Sky Juice Modified #1 Earl Grey Tea

I love my earl grey tea early in the morning. It brings me joy and wakes me up from slumber. Every time I inhale its strong citrus scent I feel that nothing is impossible this day for me. It’s my go to caffeine.

*Russian Earl Grey Tea*

A light smoky blend with a hint of citrus and strong lemongrass scent. 

Verdict:

I suppose this is an idea taken from ancient caravan-transported teas with the smoky flavor but I am rather put off by the slight oiliness scent that lemongrass is well known for. Not really my cuppa EGT.

*Twinning Earl Grey Tea*

They use to be so fragrant, a bouquet that is full body and strong. But this new batch that I bought is disappointing. It could be that they are on the shelves too long and also because I bought them on discount. Anyway with some variation I added ½ teaspoon of lavender to it to give it more of a kick. Beautiful. 

Verdict:

 Good cheap tea to play with and modify with different blend of herbs and spices.

*French Earl Grey Tea*

Light-girly-toss-of-nose kinda citrusy. Its very delicate and remember not to use too hot of a water as it will drown out the light fragrance in the tea. It makes me feel like a porcelain doll that can’t take too rough handling or I will be in need of a swoon on the chaise.

Verdict:

Good for girly Sunday Brunch but a bit too delicate for a wake me up.

*TWG American Earl Grey Tea*

The salesman assured me that it is the strongest flavor earl grey around TWG. I love the scent of it slightly tipping towards the strong yet gentle manner it produce. Just the right mix of citrus top note for scent and evolve to the taste of vanilla undertone. 

Verdict:

Love it. Good for those morning when one would need a man to cuddle.(Strong vanilla base could be the very reason)

Perfume Potion # 1 “Citrus Musk”

I am dedicating this perfume to my “Cookie Monster”. My clumsy first attempt to make a perfume for him was citrus musk. Back then I haphazardly mix a bunch of essential oil and some fragrance oil together, obviously it didn’t turn out good enough.

As I am quite the hoarder and did not want to waste the precious oils so I just let it sit around for a bit. The problem with this potion is that there is a huge distinction between the top and base note. Looking back I realize there was no middle note and the base note was just the fragrance musk. It needs a good dry down and middle note to round it up. Its like you can see the head and leg but not the body. 

“Cookie Monster” likes to nose around the bottles of failed experiments. He like the potion. Not being a “nose” he didn’t understand the concept of a good perfume from a lousy one. He just know what he likes and dislike. I believe the reason he enjoys it is because of the natural essential oil of grapefruit and bergamot, which uplift him every time he sprays it. That I find is the true beauty of natural perfume. It uplifts ones mood, as no other commercial synthetic perfume out there will. 

Anyway, he was reminding me a few days back to make him more of the “good stuff” but alas with no good bookkeeping I couldn’t find the recipe again. SO I guess I will have to do a tabula rasa.

A fresh start is good except that I am rather impatient and inexperience, not forgetting I have not have the foundation of knowing my materials yet. Some of the materials are so expensive to test it out with.

I just try to recreate from scratch. But this time round, I think I will include ylang ylang to add body to the perfume so that there is no gap between the top and base note. I find that ylang ylang is an expansive note and it fills out the gaps pretty nicely. The only problem is that it can be too expansive if too much is added. It needs a delicate touch. I would also like to make it slightly spicier with an addition of black pepper to the top note. As of now it is stewing in a dark corner of the room waiting to be evaluate in about 1 month time.

I intend to add in more citrus notes to extend the life of the top notes longer. Maybe a little bit of glycerin should do the trick to hold it down. The synthetic musk is sorta good as a fixative to add longevity to the perfume on the skin. But the end result will be different from the first one as in, the current perfume volume will smell like a big fat ball unlike it’s hourglass predecessor.

Of course this is not the end of the Citrus Musk Journey, as I am still unhappy with it but it will satisfy my “cookie monster” for a while.

Till then signing off,

Sandi