How to Extract Perfume From Jonquils

Jonquils, the most strongly scented flowers in the narcissus/daffodil family, lend themselves beautifully to fragrance making. For centuries, perfume houses have used the enfleurage method to extract scent from the jonquil and other flowers. In enfleurage, fresh flower petals infuse some type of fat or lard, which then gets steeped in alcohol and later removed, leaving behind heavenly-scented perfume. You don't have to be a French perfumer to enact this alchemical feat. Enfleurage is easily done at home, provided you have access to armloads of jonquils over the course of several days.

Things You'll Need

• Ridged 2' x 2' panes of glass or pie plates
• Jonquil flowers
• Animal fat, Crisco or jojoba-beeswax mixture
• Spatula
• 190 proof ethyl alcohol
• Wide-mouth jars
• Perfume bottles

Instructions

1. Using a clean spatula, spread layers of fat on two ridged, clean panes of glass or pie plates (the underside of one pie plate and the interior of the other). The fat can be rendered animal fat, Crisco, or jojoba oil thickened with beeswax.

2. Strip your jonquils of their petals and press the petals into both panes of glass. Lay the petals as close together as possible in a single layer.

3. Press the two panes together, with the two petal-fat sides facing one another.

4. Leave the panes in a warm place with no drafts, for about two days.

5. Separate the panes of glass and remove the flowers, which should be completely scentless by this point. If not, you'll know to leave them longer the second time.

6. Repeat the process several times, always removing the spent jonquil flowers and adding freshly-picked ones. Because you won't find hard-and-fast rules for how many times you will need to remove old petals and add new ones, your best bet is to keep checking until the fat seems strongly scented.

7. Chop or slice the fat into pieces, scrape it off the glass with a spatula and place into wide-mouthed containers, filling about halfway. Pour alcohol into the containers until the liquid reaches the brim. Cap and set aside.

8. Let the alcohol-scented fat mixture steep for several weeks.

9. At the end of the steeping period, filter the alcohol by pouring the mixture through several layers of cheesecloth. The scented, colored alcohol is your jonquil perfume.

10. Add a fixative to the alcohol to prevent evaporation. Good choices include tincture of benzoin or sandalwood essential oil, both available at drug or health food stores.

11. Pour the perfume into a pretty bottle with a sturdy cork or stopper, and store in a dark place.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't discard the petals or fat used during the enfleurage process. The petals can be re-soaked in a different alcohol solution to make a lightly-scented cologne, while the scented fat, known as pomade, can be used in lotion- or soap-making.

• To turn your single-note jonquil perfume into a more complex fragrance, add essential oils to the scented alcohol.

• If using animal fat, you will need to purify it to render it as odorless as possible. Butchers might offer purified lard, but if you attempt to render the fat yourself, carefully research the multi-step process.

• Make sure to only use the jonquil's petals during the enfleurage process. Parts of the stems or leaves could harbor fungi and ruin the perfume.

References

• "The Aromatherapy Book;" Jeanne Rose; 1992
• Mother Earth News

Resources

• Nature Hills