How to analyze a scent?

I have been wearing a special oil for more than ten years now, which I purchased in a small shop and never found elsewhere.

Fortunately, I bought several bottles of it, and this concoction seems to keep forever...

However, I'm down to my last dram now, with no idea how to get hold of it again. Is there a possibility to get this analyzed somewhere, and if yes, how to go about it? Help greatly appreciated!!

My husband's father was into creating scents and doing taste tests, etc. He was a chemist. You could try finding a chemist and seeing if they can break down the ingredients, as well as see if they know someone who creates perfumes. Also, just ask people, especially at New Age stores. I can usually tell anything that has vanilla, amber, sandalwood, rose and gardenia in it. And I can usually tell what is the top layers and what is the bottom ones.

Does it have a title or a company name on it? That would also be an obvious way to look it up, on the internet, especially!

BTW~When trying to figure out a perfume/oils ingredients and getting overloaded by all that sniffing, take breaks and breath in coffee beans. It clears the senses and you can start again, fresh!

one word....Kamala. . . .

She is a WONDERFUL lady that has been doing oils and perfums for over 20 years...

http://www.kamala.com/services/copy.html

I don't know how expensive it would be but to fully analyzed a perfume it would have to be done by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. Then someone who knows what all the chemicals identified are and who has a knowledge of the perfume industry, would use their expertise to work out what ingredients were made up from these chemicals and try to put together which ratios they were combined in.

I think it would be very expensive.

Thanks for the hints and the link - you know I might even try that!!!

The shop owner told me back then it was their signature oil, which they had developed with an old-fashioned perfumery.

No idea whether this was just a marketing legend, but I sniffed many oils afterwards and never found anything quite like it. It does have some amber and opium notes (the scent, not the drug ) but I'm stuck at that.

It was a shop in New Orleans, later operated from elsehere in Lousiana, and the owner moved away after Katrina. Maybe I should put Morticia on the scent...literally!!

Aulruna said:

It was a shop in New Orleans, later operated from elsehere in Lousiana, and the owner moved away after Katrina. Maybe I should put Morticia on the scent...literally!!

Click to expand...

Not a bad idea! I would think someone would know her name and where she may have moved to. She may even have a website or email address, at this point, and be able to re-supply you!!!