Hi Lisa, I love this! I've often wondered if I could capture some of the glorious flower scents I come across. Thank you so much and I will definitely try this when I find some suitable flowers. You are a wonderful inspiration. Heather xx
Hi lisa, I've been using the technique of enfleurage on my garden flowers for many years. I use palm fat.I have experimented with many fats and flowers over the years, and palm fat has worked best for me. It doesn't have a scent, It stays solid , which makes it much easier to lay the flowers on the fat. Coconut oil has a very coconut scent, which tends to overpower the delicate fragrance of enfleurage flowers.
@Heather - Thanks for your kind comment! Please feel free to share your experiences in a comment when you have given this a try - and have fun!
@Jade Violet - Thanks for sharing Jade! I would have used another oil if I had had it at hand, but then again I was surprised at how well this worked with the coconut oil I had. It was a deodorized version of coconut oil, so, no scent at all except the lilacs! My future versions will be with palm oil. Do hyou work with glass ålates and nets and such? I'd love to hear more about your process!
Wonderful idea Lise! I have studied this method but as you said all these nets and stuff made it look difficult. I was wondering how you remove flowers when the oil is solid, do you warm it up a bit? Or are they all on the surface and easy to remove? I have many roses at this point, but they dont seem to perfume the oil very well!! Yours must be wonderful!
Cristina said…
Thank you so much for this post Lisa! I’ve even been looking at Lilac EO co2 extracts in the past, but they are soooo expensive, this is definitely a great alternative to it! Although the thing is, I live in the tropics so there’s no way I could find Lilacs here, however on the positive side we have plenty of other beautiful smelling flowers like frangipani :) definitely going to try it with the VCO that my neighbor’s family made from their village :) next year I’m heading back to Europe and hope my uncle still has his lilacs trees, I’m gonna bring some VCO over and make some over there :) oh and the amazing smelling roses along the streets of my old hometown can’t wait to try it with those too :D
I've wanted to try this for years, and today was the perfect time to try. We had a big storm yesterday, but most of the lilacs seem to have survived. Going to change for the flowers out a few times, until the lilac scent is clear. Thank you! Christiane
I've never heard of this before. I had to google the word when you mentioned it on IG. :D Oh, interesting! Picking flowers and botanicals for internal use/ consumption I'm familiar with (my major hobby during summer) so I could try small test batch if I get enough roses and lilacs. Just thinking, lily of the valley would be awesom to infuse in alcohol/ glycerin/ something, but sounds way too dangerous because of the toxic nature and skin reactions? Thanks!
HI unknown - enfleurage is a very old art and one I find fascinating. My 'enfluerage' is not quite authentic as I literally soaked blossoms in coconut oil and this is not how it's really done.As you so correctly mention, lily of the valley should be handled with caution. I generally use plants that are edible. :)
Anonymous said…
Hi! Thanks so much for all the helpful info! How do you strain the lilacs from the solid oil- do you warm it up first, if so what is the best way to do that? Looking to do this this spring!
Hi Anon--- very gentle heat and straining via cheesecloth (do not squeeze - allow to drain out all by itself -. the flowers have a moisture content you do not want in the oil)
Comments
@Jade Violet - Thanks for sharing Jade! I would have used another oil if I had had it at hand, but then again I was surprised at how well this worked with the coconut oil I had. It was a deodorized version of coconut oil, so, no scent at all except the lilacs! My future versions will be with palm oil. Do hyou work with glass ålates and nets and such? I'd love to hear more about your process!
Christiane
Thanks!