Organic Frangipani Enfleurage Oil

Also know as Frangipani Essential Oil, Frangipani Organic Enfleurage, Frangipani absolute, Plumeria Oil, Plumeria Enfleurage, Plumeria absolute, and Plumeria Essential Oil (plumeria alba).

Visitors to Southern India may have memories of the sweet,  dense floral fragrance of frangipani blossoms wafting sensuously around shrines and temples where it grows. The beautiful frangipani flower also appears to have been highly prized by the Maya and other ancient peoples of Mesoamerica as evidenced by the many instances in which the blossoms have been found carved into remains of buildings in that region. There is so much magic to this plant: the frangipani flower releases it’s captivating fragrance at night and the blossoms are almost impossibly difficult to set afire;  in parts of Asia,  ghosts are believed to live in its branches; and, some Buddhists and Hindus also believe it symbolizes immortality.

Frangipani Enfleurage Oil is one of the most rare and precious oils in the world. It’s widely loved for its heavenly aroma and is coveted by perfumers for the sensual tropical note it lends to aromatic compositions. Please note that the aroma of this oil is subtle, rather than strong; used on the body at the pulse points of neck and wrists as a single-note in proper dilution, it will be barely or hardly detectable to many unless they are very close to the point at which it was applied. FYI – Some refer to this frangipani oil extracted by the enfleurage method as Organic Frangipani Essential Oil but, the proper term is Organic Frangipani Enfleurage Oil.

Our Organic Frangipani Oil is artisan-produced by our long-time supplier in South America who has revived the traditional, labor-intensive extraction method known as enfleurage and now runs one of the few operations in the world where this method is still utilized for extracting essential oils.

Enfleurage is a process that extracts a plant’s essential oils but since only products produced by distillation or pressing are properly called “essential oils”, enfleurage extracts are not referred to as essential oils.  Technically, an enfleurage extract can be called an absolute but unlike solvent-extracted commercial absolutes,  enfleurage oils are 100% natural and contain no synthetic ingredients. To learn more about this process, continue reading below (Extracting Frangipani by Enfleurage).

The revival of the enfleurage technique has once again permitted extraction of oils from species of flowers whose blossoms cannot withstand steam distillation.  The technique of Enfleurage is carried out entirely by hand and the oils produced by this method are costly and in limited supply.

As far as we know, we are the only purveyor of Frangipani Enfleurage Oil. The commercially produced, solvent-extracted absolute is widely used in perfumery and according to Perfumers World it has been found to be suitable for use in alcoholic perfumes, creams and lotions, talcum powder, liquid soap, other body care products and candles.

Frangipani Usage and Safety Information

Because the technique of enfleurage has only recently been revived, safety information on these products is not widely available for many of the specific species now being extracted. Enfleurage oils are most frequently used by professional perfumers who have training in how to dilute absolutes for perfume making in order to avoid skin irritation. Frangipani absolute produced by solvent extraction has been used at an average concentration of 1.3% in commercial perfumes and body care products. Until more safety information is available for Frangipani Enfleurage Oil, we recommend a maximum concentration of 1% for using this product on the skin; this concentration can be achieved by adding 9 drops of Frangipani Enfleurage Oil to one ounce of vegetable oil (such as grapeseed oil). For making a roll-on perfume, add 3 drops of Frangipani Enfleurage Oil to 10 ml (2 teaspoons) of vegetable oil ( we like to use jojoba as the vegetable oil for roll-on perfumes); this will give you enough to fill a standard 10 ml roller bottle; the scent will be subtle but lovely. Avoid excessive use (topical or inhalation) of Frangipani Enfleurage Oil. Until more extensive safety information is available, we recommend avoiding use of Frangipani Enfleurage Oil throughout pregnancy and when nursing. For external use only.

Extracting Frangipani by Enfleurage

The essential oils of Frangipani cannot be extracted by distillation due to the delicate nature of the flowers. Enfleurage was the traditional method of extraction used in the 18th and 19th centuries and into the early 20th century. Solvent extraction using hexane has virtually replaced enfleurage and now there are only a very few artisanal companies that can do floral extractions using this method. Most of the few companies that have become involved in the enfleurage revival are doing rose enfleurage and as far as we know, our supplier’s company is the only source for Frangipani Enfleurage Oil.

Our Frangipani Enfleurage Oil is the choice for natural perfumes as it contains no synthetic chemicals. Take a look at the process and see:

During the extraction process of Enfleurage, fresh, fully opened Frangipani flowers are plucked and carefully laid on trays covered with a layer of pure, local, organic Palm oil. The essential oils from the flower petals slowly migrate to the Palm oil and the process is repeated until the Palm oil is completely saturated with the essence of Frangipani. Then the flower oil is separated from the Palm oil by organic cane sugar alcohol which is then evaporated leaving only the pure Frangipani Enfleurage. The entire process of extracting the Frangipani for Enfleurage oil is done by hand using no heat and no harsh chemical solvents. It’s very labor intensive and requires many pounds of Frangipani flower petals per mL of oil, but the results are astounding. Most noses would find the aroma to be quite similar to that of the Frangipani  flower. There’s nothing quite like smelling the actual flower but our all-natural Frangipani Oil comes close.

Note: Do note that initially, in addition to the aroma of the flowers’ essential oil, sensitive noses will detect the faint aroma of Palm oil (a bit “earthy) but, if given a few moments to “breathe”, the floral aroma of the essential oil supersedes / replaces that of the palm oil. Most noses love the aroma of our enfleurage oils (and quite a few of our customers are professional perfumers) but a few (less than 1%) of our customers smell more of the palm oil than that of the essential oil. Since our enfleurage products cannot be returned for a refund, due to their rarity, we recommend that you first purchase a small sample vial to insure that you are not among the 1% of people who dislike the earthy note of the palm oil.

Natural Frangipani perfume is often enjoyed as a single-flower oil since the rich, warm, heady floral aroma produced from the flowers is considered osmotically balanced (like Carnation and Lavender), which means that their floral compounds are perfectly balanced, containing a top, middle, and base note.