Back in June, I got it in my mind that I wanted to do a science experiment. I thought it would be interesting and fun to try extracting scent out of flowers through 3 different extraction methods; enfleurage, infusion, and hydrosol.
I found that infusion was the easiest method, enfleurage was the hardest. Hydrosol was the quickest method and the longest was the enfleurage. The interesting thing about these experiments is what resulted from each. Today, I want to focus on the enfleurage method because it is the one that has left me in awe of the science of scent.
My project started on the evening of June 28, 2018 and was completed on the evening of September 28, 2018.
First off, let me explain a little bit about what exactly enfleurage is. Enfleurage is an old method of scent extraction that dates back to 1750 France. It originated from French perfumer Louis Toussaint Piver, of perfume house: LT Piver.
This method of scent extraction is accomplished with the use of fresh flowers, alcohol, & solid fats. Most often animal fats are used, but for a vegan option, solid fats such as shea butter, mango butter, cocoa butter, etc. can be used.
Fresh flower petals are placed onto a solid fat that has been spread out on a flat glass surface, like a glass plate or a chassis. The flowers are then pressed into the fat with another plate or other glass surface that can press the flower petals further into the fat.
Every 24 hours (more for certain flowers, and less for others) the flower petals are removed from the fat and replaced with more fresh flower petals. This process can be repeated for up to 30 days, though as short as 7 days for a less intense scent can work as well. At the end of your re-charging period (each time you change out the flowers it is called re-charging), the fat gets scraped off the glass surface.
In its original format, the enfleurage process was finished at this point and you would be left with a pomade. Whatever fat you used has taken on the scent of the flower and could be used as a solid perfume or as an additive in another product. However, in more modern times, the fat is placed in alcohol, and the alcohol takes on the scent from the fat.
After a period of time sitting in the alcohol, the fat is strained, and the alcohol is left to evaporate. The evaporation process leaves behind the absolute of the flower, which is similar to an essential oil. While an absolute is not technically an essential oil, it is essentially (pun intended!
) the same thing. The difference is the method of extraction. The most easily understood example is rose. Rose Absolute and Rose Otto are both scent extractions of rose, but the method of getting them is different. Rose Otto is an essential oil that is extracted through the process of steam distillation, while Rose Absolute is extracted through solvent extraction or less commonly through enfleurage.
Timelapse of me Enfleurage-ing in my soap kitchen.
Why would steam distillation or solvent extraction be used instead of enfleurage? Because enfleurage is so labor intensive, and the result is a much smaller quantity than other methods. Certain flowers, however, cannot be steam distilled or solvent extracted because the process would be too damaging to the flowers and would in turn destroy the scent. You would be left with a waste of time and no scent to show (or smell!) for it. So we use enfleurage for a few flowers that are too delicate for the other processes.
Flowers such as Tuberose, Lilac, Honeysuckle, among others are best extracted through the enfleurage process. I chose to extract Peonies because they are among my favorite flowers. They were also toward the end of their blooming season when I started my experiment.
My plan was to use a variety of 3 different types of common garden peonies; white peonies, light pink peonies, and dark pink peonies. When it came time to get the dark pink peonies for the last few days of my enfleurage process, they were already out of season. Once they’re out of season, they’re no longer available, anywhere.
So, my enfleurage is a mix of white peonies and light pink peonies and went through an 8 day recharging process.
After collecting my peonies, I started by getting some shea butter and spreading it on a clear glass plate.
Shea butter is a very greasy feeling fat, so I wore disposable, nitrile gloves to spread the shea butter around the plate. The idea is to get a thin layer, but not so thin that there’s nothing to put the flower petals onto.
Once the shea butter was smoothed out, I took the peony head and gently pulled each petal off. I pressed each petal, one by one, into the shea butter. After the shea butter was completely covered in a single layer of peony petals, I took a second glass plate and pressed it onto the top of the first plate. Pressing this plate onto the other one compressed the peony petals further into the shea butter.
From there, I spread a second layer of shea butter on the new glass plate, and repeated the process. I ended up with 3 layers of plates, however, if I had more shea butter, I would have stacked up many more plates!
Once my plates and petals were pressed together, I wrapped them very tightly in plastic wrap to keep the scent from escaping. I then placed them in a cool dark area for about 24 hours.
After 24 hours, I removed the petals from the shea butter on each layer and then replaced them with new fresh petals. The first few days I used the light pink peonies, and the second half was with the white peonies.
On the 8th day of the recharging process, I ran out of peonies. It was now time to transfer the shea butter into a container.
I removed all of the peony petals, and any other plant matter that decided to stick around. Once the shea butter was completely void of all peony plant matter, I scraped it with a spoon off of the plates. I then placed the shea butter chunks in a glass container with a tight fitting lid. Because shea butter is so greasy and thick, it took a few passes with the spoon to remove it all.
Once it was placed in the glass container, I covered it with 91% isopropyl alcohol and let it sit for about 2 1/2 months. It probably could have been ready sooner, but wasn’t sure how long it would take.
I put the shea butter and alcohol in a dark cabinet in a cool room in my house. After the 2 1/2 months, I strained out the shea butter using the cheesecloth. I strained it a few times, until every last bit of shea butter was strained out.
Once the alcohol was isolated, I left it in a pyrex container with a layer of cheesecloth lightly draped over top, and left the lid off. I allowed the alcohol to completely evaporate, not knowing exactly how long it would take.
After about a week, I looked at the container and took a whiff. It no longer smelled like alcohol. Now it smelled just like the fresh peonies from 2 1/2 months prior! It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen (or smelled)!
Once I realized that all of the alcohol had evaporated, I also realized that what I was left with was the absolute.
What is an absolute? The absolute is a slightly colored liquid substance that smells just like the flower you extracted the scent from. Similar to an essential oil, the absolute is the essence of the flower.
An absolute is extracted from the non-volatile materials with alcohol. The absolute that you get from the enfleurage process can be used in much the same way as an essential oil. It can be diluted in a carrier oil (fractionated coconut oil, jojoba oil, sunflower oil, etc.), added to soap, or just about any other bath and body product.
From all of the flowers that I used (3-4 full peony heads), I ended up with about 7 milliliters of Peony Absolute.
Peony Absolute
I learned a lot from this process and you better bet I’m going to do it again in the not too distant future! First and foremost I learned that shea butter is a great choice for a solid fat.
Though I didn’t write about it above, I also attempted my Peony enfleurage with coconut oil at the same time as I was doing the shea butter.
My results were not successful at all.
The coconut oil kept melting when it was at room temperature, so I had to keep it refrigerated the whole time.
Now, coconut oil is a fattier oil, so it is solid at room temperature usually, but this was summertime and humidity plays a role as well. I still completed the whole process just like I did with the shea butter. In the end, it was too difficult to strain out the coconut oil. Once the alcohol evaporated, I was left with nothing. No absolute at all, and no scent.
So, I would recommend avoiding coconut oil. I also learned that I didn’t take the time to find out how much longer peonies would be in season, so I couldn’t continue my enfleurage as long as I wanted. I had 7 full days of recharges, and that was great, but I think next time, I’ll attempt 10 days if possible.
If you like making your own perfume, soap, or other body products, I encourage you to try out enfleurage! It’s a fun, though time intensive project that yields surprising results!
If you do try it out, I’d love to hear from you in the comments below! Happy perfuming!
References:
2) http://www.midlifeedit.com/blog/enfleurage
3) http://www.piver.com/en/our-history
4) https://www.slideshare.net/vedg007/perfumes-45028216
5) My own kitchen!
