This is the first fragrance I ever created! Well, it’s the nth iteration of said fragrance. The very first instance was just three ingredients: patchouli acetate, Dorinia SAE, and hydroxycitronellal in the form of Firmenich’s Cyclosia base. I had mixed the three together in the proportions found in this fragrance and dipped a smelling stick into it. Hours later I walked into the room I had left it in and was met with the most magical and profoundly beautiful scent.
I then went on to make version after version to get it where I really wanted it. No matter how many versions I made, however, the three core materials never changed in type or quantity. This, believe it or not, was five years in the making! It was a favorite of my late mother and family members who received free bottles.
A friend who wears it as her main scent was stopped in the mall by a complete stranger and asked what perfume she was wearing so the questioner could buy a bottle for herself.
This is a simple fragrance with big doses of all my favorite things: patchouly acetate (Perfumer Supply House can supply this), Dorinia SAE (this version has macrocyclic musks and is the most beautiful), Lisylang Heart (fractionated ylang ylang by Robertet), muscenone (the most elegant musk), Cyclosia, and timbersilk (effectively Iso G Super).
Top Notes
Bergamot, Ginger, Pink Pepper
Heart Notes
Red Rose, Ylang Ylang, Lily of the Valley
Iris, Geranium, Frangipani
Base Notes
Patchouli, Musk, Oakmoss
Frankincense, Chocolate, Benzoin
| Quantity | Ingredient | Comments |
| 160 | Timbersilk (IFF) | |
| 100 | Ethylene Brassylate | |
| 90 | Cyclosia | Hydroxycitronellal |
| 80 | Lisylang Heart (Robertet) | Ylang Ylang, frangipani, monoi notes |
| 80 | Hedione High Cis | |
| 80 | Patchoulyl Acetate | Sweet and elegant patchouli |
| 80 | Muscenone | Woah mama! Big dose! |
| 60 | Galaxolide 100% | |
| 50 | Ethyl Linalool | |
| 40 | Dorinia SA-E (Firmenich) | Red Rose with 3% Beta Damascone |
| 35 | Iralia (Firmenich) | Methyl ionone blend |
| 30 | Lyral | Could substitute florol or lilyflore |
| 10 | Geranium Bourbon | |
| 10 | Polvolide | Dihydro Nirvanolide |
| 9 | Exaltone | Nicer than exaltolide but inferior to exaltenone |
| 8 | Benzoin 100% | |
| 5 | Evernyl | Oakmoss chemical |
| 4 | Ginger CO2 | |
| 3 | Dihydromyrcenol | |
| 3 | Bulgarian Rose Otto | |
| 2 | Pink Pepper CO2 | |
| 1.5 | Frankincense Sacred (Oman) | |
| 5 | Damascenone Beta 10% | |
| 0.5 | Rose Oxide Laevo 100% | |
| 1 | Indole 10% | |
| 3 | Chocovan 1% | |
| 50 | Triethyl Citrate | Diluent |
| 1000 |
I can’t wait to try this out!!! Thanks Jamie!
You’re welcome! Hope you like it!
Perfect, getting excited seeing the ingredients listed!!
Thanks, have to check for the Lisylang.., I think I have the patchoulyl acetate but I am not sure.
Chocovan at 1%? Haven’t used it since I bought a small amount, but it’s strong I guess?
Furthermore I am so glad that you almost use anything at 100%, because I hate dilutions.
Lilyslang is awesome – such a great material with lots of diverse uses. Chocovan is quite strong and at 1% it can be added as a discreet nuance. You could ramp it up if you want but I don’t want it to be obvious too the wearer that it’s there.
