Two part question regarding verbena

[Janthony]

First of all, hello to all.

1. I am very confused regarding verbena. I am noticing that is a less popular scent than the usual suspects - geranium, lavender, tea tree, etc. Mostly what I am seeing is reference to lemon verbena specifically. From what I have seen on the internet, it seems as though lemon verbena is an herb, not that lemon is being added to verbena. Is this so? If it is, is there also regular verbena - one that does not smell citrusy?

2. The reason I am asking all of this, is that I have begun my foray into making soap by trying out a simple body wash. I would love to scent it to match a scent I have fallen in love with. Years ago, I used to go to a massage therapist and the massage lotion had the most incredible scent! Fast forward years later and I have discovered this EXACT scent once again - this time in the form of a shampoo made by the Arrojo salon in NYC. The Arrojo website says "scented lightly with fresh verbena". However, none of the essential oils I have found, nor the other shampoos like L'occitane or the like that specifically mention lemon verbena, actually smell like the shampoo and massage oil. I am wondering if maybe, although the website merely cites "verbena" if there is some blend of scents that produce the smell I get from Arrojo.

Everything I find online seems to be misinformation, confusing, or assumption regarding verbena.

 

[Genny]

Verbena is a type of plant. I know there are hundreds of verbenas species. There's licorice verbena, mint verbena, swamp verbena, etc.

 

[Guest]

Yup, lemon verbena is indeed a plant. I happen to have a big 'ol dried bag of it in my cabinet right now... about the scent in the shampoo, check to see if fragrance or parfum is in that ingredient list anywhere. if so, good luck matching the scent. while verebena may be in there, the fragrance/parfum listing is usually a blend of tons of things and is proprietary.

 

[Janthony]

Thanks for the replies. I am not particularly good at recognizing the ingredients that would give fragrance. The bottle does say "lightly scented with fresh verbena" but now that I think about it, I'm wondering if perhaps that is merely a way of listing the verbena used as an ingredient if it's the only ingredient who's sole purpose was to contribute to the fragrance. In other words, not JUST scented with fresh verbena, but a little verbena contributes TO the scent.

I just found the ingredients listed online are slightly different than that on the bottle - more detailed I guess.

INGREDIENTS: WATER/AQUA/EAU, SODIUM LAUROYL METHYL, ISETHIONATE, SODIUM LAURYL SULFOACETATE, DISODIUM LAURETH SULFOSUCCINATE, COCAMIDOPROPYL BETAINE, SODIUM LAUROYL SARCOSINATE, DECYL GLUCOSIDE, POLYQUATERNIUM-7, MORINGA PTERYGOSPERMA SEED OIL, ALEURITES MOLUCCANA SEED OIL, HYDROLYZED VEGETABLE PROTEIN PG-PROPYL SILANETRIOL, HONEY/MEL/MIEL, POLYQUATERNIUM-10, PASSIFLORA INCARNATA SEED OIL, ORBIGNYA OLEIFERA SEED OIL, AMODIMETHICONE, DIVINYLDIMETHICONE/DIMETHICONE COPOLYMER, GLYCOL DISTEARATE, PROPYLENE GLYCOL, AGAVE AMERICANA LEAF EXTRACT, PEG-55 PROPYLENE GLYCOL OLEATE, CALENDULA OFFICINALIS FLOWER OIL, SIMMONDSIA CHINENSIS (JOJOBA) SEED EXTRACT, BUTYLENE GLYCOL, GARCINIA INDICA SEED BUTTER, COCOS NUCIFERA (COCONUT) OIL, C12-14 SEC- PARETH-7, C12-14 SEC- PARETH-5, PANTHENOL, TETRASODIUM EDTA, DMDM HYDANTOIN, ROSMARINUS OFFICINALIS (ROSEMARY) LEAF EXTRACT, BAMBUSA VULGARIS LEAF/STEM EXTRACT, C12-13 PARETH-23, C12-13 PARETH-3, FRAGRANCE/PARFUM, CITRIC ACID, METHYLCHLOROISOTHIAZOLINONE, METHYLISOTHIAZOLINONE, D-LIMONENE, LINALOOL.
THIS PRODUCT HAS NOT BEEN TESTED ON ANIMALS

 

[Janthony]

I had an idea. Both the shampoo and condition smell identical. So, I cross-referenced the ingredients in both and comprised a list of only ingredients found in both products.

They are:

WATER/AQUA/EAU
MORINGA PTERYGOSPERMA SEED OIL
ALEURITES MOLUCCANA SEED OIL
HONEY/MEL/MIEL
AMODIMETHICONE
AGAVE AMERICANA LEAF EXTRACT
CALENDULA OFFICINALIS FLOWER OIL
SIMMONDSIA CHINENSIS (JOJOBA) SEED EXTRACT
BUTYLENE GLYCOL
GARCINIA INDICA SEED BUTTER
COCOS NUCIFERA (COCONUT) OIL
FRAGRANCE/PARFUM
D-LIMONENE.
LINALOOL

Of this list:

Suspects:

Moringa
Aleurites
Calendula

Strong suspects:

Verbena
D-Limonene
Linalool

Both suspects and strong suspects are described as floral smells, while the strong suspect list each has what is considered a "strong, sweet floral scent". Or "Orange" in the case of Limonene. Linalool is a VERY strong suspect since it seems pretty common in massage oil as well.

I shall investigate further. I have a very strong suspicion that Verbena in combination with either D-Linomene, Linalool or both make up this particular fragrance.

 

[Genny]

I'm looking through the ingredients and I'm not seeing anything from the genus verbena.

Linalool & D-Limonene are found in lemon verbena, but they're also found in hundreds of other kinds of plants. They could be helping add to the citrus smell.

What I think it is is the fragrance oil. They can say "Fresh Verbena" but only use fragrance oil.

 

[Janthony]

Interesting point. I'm not really sure the smell I'm smelling IS verbena at all. I merely thought that because the bottle said "scented with fresh verbena". I was taking that to mean they intended to display what the fragrance was, but It seems more like they were listing it separately because whatever verbena was used was used merely for fragrance and no other reason.

 

[Lindy]

There is a Wild Verbena sold by ND http://www.newdirectionsaromatics.ca/wild-verbena-essential-oil-p-369.html This might be the one you are looking for.

 

[Janthony]

Thanks! I'll give that a shot.