Autumn has finally arrived in the Southern Hemisphere. It has been a long hot Summer at the Southern point of Africa. Although we have been wilting in the heat, the fragrance of the flowers have been the best I have smelled in years. I have been busy this Summer extracting the scents through enfleurage. I have been using enfleurage for five years now, but this Summer, I had a goal of recharging 30 times and I did!
Frangipani, Jasmine grandiflora, Noem Noem, Gingerlily – Wish you could smell?
Months later and thousands of flowers later, I have reached the End of Summer, the end of my Summer’s harvest. My harvest started in early Spring with the harbingers of Spring.
Buddleja auriculata
Buddleja auriculata and Buddleja salviifolia, also called Sagebush, Butterfly Bush and white lilac here are the harbingers of Spring to me. They flower for about six weeks, Buddleja auriculata starts to flower earlier than Buddleja salviifolia and has a much shorter flowering period. They have a Lilac-like scent with green and woody orris-like notes. For the enfleurage I picked each tiny flower separately, either very early in the morning or at sunset. I recharged them every 24 hours, as after that the scent loses its floral notes and become more woody. It is a very time consuming job but the end results is gorgeous. I combined both in my enfleurage.
Noem Noem – Carissa macrocarpa
The next flower to come in bloom was Noem Noem – Carissa macrocarpa or also called Natal Plum. They are abundant in my area and a favourite hedge plant here. I was surprised at long they keep on blooming. They started to bloom in September/October and keeps on flowering for most of the year. It is only at the end of Winter that for a few months, there are just a few flowers on the plants. The flowers have a Tuberose/White Frangipani type of scent, deep, sensual and rich. I recharge them every 48 hours, although, even after 3 days when the flowers turn brown, they still retain a lovely scent. The enfleurage is so beautiful that I think it deserves a solifleur blend.
My Ginger lilies has been flowering for 3 months, scenting the air with their perfume.
My Gingerlilies started bloom early this year in January. Their beautiful fresh heady scent fills the night air. Some nights itis so heady, it feels as if I am breathing the scent. Gingerlilies are what started me on the path of enfleurage. I was determined to capture their scent. As the flowers are soft and fleshy and spoils easily, they require delicate handling. If you don’t recharge them every 24 hours you will have a slimy mess on your hands. I learnt that the hard way. The pommade is wonderful in soap and the extract I have already used in several of my perfumes.
This Pink Frangipani’s Scent is like a sweet candy rose.
The Strand and Gordon’s Bay area is Frangipani paradise. The just love it here. There are many huge beautiful Frangipani trees everywhere which must be at least 60 or seventy years old. This year in the extreme heat we experienced their scent was glorious. I remember being so disappointed when I first smelled a Frangipani absolute; lovely for sure, but nothing like the headspace of Frangipani. First I did several test enfleurage batches of all the colours to determine which will work the best.
In the heat of Summer the fragrance is wonderful.
Each cultivar has its own distinctive scent. The colours gives a good indication of the scent. I often wondered which Frangipani the Plumerias wre named after. Legend has it that the name, frangipani, comes from the Italian nobleman, Marquis Frangipani, who created a perfume for perfumed gloves in the 16th century. When the frangipani flower was discovered its natural perfume reminded people of Marquis Frangipania’s perfume. If it is true, then Frangipani must be the only flower named after a perfume! My bet is that it was the fragrance of white and yellow Frangipani. It is also the scent of the white and yellow centred Frangipani that most people associate with Frangipani. The scent in itself is already a perfume with its lemony top notes and fresh floral heart.
The pink Frangipani surprised me. It has a candy rose scent; sweet with a surprising depth in dry down. It has by far the strongest scent. I also found it remarkable how long both the white and pink Frangipanies retained their scent after picking. After 3 days their scents are still lovely, but I recharge after after 48 hours.
I was very disappointed with my experiments with the orange/peach Frangipani. It does have a lovely peachy/floral scent just after you pick it but after a few hours it has a very strong chemical scent that I do not find pleasant. So, after several tries at different times of the day, I gave up on that one. Maybe next year, I will experiment to see exactly how long before its scent turns.
The red Frangipani has a deep red rose type of scent with a hint of citrus. Next year I will take my experiments with it further when my tree is a bit bigger and I have more flowers at my disposal. It does however, retain its scent for a much shorter period. I will recharge it every 24 hours
Jasmine grandiflora enfleurage
Jasmine grandiflora was my floral surprise of the year. I could not believe my surprise when I came across them flowering abundaently so late in the Summer. Here the most common Jasmine is the Jasmine officinale which only flowers in early Spring. It was the first time I came across Jasmine grandiflora here. The enfleurage is gorgeously true to its scent and to my delight I managed to reach 30 recharges even though I only discovered it so late. I recharged every 48 hours as it keeps its scent beautifully after being picked.
