Anointing oil · oud
Limited edition: nine 10ml bottles of exclusive face oil magic and a personalized haiku.
Everyone laments: anything oud is too expensive. Yes. But still. There are ways around it. You add a few drops of the distilled wood to other botanicals and essential oils, and before you know it, you have a great elixir for the benefit of your health and beauty.
The blend around the precious oud here uses Camellia Japonica oil as the base. In addition to the drops of oud oil, there are five other oils that enhance the magic of this luxury: frankincense, Mysore sandalwood, Siam benzoin, myrrh, and rose attar from famed Kannauj. As with everything else, the secret of the sauce is in proportion. How much of which will remain undisclosed.
Camellia oil has been an essential part of Japanese beauty rituals for centuries. It contains 80% of oleic acid that is very effective in enhancing the skin’s moisture retention ability. The oil is easily absorbed into the lower layers of the skin, working on cell growth and improving the skin’s elasticity.
Frankincense and myrrh have always been known for their miraculous magical and healing properties, while the benzoin supports the immune system. The Mysore sandalwood lends the blend elegance and calm. The precious Damask rose oil is prized for its powerful anti-aging and antioxidant property in addition to improving depression, balancing the hormones, and reducing anxiety. ‘Whoa, that promises a lot,’ you may say, but this stuff isn’t kidding… Try it, and judge for yourself.
Hand-crafted in Denmark and offered as a limited edition for the leap year.
100% Natural Ingredients · 10 ml
How to use it
Anoint yourself with this oil, and basically no demon will dare to mess with you.
First cleanse your face. If the pores are open, all the better. For maximum effect, sit with a wet hot cloth over your face for a few minutes, in order to prepare the face for the oil. That’s the most efficient, especially if you want to use the oil during the day, and not after a bath or a regular wash.
Add a few drops to your palms. Bring your hands to your nose and take a deep breath. Then spread the oil on your face. You can also repeat the ‘wet hot cloth’ over your face once the oil is applied, without wiping it off though, just to enhance its working. But this latter step is not necessary. Judge for yourself.
The oil suits both men and women. Although intended as a face oil, it can also function as a perfume oil. Note, however, that as a perfume, it is not as intense as the oil that’s crafted exclusively for fragrance.
What’s in it
Aquilaria malaccensis (Oud)
Santalum Album (Mysore Sandalwood)
Boswellia carterii (Frankincense)
Commiphora Myrrha (Myrrh)
Styrax tonkinensis (Benzoin Siam)
Rosa Damascena (Kannauj Rose)
Camellia Japonica Seed oil
Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis Oil (Almond)
Rosa Canina (Rosehip) Seed Oil
Tocopherol
What they say
‘Sensei, it’s perfect. You really should create a whole line based on that scent. AMAZING.’ – Kelley Becker, Germany
‘An exquisite and lovely thing. The face oil smells divine.’ – Jessica Newton, US
‘How I feel with your oud: like the image of a femme fatale dressed in black, spraying herself aggressively with perfume…’ – Dorian Broadway, US
ABOUT AGGER SENSES
We use knowledge to remedy our human condition. But we can’t remedy the odours that enter our noses. I’m interested in that. In addition to weaving words, I blend perfume oils. Old Testament style. The Song of Songs style. Nothing more, nothing less.
While I fling my books to the larger public, I reserve my alchemy for the noses who already know what the world of desire is really about.
Under the signature, AGGER SENSES, I create limited edition fragrances. Agger is a magical place in Denmark at the edge of everything. In this liminal space I encounter the purity of elements, with the Zephyr, the west wind, leading the way. The sea is only 200 meters from my house. I hear its waves and smell the salt. The lyme grass and its roots is my local ‘vetiver,’ the strong ingredient in perfumery. The buckthorn is my ‘frankincense.’ The wild rosa rugosa is my precious ‘rosa damascena.’
The whole place oozes with secrecy, the kind that we encounter in old perfumery books, the books we read for the type of knowledge the Greeks call metis, the knowledge derived from keen observation, acquired skill, subtle wit, and quick judgment. I invite you to experience my ‘reading’ of plant matter and precious elixirs in the form of a blend.
In this kind of work I collaborate only with leading professionals who can guarantee the quality of their distilled oils, concretes and absolutes, such as Esensera in Denmark, Hermitage Oils in Italy, and the occasional ethnobotanist and resin nerd, Marco Billi.
I like to think of the stuff I pour into my scent creations as the ‘stuff of the gods,’ as only the best will do. This means investing a considerable amount of money in the basic and precious ingredients, which also means, invariably, that what I make can only qualify as exclusive, insofar as it occupies the high end spot on the spectrum of things of value.
For more insight into this work, read my reflections here, Scents and Divination.