Extract, filter and blend your own secret scent formulae.
All you need to do is mix up differing quantities of the perfumes you have already made. Keep track of the formula by writing down how much of each base you used. Of course, you can also mix in perfumes from home too.
The card is designed to form a mass of long pulp fibres in room temperature water when shaken with air in a closed tube.
Here are four possibilities:
1. Maybe the water is very cold and/or very ‘hard’? Try using hand warm water from the hot tap, or after it has been boiled in the kettle. But not hot please to avoid distorting the syringe and to avoid scalds. Boiled water tends to be ‘softer’ and the warmer water will improve pulp dispersal and liberate more volatile oils.
2. Cut the card into very small pieces so they can ‘slosh’ around while being shaken. This also helps pulping.
3. Suck in plenty of air into the syringe along with the water and card pieces. This will give more room for vigorous shaking. And please do shake VERY vigorously to break up the card pieces.
4. In our lab, at step 6 on page 6, we prefer to suck the perfumed water from the little cup back into the syringe and give it all another good shake. It seems to get even more perfume out of the card.
On page 6 step 5, you can shake the small pieces of the perfumed card until they totally break up into a mushy mess!
In fact, when we are playing in the lab, we go a few steps further than in the booklet.
At step 6, we actually suck the perfumed water back from the little cup into the syringe, shake it and squirt it out again about 3 more times!
Sounds and looks disgusting, but smells divine!
This way we make sure we’ve got every drop of perfume mixed in with the water.
Yes, you can use the perfume on yourself. The reason for the scary Safety Sheet is that international laws require us to use those exact words in our kits.
In fact, some people ARE allergic to perfumes. And, yes, all perfumes are chemicals. Allergic people usually know about their allergies already.
But just to be sure, dab a patch of your perfume on the inside of your wrist. Wait 5 minutes and wash it off and dry your wrist.
After 5 minutes, if there is no itching, staining or irritation, go ahead and dab it on. But don’t let it splash on your eyes or lips … just like bought perfume, it can sting.
