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Florida Water

To: alt.lucky.w,alt.paranormal.spells.hexes.magic,alt.religion.orisha,alt.magick
From: catherine yronwode 
Subject: Re: Florida Water (was: Re: How do you make...)
Date: Tue, 07 Mar 2000 19:35:59 GMT

Kirsten Rowe wrote:
> 
> From "Perfumes, Splashes and Colognes" by Nancy Booth
> 
> Claims to be an American version of the original Eau de Cologne 
> introduced in this country in 1808:
> 
> 2 c. distilled water
> 1/4 c. vodka or grain alcohol
> 6 drops essential oil of lavender
> 2 drops essential oil of clove bud
> 8 drops essential oil of bergamot
> 
> Mix all ingredients in a sterilized glass container.  Seal the bottle 
> and store in the refrigerator for two weeks for the scents to blend.  
> Use within two months if refrigerated, two weeks if not.
> 
> Kirsten
> 
> No offense to the author of the first recipe.

None taken, for sure! -- i was not the author of those recipes -- i was
simply passing along commercial (not new-age or home-made) formulas for
Florida Water and Kananga Water from some standard mid-20th century
manuals of perfumery in my collection. 

And no offense to you, Kirsten, but i would like to point out that the
Nancy Booth recipe given abouve is too weak even for toilet water -- 2
cups of water to 1/4 cup vodka results in a mixture that must be
refrigerated for preservation and then will only keep for two months.
That is not the way perfumes are handled in real life -- we all know
that a good perfume will keep its scent for decades, unrefrigerated.
Some ancient Egyptian perfumes sealed in tombs were found to be still
fragrant after millennia! 

Also, i think that the use of Vodka is not a good idea. I've tried it,
myself -- it's so darned easy to get -- but, as i quoted from Hscox and
Sloane's formulary last time, spirits of wine supply subtle fragrances
of their own which Vodka lacks -- and Vodka supplies a rather icky (to
me) "eau de potato" fragrance that can contrast unfavourably with the
subtle delicay of floral oils. 

Booth's recipe is obviously NOT "the original Eau de Colgne" introduced
in 1808. I have three commercial formulas for Colognes, including one
also said to be "the original," and i'll gladly post them if anyw=one
wishes to pursue this further. For now, suffice it to say that Eau de
Cologne is similar to the Florida Water version #1 i gave in my post --
that is, is ia a complex blend of a variety of floral and spicy scents
(not just 3 scents as above) and it is alcohol-based, not water-based. 

Thanks for taking the time to post this recipe, and, as i said, no
offense was intended . I find this discussion very interesting because
the use of perfumes and perfumed incense is important in several
branches of magic and religion, yet few people stop to ask what is
included in the scents they use.  

Cordially, 

cat yronwode 

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