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The Corroboree

CβL

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Posts posted by CβL

  7. Posted

    I see no reason why they won't be able to become green again later on. But for now, they need to be in recovery mode. Maybe some seasol would help them recover. I would definitely use some shade-cloth, and keep a finger on the temps inside (keep them down to inhibit fungal growth).

  8. Posted

    I've not played around with scents at all before really. I accidentally dabbed some honeysuckle on my nose (touched the rim of the bottle) and smelled and tasted it for 20 minutes or so. I'll try do it more methodically next time.
    I decided I'm also going to incorporate some vanilla into the scent as well. Finding the correct bottles and a high purity ethanol is proving more difficult than I thought (I'd prefer not to use vodka, as I'm sure the fusel alcohols are not good for longevity).
    I was also a bit disheartened when I read the shelf life of the essential oils isn't as long as I thought (it's about 2 years before they begin to noticeably change apparently, for the lighter ones). I guess I'll have to wear cologne every day then, haha.

    Onwards. :)

  9. Posted

    Well I received my essential oils today.

    Elemi oil smells absolutely amazing (can't get enough of it) - reminds me of a fruit candy type smell, but none in particular.

    Frankincense (bit musky) and Rosewood both are growing on me, they're a bit woody smelling (rosewood is a bit lemony, very fresh smell).

    Cinnamon bark oil smells quite different to cinnamon bark at once (almost a bit like a scotch, but not), but becomes the familiar scent quickly as the strong notes fade.

    Ylang ylang is absolutely foul - it's not going into the cologne - smells a bit like blue cheese.

    Honeysuckle fragrance oil is sickly smelling - I think it smells like a cheap Glade toilet freshener - it's not going in. About the same for the Neroli fragrance oil.

    I have some mild eucalyptus/mint oil that I will put into the mix, as I just love the smell of mint.

    (bold = going to the next stage almost certainly)

    The next stage is to get the cologne spray bottles ready, as I want to make a first batch, and test it out. Hopefully before Saturday whence I can test it out on a certain lady. ;)

  13. Posted · Edited by CβL

    To me entheogens are catalysts (using the chemistry definition - actually look if up if you can't recite the definition, watch some YT videos to get a feel for how they work). There is nothing they bring that can't be achieved through some combination of questions, contemplation, time, experiences, ideas and peace and chaos. But as any chemist knows, there are certain reactions that take forever without the catalyst, or don't even proceed at all under some conditions (e.g. if your life is very busy, and you have a stressful life, that might be a condition in which the reaction is not favourable to begin). To bring about the changes that entheogens can help catalyze, one might need to spend years of time dedicated solely to self-improvement (monks for example). While these changes and thoughts can be had in a few sessions of entheogeny where one integrates new knowledge and has a strong mindset that is continually developed and practices in normal life too. I feel that they are a strong tool - just as we could do some things without tools, using tools saves a lot of time and effort, and the results are more or less the same.

    I should add that they are still extremely precious to me, even though I've just analytically described them. :)

    • Like 6

  14. Posted

    It would be interesting to see if cannabis essential oils are stronger than other essential oils touted for relaxation. My hunch says yes - but it would be extremely hard to test this accurately (confirmation bias and placebo effect are very strong modifiers when effects are mild).

    I've got a bottle of tea-tree essential oil I decided I'd use for the mix too. Now does anyone know if this essential oil is used in any medicinal products? I don't want to smell like I've rubbed medicine on myself. Like obviously Vicks smells of menthol - so menthol is mostly a no-no for cologne.

  15. Posted

    I try and frame these problems graphically. I've managed the equation
    (AB)/(2*sqrt[A^2 + B^2]) = K

    This is a 3D surface, with independent variables A and B, and dependent is K. I need to prove that at every grid-point (i.e. integers) that K is not an odd integer.

    Wameron's answer is interesting (and uses a similar approach to many successful number theory proofs) - I'll think more about it. :)

  16. Posted

    I remember reading about the solid perfume idea ages ago - I'll give it a go once I get the hang of blending scents. Well the oils I'll be getting should last fairly long time (they only need to make 3-4 lots of cologne to break even) - so I might try it at a later date. I would try the massage oil, but unfortunately I only have myself to massage at this stage (and it's just a bit creepy to make a massage oil to massage yourself isn't it? :P ).

    At the moment I'm using mostly essential oils, which are produced via steam distillation. This ensures that the oils are volatile and will actually waft around. You can get oils using cold pressing, and tinctures - but they're often full of waxes and stuff that you don't want in perfume (as they clog up the sprayer, and can oxidize and do other stuff).

    Making essential oils is not hard. You need a steam distiller, which you basically fill with macerated (= munched up) plant material, and then you raise the temperature to the right amount to the steam, and the steam carries off essential oil components. This allows you to somewhat tailor the components of the distillate. You can for example sit your distiller at twenty or so degrees below your desired isolate for a couple of hours, which removes all the low-boiling-point things which you can then move out of the condensor, and then you raise it to a couple of degrees above what your isolate requires to vaporize, and then you get most of your isolate out, and then you raise it again to get the next fraction. That's more or less how they make petrol from crude oil too.

    Why would you want to get cannabis scent? I'm legitimately curious. Do you want to get your vehicle searched every time you meet a coppa? :P

    That 'entfleurage' sounds interesting too. It would be cool to get some unique scents that way.

    Apparently my oils shipped today, so if I can source pure ethanol, then I'll start making it ASAP. :) I wonder if it's possible to just use isopropyl alcohol - it would be easy to get pure, and I don't need much at all.

    • Like 2

  21. Posted

    Boom. So I decided that I'm not going to pay $50+ for a bottle of fragrance every few years. I decided that I'm going to make my own damn cologne. So after some hap-hazard research, I found out:

    1) Perfume ingredients are 'ranked' based on how long they last. They're ranked into base, middle and top notes - with base lasting the longest. A scent will contain elements in all 3. Okay cool.

    So I set about coming up with a scent. Here's what I ordered to play around with:

    Base
    Cinnamon
    Frankincense

    Middle
    Elemi
    Ylang-ylang

    Top
    Rosewood
    Neroli fragrance oil (synthetic - the real stuff is way too dear :( )
    Honeysuckle fragrance oil (no real stuff available)

    So all I need to do, is basically get a couple of containers, get some pure ethanol, drip the oils (about 7~ drops total required from each layer) in, and then put that into the container, and then I smell nice.

    Here's some rough methods (I'll probably combine them all into one mega-method that is best :P ):

    http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-perfume/

    http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemistryhowtoguide/a/makeperfume.htm





    ANYWAY, the reason I'm making the thread is because I'm fully interested to hear your comments about colognes, experiences, ideas, and if anyone has made colognes/perfumes before then please get typing! :)

    • Like 1

  22. Posted

    It's also not just age, but growing conditions. I find that with Peruvianus/Macrogonus plants they usually grow a second long central spine (or two) out of each areole the next growing season (could be around the 2-3 year mark to first start seeing these). There are other factors again, such as Scopulicola seedlings apparently have spines, but as the plant ages it will stop growing the spines. I believe this is the case with some Pachanoi plants too.

    • Like 1
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