Wish you could smell?
Beauty needs to be shared, so I decided to do a give away to share the bounty of my harvest. One Lucky reader will receive 6 1ml samples of the enfleurage extracts I made from the Sagebush flowers, Noem Noem, Ginger lily, Pink and White Frangipani, and Jasmine grandiflora. Just leave a comment, and on next Saturday, 31st of March, I will announce the winner here and on African Aromatics Facebook page.
So beautiful Sophia! Everything sounds lovely and the photos are great! Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us.
Elise
Hi Elise, thank you, they are beautiful. Nature always provides the most wonderful gifts. There is always so much more to learn. With each answer, a lot more questions reveals itself.
It is so funny for me to read that Autumn is arriving when in Croatia spring is starting. 🙂
Your giveaway sounds so lovely. Thank you for opportunity. 🙂
Yes, I am now preparing for the winterblooms. That’s always so great, the opposite seasons, it gives a great cross reference, a season ahead. What are blooming in your part of the world?
I just stuck my nose in some Butterfly Bush yesterday, seeing it as I was walking along from a distance and making a beeline…butterflyline?…right for it……delicious! Would love to smell how this worked out for you…
We must all be butterflies/bees at heart lol.
Wow, I can almost smell it from here
Congratulations on your bountiful harvest.
You are blessed
Born to Scent,
Margo
Thank you Margo, I do feel blessed by Nature’s gifts.
It all sounds absolutely amazing, and I am very impressed with your effort and dedication. I would love to smell them all.
It is the flowers that inspires me Jennifer. The more you focus on nature’s beauty, the more you feel what an incredible miracle each bloom is.
The photos are lovely and I would be delighted to smell them. I am not familiar with noem noem. They all sound lovely.
Hi JoAnne, thank you, I am really enjoying taking pics of the flowers around here. Noem Noem’s are amazing plants, really tough and not only do they produce such wonderful scented flowers but the fruits are also delicious.
What a wonderful time you must have had, and a labor of love to be sure 🙂 I feel like I was right there with you, with your descriptions and the beautiful pictures. I would love to smell them all!
Your photos are so wonderful and I so appreciate your dedication!
I would really enjoy the opportunity to smell them! What a wonderful read. 😉
Thanks, Tracy, I am glad you enjoyed it. Beauty is best enjoyed when it is shared.
Hi Amanda, it is a labour of love, but so rewarding, I am so glad I can share.
I’ve enjoyed reading about your adventures and experiments with the lovely flowers in your part of the world. I’d love to smell these exotic extracts. I have tried doing some enfleurage because of the descriptions you’ve written. Thank you!
Autumn it is indeed an adventure, it is also surprising what you learn about the plants when you get so intimate with them. I can’t even bear to put the spent flowers in the compost, I spread them around the garden, as a last rite.
Hi, Sophia, wonderful and informative article as usual, I also enjoy your posts, I always learn something!
Aer, thank you, and so good to hear from you. How did your Buddelja’s do?
Your endless patience astounds me and the rhythm of the work you do. I know because I have tried it and was not very successful. Recharging 30 times- Fantastic. I would adore to smell this piece of Southern Africa.
Francesca, when I was younger, I was baffled by the “the reward of is patience is patience.” What kind of reward is that, I wondered? Now I understand that it gives you the patience to do what you really love. The wonder of enfleurage is that is actually such a primitive, simple method, anyone can really do it, but you must know the characteristics of the flowers.
Sophia-thanks so much for all the info about enfleurage-I want to explore this scent-extraction method more in the future. BTW, what fat do you use in your enfleurage?
Simone, I have a Enfleurage 101 article on the process. I keep on updating, as more insights comes to me.http://africanaromatics.com/int/enfleurage-101/
I like to use palm fat because it is scentless and have the right consistency, neither too hard, nor too soft and absorbs the scents really well. You can however use many different fats, it also depends what you want to do with the end product. I covered it in the 101. If you have more questions let me know.
Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful! You always inspire me Sophia!
Thank you so much Ambrosia. I always think we cross-inspire each other. I think we all make perfumes because we want to bring beauty into the world. I so enjoy the beauty of your perfumes.
Sophia, you are indeed a treasure and a wealth of information! You inspire me with the work you do with such love, patience and attentiveness. You have opened my eyes and my world and given me an appreciation of Africa that I never had. Thank you.
Aseyah, thank you that means a lot to me. That’s what I live for, to show the beauty of Africa.
You have been busy! They sound wonderful, and such a generous draw.
