17 April 2011

Medieval Stillroom

A few years ago I participated in a swap with the theme The Medieval Stillroom. It was very interesting to learn about concoctions made in the 1500s and 1600s. I'd come across online versions of writings by John French and Nicolas Culpepper. Recipes for scented oils and waters, herbal preparations, even food. It was all fascinating. I started thinking about this today and when I went back to all the notes I'd taken on the subject I realized that this swap had been my precursor into the world of natural perfumery. I hadn't forgotten about the swap but I had forgotten about how much this influenced my NP studies. I often attributed my interest to a brief study of aromatherapy. Aromatherapy was the start but it was participating in this swap that really catapulted me into natural perfumery. 

What did I contribute?


This is rose sweetwater. It started as an infusion of fresh rosemary and rose petals (the color is from the rose petals). I didn't have what was needed to do a full infusion of all the aromatics so essential oils of orange & lavender and jasmine absolute were used. Sweetwater was used to cleanse hands before meals.

2 comments:

lostpastremembered said...

I want to try gilliflower (carnation) one of these days... it was very popular back in the day... vinegars and tonics! Your sweetwater looks wonderful.

Lisa BTB said...

Thank you so much. This is the first I've heard the name gilliflower. I'll have to research it.