kurkdjian created a collection of scented bubbles that were released in the nave by bubble-blowing machines. The air was filled with scented bubbles, releasing their floral, fruity, herbal and honey fragrances when popped. A magical scene with a soundscape specially created by Béatrice Ardisson. The NoctamBulle was experienced by 23 000 visitors.

Finally he went to a cupboard in the corner and brought out a discreet crystal bottle and gave me a sample to smell. Finally! The man smiled brightly and said it was the first time anybody ever asked for the true oil of Oud in his shop. We discussed oils for a while and he poured me a small bottle (above) for a very humane price (humane as opposed to ridiculously expensive), seeing as we were both “in the business”.

I now own a small bottle of Oud which I use as perfume. 2 drops in the morning lasts forever. During the day and heat of my body, the scent changes from earthy musky to a deeply sensual floral scent. It is not obvious as a perfume usually is, more like it is a part of my personal body-scent. Delicious!

Rosewood (aniba rosaeodora) is a tree that grows in the Amazonian rain-forest, Brazil being the main producer of essential oil. It is a large, evergreen tree reaching up to 30 m in height and 2 meters in diameter. All parts of the tree are fragrant although only the heartwood is traditionally harvested and distilled. To give an acceptable amount of essential oil the tree needs to be 40 years old and have a diameter of about 30-40cm, but because of indiscriminate felling even trees with a diameter of 15cm will be cut as it is getting progressively harder to find fully grown trees. Because of its high content of linalool, the essential oil has been widely used in perfumes and soaps. Now linalool is produced synthetically for perfumes and the use of rosewood has diminished; In the 1960s, exports of rosewood oil from Brazil alone were around 500 tonnes per year. Today, the world market for rosewood oil is about 100 tonnes per year. Rosewood essential oil is often substituted by the cheaper Chinese Ho oil (cinnamomum camphora l. linaloolifera leaf oil)

Over the years the heavy harvesting of rosewood have diminished the number of wild-growing trees to a point where they are rapidly becoming a threatened species. Development of sustainable planting is underway, but a lot of wild trees are still felled for the sake of essential oil. Recent research aims to develop new essential oil production derived from rosewood leaves and stems.

Pricing of Rosewood essential oil: 10 ml  €6,40 or 8,65 US dollars.

Sandalwood (santalum album) grows in forests of southern India, the best known being Mysore. The tree reaches a height of 20 meters. It is a hemiparasitic plant as the roots attach themselves to nearby plant roots, obtaining nourishment and causing the host plant to die. Essential oil is produced in the heart-wood and the roots. The tree is mature at 60-80 years when it is harvested and the heartwood is distilled. The trees start producing heartwood at 30-50 yrs. As with rosewood, the trees are being over-harvested and today they are felled already when they are 30 years. Sandalwood has been used as an incense ingredient for the last 4000 years and is an important plant in Asia, used in all manners for its spiritual powers. Today the forests are too young to produce any essential oil, and since the late 1990′s there is only a mere 5% of forest left.

In late 1980 – early 1990 India exported 100 tonnes of sandalwood-oil/year. In 1996 the Indian government regulated export of sandalwood-oil, bringing the yearly amount down to 5 tonnes. This created a huge raise in the price of sandalwood essential oil; on the Indian market the price went from Rs20 000/ton in 1980 to Rs200 000/ton in 1990. Much work is being done in India to create a sustainable replanting of sandalwood-trees, but since it takes such a long time before the trees produce essential oil, this is less popular. Due to the extremely high prices, large amounts of trees are still illegally cut down and smuggled out of the country. In 1993 sandalwood-oil cost 185-200 US dollars/kg, during the last 5 years, the price has increased to 1000-1500 US dollars/kg.

A new player on the scene is Western Australia where sustainable plantations of sandalwood has been going on for some time. They have become the biggest exporters of sandalwood and are now even exporting to India, who is a huge user both of oil and wood. The sandalwood-oil from Australia is half the price of the Indian.

Price of Sandalwood essential oil: 5 ml: €27 (37 US dollars) or 10 ml: €42 (58 US dollars)

So you see, the value is not in the pricing or the oil, the value is in nature; in taking care and always returning something for that what we take and protecting our environment.

In  1922 Howard Carter discovered the intact tomb of Tutankhamun. The tomb had been sealed approximately 3 200 years earlier. (The reign of Tutankhamon lasted 1333-1324Bc) The tomb was filled with unimaginable treasures and amongst these treasures were clay-pots filled with solidified matter from which a scent could was faintly discernible. On analysis the pots turned out to contain perfumed ointments; myrrh and frankincense mixed in animal and vegetable fat. This story always fascinated me, and now it happened again:

A 2,000-year-old cream belonging to an aristocrat discovered

July 12th, 2009 – 5:56 pm ICT by ANI

Washington, July 12 (ANI): Archaeologists in Italy have discovered a 2,000-year-old cream, left almost intact in the cosmetic case of an aristocratic Etruscan woman.

