i tasted it so you don’t have to: floral vodka perfume

my culinary curiosity is strong enough to get me in trouble from time to time. if a substance (food or otherwise) is vegan, intriguing, and not visually or conceptually gross, i’ll eat it, or at least taste it. by licking a saturated bubble-wand i ascertained that fruit-scented bubbles do not taste like fruit (to put it mildly); however there is some variation in taste amongst the different fruit scents (i tried three of them).

cucumber leaves, while they smell like delicious cucumber, are actually tongue-burningly bitter. and vodka infused with flowers: gag-inducing. i learned those last two lessons yesterday. the cucumber leaves were a let-down; the vodka, not terribly surprising.

i steeped a mixture of dried lavender, rose, honeysuckle and calendula in a little over two ounces of 80-proof vodka, sealed in a glass jar and left in the dark for a few days. then i strained the liquid through a coffee filter. it smells good--more like a tea than a perfume, though, and kinda weak. when i first put it on it smells just the slightest bit like beer, but that fades fast.

the floral scent doesn’t stick around for long, and it’s not my favorite. i think i’m going to give it a shot with some essential oils, 100-proof vodka and whatever else recipes written by helpful, experienced people call for. here are a couple guides if you’re interested:

indie fixx tutorial
about.com perfume recipe