I guess have a thing with roses. Thus, here comes the promised post on rosy matters.  I got a lovely mail today, where someone admires what I do with roses. These mails are of course lovely to read, but here is the truth: The trick is quite simple. Just use the real thing.

You remember my playing with bases for later use in soaps? One series of experiments was a base for a rose soap. The other day I picked the base again and found it rosy enough and good enough to be eventually used as sort of “universal rose base”. It is rather simple, consisting of 12 ingredients, among them rose absolute, rose CO2 (both r. damascena), geranium essential oil in an overdose, additional citronellol and phenylethanol; and of course some nerol and geraniol. Without the naturals the mixture would smell like a cheap rose, a “terpenoid alcohol based ” rose, but you would definitively say rose!. Actually, you would probably say “rose” when you smell citronellol by itself.

By the way: I do not use a citronellol or geraniol that is isolated from natural source, but I use a quality that is synthesized. Price wise it does not matter much. The standard quality at SIAL.com is 84 Francs per kilo, the quality isolated from natural sources is 118 Francs per kilo.

I have no comparative information on the sustainability of the two different production methods. It might well be that the natural quality is a bit less sustainable as the way to the product is a bit more complicated. But I guess it does not matter here. What matters is that the quality of the two are identical. They are 97% pure and smell the same. And they are quite cheap.

Additional molecules that you find in the base are: A touch Iso E super to fix it, a hint ionones to add floral powder, and a few drops of Methylpamplemousse, adding a bit of vibrant silvery citrus cest, again making the mix a bit lighter.

But, the most important ingredients, are the two natural rose isolates: The absolute and the CO2 extract from Ecomaat. Together with the top notch geranium oil, they add the twist to this basic rose base; they add the spices, the depth, the honeyed dirty undertone, the richness that you do not get even when putting more different molecules into your mix.

This is the trick. Not much more. Just use the real stuff. The total base comes to 450 Francs per kilo. That’s the price you have to pay for a real rose base. Actually, compared to the rose absolute  per se it is a bargain (rose absolute sells for about 4000 $ per kilo, if you buy large quantities), and after I have clicked the publish button of this post, I will start playing with the rose base, and see whether it can be used outside of soaps, too.

Actually, it might be time for a rose pour lui. Or something like it.

I wish you a lovely weekend.