I’ve mixed this one a few weeks ago, instead of the lisylang I’ve used Ylang III and Patchouly Fraction B, and double the amount of Galaxolide 50%. I’ve used a zip bag for my waste(pipets. weighing boats) mounted on a tripod, and I didn’t throw this bag away…The sent coming from this bag is amazing, I still have this bag and open it now and then to release the nice odor! And I didn’t even try the mixture itself due to the macerating process. This smells like Black Aoud from Montale or other Rose/oud combo’s …The funny thing is that… Read more »
I love it when that happens – quite often my little waste bin develops a sell-able odour 🙂 This probably doesn’t need a crazy long maceration time – I’d give it one to two weeks before ethanol and then go from there.
Thanks, Jamie. I love Patchoulyl acetate with rose. I will definitely try it.
Yeah it’s beautiful – especially with the high amount of damascone in the dorinia.
Planning on making this formula. There doesn’t seem to be any bergamot in the formula but its noted as a top note. Is the bergamot missing ?
Bergamot is listed as a note but notes often don’t reference actual materials in a perfume! The bergamot note comes from ethyl linalool and dihydromyrcenol. It’s a fantasy note. Most times you see “rose” listed on a modern perfumes’ list of notes, it won’t have any real rose in it.
Thanks Jamie. Could i replace some of the ethyl linalool / DHM bergamot ? What impact would that have ?
I would leave the dihyromyrcenol as it adds a bit of a je ne sais quoi at that level, but you could certainly replace all of the ethyl linalool with bergamot (pure and natural or Bergapten free if you are so inclined). Ethyl linalool sticks around longer than bergamot – I think you might be able to get some nice results from maybe replacing just 20% of the ethyl linalool with terpeneless bergamot, or something like 18g linalyl acetate and 2g terpeneless orange oil (it is very strong) – keeping 30g of the ethyl linalool. Chanel No 5 (the original… Read more »
The formulation looks very promising!
I can’t get my hands on Lisylang Heart though.. Can I substitute if for some other Ylang? Organic EO by Biolandes, for example?
And as for Iralia – do you think I can play with different proportions of metyl ionone alpha and beta instead?
I used Ylang Extra instead of the Lisylang Heart but only used half the amount. Worked out good.
I’m sure u can substitude Iralia for other methyl ionones or Isoraldeine
Iralia is a highly refined quality of beta-n-methyl ionone. I think Isoraldeine (95 ideally but 70 would work too) would be a fine substitute or a generic beta methyl ionone. I’d suggest like Florian that you use a regular Ylang Ylang. If you go for something very toppy like ylang extra or even to a lesser degree ylang ylang complete, reduce the amount or it will stick out. Alternatively go for something like Ylang Ylang II or maybe even I (you might need to reduce a bit with Ylang I too).
I’ll try going with regular Ylang then! Thank you for so much useful information! I also sent you a message via “contact us” form, hope it reaches you!:)
Got it and replied! 🙂
Hello Jamie, I have a question about the Chocovan, I am not sure but I think it’s 50% in TEC? So, this you diluted then to 1%, right? Thanks, Peter
Interestingly I see Vigon sells it labelled at 50% TEC – but the bottle I have does not label it as such. My dilution is of the purchased product without labelling – restricted to 33% use in a fragrance due to benzaldehyde. I would start with the presumption that my bottle is 100% – so it is a true 1% – not a 0.5%.
Hi Jamie, can I replace Rose Oxide Laevo with the Racemic as Laevo isn’t available to purchase in small quantities
Yes you can indeed – racemic is still a beautiful material.
Jamie, I put together this formula with couple of substitutions. I replaced Rose Oxide Laevo with Racemic + Doremox in equal proportions and since I only had 1/3rd of required quantity of Rose Bulgaria Otto I added remaining 2/3rd quantity in form of Rose Absolute Bulgarian, and still can’t believe how extraordinary the result is. Its definitely a winner for me. Kudos Jamie
I think you’ve made some really well considered changes here actually – the Bulgarian abs is not as penetrating as the Otto, so when you added a touch of doremox you probably re-balanced that while getting the beauty of the abs (I prefer rose abs to Otto in general). And I find doremox and ginger are a beautiful combo. Your final result is probably a beautiful improvement on my original – I may even try mixing it up myself!