More at : A 2,000-year-old cream belonging to an aristocrat discovered http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/health/a-2000-year-old-cream-belonging-to-an-aristocrat-discovered_100216985.html#ixzz0gYHGQEH1

Love is in the air and so is despair. Around Valentines day my heart goes out to all lonely, abandoned and heartbroken people. It is like the whole world is enhancing the loveless-ness, much like Christmas. Therefor I am, today, creating blends to heal broken hearts and cover the wound of loneliness as well as blends to enhance love, affection, and lust.

The oils that are most associated with love are:

• Rose (rosa centifolia, r.damascena) Opens the heart for love
• Jasmine (jasminum officinalis) The enigmatic scent of sensuality
• Sandalwood (santalum album) Stillness and unity, balsamic.
• Bergamot (citrus bergamia) Relaxes, releases and refreshes, joy to the heart
• Patchouli (pogostemon cablin) earthing and arousing. Playfulness
• Ginger (zingiber officinalis) warming and invigorating
• Ylang-ylang (cananga odorata var. genuina) Joy and sensuality, liberation
• Black pepper (piper nigrum) Fire and power. Energy

There are plenty of oils that fit in there as well, but these are the most popular and best known. Use your imagination and have some fun.

The oils that will help a broken heart and/or loneliness:

• Marjoram (origanum majorana) Warmth and safety in loneliness
• Cypres (cupressus sempervirens) Opens and guides for new directions, change.
• Frankincense (boswellia carterii) Spirituality, protection, warmth. Breath of life.
• Lavender (lavandula augustifolia) restoring, calming, eases the mind,
• Cedarwood (cedrus atlantica) stabilizes and opens the mind to a larger picture
• Rosewood (aniba rosaeodora) protective warmth like that of a mother
• Hyssop (hyssopus officinalis) opens the chest and breath, liberation
• Myrrh (commiphora molmol/c. myrrah) tranquillity, solitude, peace
• Benzoin (styrax benzoin) soothing and stabilizing. Enveloping sanctuary.
• Clary sage (salvia sclarea) Relaxing, expansion, warmth

Use oil-blends in the bath before meeting with your lover – or your self. 10-15 drops of essential oil in 15-20ml of unperfumed soap or cream. Add the oil-blend right before you get in, and swish it around with your hand.

• Sensual: Ylang-ylang 4 dr + Ginger 3 dr + Sandalwood 5 dr + Patchouli 3 dr.
• Uplifting: Bergamott 4 dr + Black pepper 4 dr + Ylang-ylang 3 dr
• Invigorating: Ginger 3 dr + Black pepper 3 dr + Patchouli 2 dr + Bergamott 4 dr
• Love: Rose 2 dr + Sandalwood 4 dr + Patchouli 3 dr
• Passion: Sandalwood 4 dr + Jasmine 2 dr + Ginger 3 dr

Use the same blends of essential oils in 5-10 ml veg. oil blend, preferably Jojoba-oil, for a sensual perfume to wear during the evening. You can also use these blends to scent your room; either put them in an aroma-burner / fan (3-7 dr depending on the size and ventilation of the room) or blend them in distilled water; 5-10 dr/ 100 ml. Shake well before use and don’t spray directly on surfaces.

Citrus-oils and rosemary can be used in any blend as an enhancer or pick-me-up. Many of the oils used for love are also used for loneliness. Have fun with the oils and don’t be afraid to experiment. Remember to always start with a lower amount of drops, this way you can smell if the scent is balanced and you have a chance to change your blend as you go along.

• Loneliness: Marjoram 3 dr + Myrrh 3 dr + Orange 5 dr + Lavender 4 dr
• Sadness: Lavender 4 dr + Frankincense 3 dr + Hyssop 4 dr + Clary sage 2 dr
• Despair: Benzoin 3 dr + Rosewood 4 dr + Cedarwood 4 dr + Myrhh 3 dr
• Changes: Cypres 4 dr + Rosewood 4 dr + Clary sage 3 dr
• Love: Rose 2 dr + Marjoram 3 dr + Rosewood 4 dr + Myrrh 3 dr

Note: The oils of Rose and Jasmine are very expensive but the scent is strong so they go a long way. In true perfumery musky and deep earth-notes are used in perfumes, such as spike-nard, valerian and oud. They enhance the more flowery smells and act as fixatives. A blend should become one distinguished perfume, not a collection of scents. If you want your perfume-oil to deepen in scent, you should blend it beforehand and let it “mature”. You will notice the scent changing and deepening over time.