Thanks for the chance and enjoy your perfume making x
As impressive as your enfleurage undertaking is–I’m quite impressed with both your photos and your history! I was unaware about the frangipani story–fascinating! You managed to perfume both our minds and our imaginations, along with our noses! Thank you so much for sharing your riches!!
–JK
Oooh Sophia! Your enfleurage extracts sound incredible. You have so many exotic flowers I’ve never smelled, and I had no idea such flowers grow in Africa, you are lucky! Thank you for sharing your process, pictures and flowers.
Hi Charna, Africa has an abundance of flowers. There are also many fragrant bulbs. Freesia is also indigenous to here. I am always discovering more beauties. Thank you for commenting.
I’ve been using a wildcrafted palm butter as well for my enfleurage experiments and it is wonderful. I use the spend butter after I’ve washed with alcohol to make a body butter that is heavenly. I’m sure you do the same. I’m mourning the loss of all 6 gardenia shrubs I planted 8 years ago. Fortunately, in 2009 they bloomed their heads off and I was able to create a gorgeous enfleurage that I enjoy to this day. I’d LOVE to experience the exotic plants you grow. What amazing life work you’re doing.
Thank you Maggie, I just love working with flowers and plants and their scents. Your Gardenia enfleurage must be wonderful Maggie! I would also mourn such a loss. My bush hasn’t done well here. So I am trying the indigenous gardenia. I have also used the spent fats for body creams and soaps wonderful. This year I want to try a bouquet of all the different enfleurage extracts. I even have a millifleur enfleurage in which I put all the excess pickings, can’t wait to see how that turns out.
Thanks for sharing your experiences and beautiful photographs. If only it was possible to smell through the screen! I just watched a program on South Africa the other day, where they mentioned the incredible biodiversity of the region – one mountain alone had more plant species than all of Great Britain! The wildflowers were stunning, and added South Africa to my list of places to visit.
What an incredible amount of information, dedication and hard work! I am inspired to try this…as I know how wonderful the fragrance of these flowers are but I can’t imagine what the results of an enfeurage extract of them could be. Thank you ever so much Sophie for sharing the enfleurage process, photos, flowers and the generous draw of your labor of love!
Oh, these sound lovely, what a special giveaway. I loved reading about your extractions. Thanks for the opportunity!
Hi Sophia. How generous of you to share your hard work with a lucky person! My mouth was watering when I was reading all of the flowers you were enflueraging. I love White Ginger and Plumeria! Your photos are really nice as well.
oooooooooo. that’s all i can say without drooling. ooooooooo!
Sophia,
How beautiful! It’s incredible that you’re making all these incredible flowers into enfleurages. They must be so special!
I would so love to win this. Thank you for the opportunity and the very interesting articles on enfleurage. Is there any info out there about rose enfleurage? Thank you.
sounds really beautiful. i love that you are making it yourself. i would love to try doing this but live in a city and don’t have access to a lot of flowers.
The Ginger-lilies look amazing… I wish I could smell.
Aromatic Blessings to All!
The aromas sound wonderful. I am new at perfumery, just beginning my experiments, so this is all very informative. Although it may be a very long time before I attempt enfleurage, it is encouraging to see that others are doing this themselves.
Pat
I love reading about your work & can only imagine how fabulous they smell!!
Sophia (like Sofia in Bulgaria ;-)),
Actually I live in Sofia Bulgaria.
I wish to be able to live both -Africa and Bulgaria, so I can do my favourite exotic aromas as well as Bulgarian Gorgeous Rose and Lilac, Linden extracts and oils.
As I watch your pictures my sense is like actually smelling the fragrance, which I imagine in charge of the flower of the picture. In exotic flowers it is something that makes me “act” to create beautiful things around me.
Meanwhile, I am in a expectation gorgeous huge Miss Gardenia to blossom and spread her lovely flavor in my bedroom. I know when she is blooming, when I open up my eyes in the morning and before I saw the blossom, with the first conscious breath that I take I feel the irreplaceable essence that inspires me to love.
Thanks for spreading this inspiring Beauty and experience with the world.
We are beautiful creatures, and the aromatic flowers for me are messengers of the angels. Their essence is their creativity, their gift to the rest of the creatures of the Planet Earth.
Magdalena Roza
Sophia, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and the precious results of so much work. I’m going to try enfleurage for the first time this season because of you.
ciao Sophia,
all this work is simply wonderful…working with natural materials, transforming them, capturing the essences, the invisible part, the divine part..
thanks for sharing and for giving us this meraviglia!!!!
Roberto
The winner was Magdalene Roza.
Please contact me to claim your prize.
Sophia
s.africanaromatics@gmail.com