Lavender is Lavender is Lavender, NOT!

I have in my collection 5 Lavenders.
Lavender absolute, ORIGIN: Seville Spain (Lavendula luisieri) AKA: LS
Lavender essential oil, ORIGIN: French Provence (Lavender angustifolia) AKA: LF
Lavender essential oil, ORIGIN: Indian Kashmir (Lavender angustifolia) AKA: LK
Lavandin Abrialis, ORIGIN: French (Lavandula hybrida) AKA: LA
Lavender absolute, ORIGIN: Bulgaria (Lavendula angustafolia) AKA: LB

I am going to go through a process of comparing and contrasting these lavenders. I know them all fairly well already but let's just see.

Lavender & Time & Description
LS --------- 20:48 - warm, rich, soft, woody floral, middle note
LS --------- 20:59- mellow, woody, round, leafy
LS --------- 21:09 - mellow, papery, soft woody, dry
LS --------- 21:30 - woody, papery, balsamic

LF --------- 20:52 - sharp, clean, herbal, top note
LF --------- 21:01-softer, although still a little sharp, crisp
LF --------- 21:10 - very clean, crisp, herbal, green, a little dry
LF --------- 21:41 - crisp, fresh, herbal,cool

LK -------- 20:54- sharp but not as sharp, more floral, clean, spicy, herbal, top note
LK -------- 21:02- soft and clean floral, sweeter
LK -------- 21:11- floral, sweeter, fruity, clean,
LK -------- 21:42-fresh, clean, sweet

LA ------- 20:55- medicine, hot, stronger, cough sweets, camphorous, top note, (I think not suitable for perfumery)
LA ------ 21:03-smells like vicks vapo rub, strong, medicinal smell
LA ------ 21:12- still over powering, minty, becoming a little woody
LA ------ 21:48-medicinal, strong, unpleasant

LB ------ 20:57-sharp, clean, woody, not so floral, deeper,herbal
LB ------ 21:04-soft and papery, clean laundry, not much floral, a little sweet
LB ------ 21:14-I think a sort of almond note, spicy, dry
LB ------ 21:50-that almond note again, spicy

Summary
Well first of all my favorite is the Indian Kashmir Lavender EO(Lavender angustifolia.)
I find the Lavandin Arbaralis (Lavandula hybrida) to be completely useless to perfumery as the smell is medicine like and just plain eye watering suff, sort of falls into the same set as tea tree, eucalyptus, camphor.
Both absolutes, the Spanish Lavender Seville (Lavandula luisieri) and the Bulgarian Lavender (Lavendula angustifolia) share similar nuances to each another but seem nothing like any one of the essential oils. The absolutes are more woody spicy, with the Bulgarian Lavender having an interesting almond note on the dry out.
The French Lavender essential oil began to develop cool herbal notes which were clean and crisp while my favorite, the Indian Kashmir Lavender developed a clean but sweet note on the dry out.
I need to try an English Lavender, if I can find one, can't be too hard.
Arctander says about Lavender essential oil "lavender essential oil blends well with Bergamot, and other citrus oils, clove oils (for "Rondeletia" type perfumes), fluve, liatris, oakmoss, patchouli, rosemary, clary sage, pine needle oils, etc. "
He also says in relation to Lavender oil "Labdanum products are excellent fixatives..."
Arctander says of Lavender absolute: "Lavender absolute...of very rich, sweet- herbaceous, somewhat floral odor; in dilution it bears a close resmblance to the odor of the flowering lavender shrubs. It's woody-herby undertone and courmarin-like sweetness duplicate the odor of the botanical material far better than the essential oil. The absolute is sweeter but less floral the the essential oil, and the two materials can form a very pleasant combination".

Tolubalsam

I placed an order with a company I love a few weeks ago and then I sort of forgot about it. A big box of goodies arrived and I opened it excitedly (think of a kid on Christmas morning). I had a fair idea what was in the box. I could smell the Labdanum immediately (I'll talk about that later). But at the bottom of the box was a large canister. I was perplexed. "What is this?" I asked myself, I opened the container and took a sniff. I instinctively use my nose to recognise materials rather than the label (it's good practice). I didn't recognise it, I liked it but I knew I had never smelled it before in any form. I looked at the label. Tolubalsam. Smells like warm (mouth watering now I've got my head stuck in the can. I'm sure this stuff would get me high if I keep smelling it) vanilla toffee biscuits (cookies). I can see it crystallized in the can. It looks solid. "How am I going to get it out" I wondered. I later place the whole tin in a bainmarie and slowly heated it. It poured easily. Looked like thick malt extract. Yummy I would love to eat it. Tolubalsam, I have yet to explore your nuances.

Success with Blackcurrant Absolute

After countless trials and a couple of weeks to let them sit and marry, one of the blackcurrant blends has come up trumps (become a perfume). Interestingly it is the one I thought would be the worst disaster, where I threw caution to the wind and went for *punk*.
It is a complex blend.

Classification: Fruity/Gourmand

The top notes are ripe and fruity.
The heart is very soft, floral and sweet
and the base is warm musky vanilla.

The perfume is tenacious and ripe, lasting over 6 hours on the skin.
This is a perfume for the person who is not afraid to be different.
It is for women.
Call it CRASS, but it's good!

New Book

I bought this amazing book. I can't tell you how much it costs because my husband is subcribed to my blog (Hiya Honey!) But it cost a little more than your average paperback. I had to get it! I was really getting lost with my definitions, my descriptions and my terminology and this book is all I will ever need (I swear) until next month at least. It is published by Allured publishing press, but it is not available at present (sold out I think). I must have bought their last copy!
It lists every natural perfume material under the Sun and gives information about sources, descriptions and uses. This book is a must for anybody exploring the world of natural perfumery. If you are buying or selling natural perfume materials then you need this book to help with questions on authenticity and adulteration.