Description
Our Plant to Perfume workshop is for anyone who would like to make their own natural fragrances—starting from the base materials all the way up to learning how to blend and create bespoke scents.
In this two-day Masterclass, Jill Mulvaney from The Alembics Lab leads a small group through a comprehensive range of plant extraction and distillation techniques using seasonal organic botanicals. (Suitable for both beginners and experienced distillers).
Day one is dedicated to the alchemy of transforming and elevating our raw materials. Beginning with botanicals and bases, we’ll show you how to select, process and transform these into an array of elements that will make up your perfumer’s palette.
Day two you’ll learn how to create a range of natural perfumes from the elements you have made yourself—including alcohol-based, oil-based and water-based fragrances.
Saturday 8th March
DAY ONE—Bases and building a perfumer’s palette
- Start the day with Jill’s favourite sparkling lacto-fermented herbal drink, with herbal honey and hydrosol.
- How to make your own alcohol for perfumery. Using 5L of stripped wash, Jill takes us through a spirit distillation in the 10L copper column still.
- Includes making cuts and curing with resin for use in perfumery.
- Creating a perfume in the still—using a second 10L copper column still, we will distil a selection of seasonal botanicals from our environment to create a ‘perfume of place’. (Combo steam/hydro distillation).
- This includes plant selection, harvesting, packing the still, when to stop, correct collection, bottling, and storage.
- BREAK FOR LUNCH
- Creating layered perfume oils using the ancient process of distilling attars. Using a 10L copper cask hood, we steam-distil seasonal botanicals into an aromatic base oil, layering scent to create unique aromatic perfume oils.
- Fragrance explainer: Comparing perfume bases. We compare oils (jojoba and fractionated coconut), solid fats (palm, tallow and shea) and alcohol (denatured, 96% ABV and our distillation from this morning).
- The best base for the job: Demonstrations of use, including:
- Making a resin-infused aromatic base oil (as used in the attar distillation).
- Enfleurage using seasonal flowers.
- How to make tinctures, absolutes and perfume accords.
Sunday 9th March
DAY TWO—Creating bespoke botanical perfumes
- Eau de parfum—design and blend your own personalised fragrance using the traditional pyramid structure and utilising our perfume accords (and the TAL’s library of resins, lichens, seasonal aromatic fruits and flowers).
- Create a roll-on oil perfume using the layered oil from the attar process. You can choose to exalt and personalise your oil-based perfume with TAL’s essential oils and other materials of your choice.
- BREAK FOR LUNCH
- Water-based perfume for hydrogels and body sprays. Using our combo hydrosol as a base to make a soothing hydrogel and delicate body mist.
- Room diffusers: using our tincture as a base for a subtle, natural room diffuser.
- Absolutes: finish the day by checking on the absolute that’s cured overnight, and discuss uses.
All botanicals and resources are provided at the beginning of each day, as well as a delicious, seasonal lunch from the Phytofarm kitchen garden.
Sample bottles of everything prepared during the Masterclass will also be available to take home!