So of course I was not surprised when I stumbled upon this article:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080520110415.htm

Oud or Agarwood or Aloeswood (Aquilaria agollocha, A. malaccensis, A. crassna) is an evergreen tree native to the forests of Northeast India, Bhutan and Southeast Asia; Viet Nam, Kambodja, Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea. The tree reaches a height of about 40m with a diameter of about 60cm. It bears sweetly-scented snow-white flowers. For the oil to exist, the tree needs to be infected with a fungi; Phialophora parasitica. The tree produces this oleoresin to protect itself against the fungi by saturating the heartwood. The longer time a tree is infected, the deeper and darker the oleoresin gets. This can take up to a 100 years and inevitably ends with the tree dying. By this time the heartwood is almost black, deeply saturated and scented by the oleoresin. The heartwood of an uninfected tree is light and pale-colored.

Extraction methods:

• Water extraction: The wood is immersed in water for about 3 months, after which it is put into stills (huge burners) where it is cooked for many hours until the resin dissolves and floats to the top of the water; Indian distillation method.
• Steam distillation of the wood-chips; Mostly used by East Asian countries.
• CO2 extraction: When a certain amount of pressure is applied to CO2 (carbon dioxide) this gas turns into liquid. This liquid CO2 can be used as a very inert, safe, “liquid solvent.” CO2 is the gas we all breathe out of our lungs. It is also the gas that plants themselves thrive on.

Because of the immense popularity of this plant-matter for oil, perfume and incense, the trees are now endangered species  protected world-wide under the CITES-convention (http://www.cites.org/) and by laws in the different countries. Even so a large number of trees are illegally cut down to obtain this hugely expensive material.

There are many grades of Oud; First-grade (the highest quality) is one of the most expensive natural products in the world. The pricing lies around 13 000 dollars/pound of oil. (0,453kg) The oils from wild trees (illegal) catch an even higher price, more than 27 000 dollars/pound. The whole-sale price for a decent quality oil is around 1000-1400 dollars/ounce. (30ml)

In Assam, India a few families have started plantations with Aquilaria agollocha, ensuring the survival of this precious tree and its hidden gifts. Most reputed Oud-traders today, trade with plantation-grown oils and wood. Due to the success of the plantations in Assam other countries are following suit; Thailand, Cambodia, Viet Nam and other areas in Southeast Asia.

History

Oud has a long history of use in the eastern parts of the world; Buddhist monks use ut for meditation, saying it aids in the transmutation of ignorance. Tibetan monks use it to calm the mind and spirit. Sufis use it for esoteric ceremonies and in China it is considered to have psychoactive properties. Oud has been used as incense, aromatic oil and medicine for thousands of years. It is mentioned in the Bible (under the name of Aloewood): “Nicodemus used pounded aloewood to embalm the body of Christ”. The Prophet Muhammed of Islam mentions in the Koran 1400 years ago; “Treat with Indian Oud, for it has healing for seven diseases”. In Egypt Oud was used by the Pharaos for embalming. Buddha called it the “Scent of Nirvana“.

The Scent

Complex, balsamic, deep woody fragrance. Tenacious basenote, it lingers longer than any other known scent. The scent is rare and powerful. Blended with other precious oils such as Rose (r.centifolia, r. damascena), Jasmin (jasminus officinalis), Sandalwood (santalum album), it enhances them and creates a blend which is deeply soulful.

Uses

A well-known aphrodisiac; use it as a perfume neat on the skin (I recommend a patch-test for sensitive skin) or diluted in Jojoba-oil or alcohol. The skin will release its scent over the course of 12-15 hours. (It is tested safe to use undiluted on skin.) The oil is viscous and in room-temperature it stays thick. To make it thinner, put the bottle in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes.

It has been used by Chinese, Tibetan, Ayurvedic and Unani physicians in practice to treat various disease and mental illness.The list of ailments that can be helped by Oud oil is vast. I will not document it here, since considering the price and rarity of this oil, it is better used for higher purposes such as meditation and personal growth. During my research I have found that every eastern culture names Oud in treatment of the respiratory and digestive systems. This is interesting because these two systems are both deeply connected to life-force, and the most outstanding feature of Oud is its magical and mystical properties when used in meditation; It connects Heaven and Earth within us, creating balance, inner peace and enlightment.