PERFUME WORKSHOP WITH AUDRA JAMES
Last weekend, the day after Valentine’s Day I went to this lovely Natural Perfume Workshop run by Audra James. I have been buying stuff from Audra, an aromatherapist, facialist and natural skin care expert for a few years now.
I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing her here.
Natural Perfumes differ from synthetic perfumes in that they use pure essential oils. These oils are extracted from flowers, leaves, plants and trees.They can differ according to seasons and growing methods.They are living things so it’s difficult to get the same result every time.They don’t last as long because they don’t have stabilisers in them but it’s simply about just reapplying them when needed.They smell so much better than a synthetic perfume. I don’t know about you but if I hang out or am near someone with synthetic perfume on I get a massive headache. When I wear natural perfume I feel a bit swish. It can change my whole mood wearing the right one and it doesn’t give me a headache.
Synthetic perfumes are more stable and the scent will last longer.They are made in a laboratory and have complex formulas so that they are consistent each time. Chemicals are added to preserve and stabilise the perfume. Yuk!
Blending
This was the fun part of the lesson. Smelling all of the essential oils. It was interesting to watch everyone’s reactions to certain scents. Some resonate well with others and other ones would bring up a turned nose. One of the ones I disliked was Ylang Ylang. Pity. Cause that’s the aphrodisiac one.
When blending essential oils an aromatherapist will divide them into three categories: top, middle and base notes. It’s also important to add a natural base such as Jojoba or Sunflower to your perfume.
The essential oils have factor numbers ranging from 1 to 3. This just means the number of drops you add to make up the perfume. You can however, throw out all the rules but if you want something long lasting and well rounded make sure you use a top, middle and base note.
My Perfume Blend
I’m a bit of floral girl. (Go figure). In my blend I had one drop of Vanilla, three drops of Bergamot, 2 drops of Bulgarian Rose and 2 drops of French Geranium. It smells so good. The scent has even changed slightly since I made it last week but it’s still oh so good. We sealed it into one of those purse sized roller ball bottles which is perfect for putting in your bag. It’s similar looking to my stress relief one I have in my bag so I’ve accidentally worn both of these throughout the day. At least I feel very chilled out!
Pregnancy Blends
I’m going to get Audra to make me something to use in the Birthing Suite. I love aromatherapy so having something lovely in the diffuser while using the Hypnobirthing methods I learnt from my course should keep me really positive about labour. I’m really looking forward to it.
Audra James Botanicals Details
Audra has just moved back to Brisbane and has opened up her new clinic at Taringa. For further details of workshops you can either go to her website or to her Facebook page.
+ Please also note that when preparing for this blog post I used information given by Audra James’ workshop notes and also want to give her credit for this.
What are your favourite perfumes and scents? I’d love to know. If you liked the post please share using the buttons below and let’s get a conversation started. Also my opt in is ready to go! If you would like to get access to my copy of “Worthy: Affirmations and Prayers to Evoke Your Confident Spirit” sign up for my newsletter just below the header. Thanks lovely.