Nothing is more memorable than
smell !
Perfume
Introduction
Perfume is a mixture of fragrant
essential oil and aroma compounds,
fixatives, and solvents used to give
the human body, objects, and living
spaces a pleasant smell.
Perfume is associated in many
cultures with the sensual and
romantic side of life.
Bottles of some notable commercial perfumes: (clockwise from
top left) Bois De Violette, Serge Lutens, 1992; Angel, Thierry
Mugler, 1994; Shalimar, Guerlain, 1925; Beyond Paradise, Estée
Lauder, 2003; No. 5, Chanel, 1921 (Pre-1950 bottle); Cabochard,
Parfums Grès, 1959 (original bottle); Bellodgia, Caron, 1927;
Arpège, Lanvin, 1927 (original bottle); Nombre Noir, Shiseido,
1981; Mitsouko, Guerlain, 1919; Pour Un Homme, Caron, 1934.
Background
Since the beginning of recorded history, humans have attempted
to mask or enhance their own odor by using perfume, which
emulates nature's pleasant smells. Many natural and man-made
materials have been used to make perfume to apply to the skin
and clothing, to put in cleaners and cosmetics, or to scent the air.
Because of differences in body chemistry, temperature, and body
odors, no perfume will smell exactly the same on any two people.
Perfume comes from the Latin "per" meaning "through" and
"fumum" or "smoke." Many ancient perfumes were made by
extracting natural oils from plants through pressing and steaming.
The oil was then burned to scent the air. Today, most perfume is
used to scent bar soaps. Some products are even perfumed with
industrial odorants to mask unpleasant smells or to appear
"unscented." While fragrant liquids used for the body are often
considered perfume, true perfumes are defined as extracts or
essences and contain a percentage of oil distilled in alcohol. Water
is also used. The United States is the world's largest perfume
market with annual sales totaling several billions of dollars.
Describing a perfume
The precise formulas of commercial
perfumes are kept secret, but even if
they were widely published would be
dominated by such complex chemical
procedures and ingredients that they
would be of little use in providing a
useful description of the experience of
a scent. Nonetheless, connoisseurs
(experts) of perfume can become
extremely skillful at identifying
components and origins of scents in the
same manner as wine experts.
Shelves of perfumes
The most practical way to start describing a perfume is according
to its concentration level, the family it belongs to, and the notes
of the scent, which all affect the overall impression of a perfume
from first application to the last lingering hint of scent.
Describing
a perfume
Concentration levels
Perfume oil is necessarily diluted with a solvent because undiluted oils
(natural or synthetic) contain high concentrations of volatile components that
will likely result in allergic reactions and possibly injury when applied directly
to skin or clothing. By far the most common solvent for perfume oil dilution is
ethanol or a mixture of ethanol and water. Dilutions of the perfume oil can
also be done using solvents such as jojoba, fractionated coconut oil or wax.
The concentration by percent/volume of perfume oil is as follows:
Perfume extract: 20%-40% aromatic
compounds Eau de parfum: 10-30% aromatic
compounds Eau de toilette: 5-20% aromatic
compounds
Eau de cologne: 2-5% aromatic compounds
Eau de cologne (EDC) was originally a specific fragrance of a citrus nature
and weak in concentration made in Cologne, Germany. However in recent
decades the term has become generic for a weakly concentrated perfume
of any kind.
Describing a perfume
Olfactive families
Grouping perfumes, like any taxonomy, cannot ever be a completely
objective or final process. Many fragrances contain aspects of different
families. Even a perfume designated as "single flower", however subtle, will
have undertones of other aromatics. "True" unitary scents can rarely be
found in perfumes as it requires the perfume to exist only as a singular
aromatic material.
Classification by olfactive family is a starting point for a description of a
perfume, but by it cannot by itself denote the specific characteristic of that
perfume.
Traditional
The traditional classification which emerged around 1900 was:
Single Floral: Fragrances that are dominated by a scent from nature's
most prolific odor-makers, the flowers. In French called a soliflore (as in
Dior's Diorissimo, with lily of the valley).
Floral Bouquet: Containing the combination of several flowers in a scent.
Describing a perfume
Ambery: A large fragrance class featuring the scents of vanilla and animal
scents together with flowers and woods. Can be enhanced by camphorous oils
and incense resins, which bring to mind Victorian era imagery of the Middle
East and Far East.
Woody: Fragrances that are dominated by the woody scents, typically of
sandalwood and cedar. Patchouli, with its camphoraceous smell, is commonly
found in these perfumes.
Leather: A family of fragrances which features the scents of honey, tobacco,
wood, and wood tars in its middle or base notes and a scent that alludes to
leather.
Chypre: Meaning Cyprus in French, this includes fragrances built on a similar
accord consisting of bergamot, oakmoss, patchouli, and labdanum. This family
of fragrances is named after a perfume by Francois Coty by the same name.
Fougère: Meaning Fern in French, built on a base of lavender, coumarin and
oakmoss. Houbigant's Fougère Royale pioneered the use of this base. Many
men's fragrances belong to this family of fragrances, which is characterized by
its sharp herbaceous and woody scent.
Describing a perfume
Modern
Since 1945, great advances in the technology of perfume creation (i.e.
compound design and synthesis) as well as the natural development of styles
tastes, a new classification has emerged to reflect modern scents:
Bright Floral: combining the traditional Single Floral & Floral Bouquet
categories.
Green: a lighter and more modern interpretation of the Chypre type.
Oceanic/Ozone: the newest category in perfume history, appearing in 1991
with Christian Dior's Dune. A very clean, modern smell leading to many of the
modern androgenous perfumes.
Citrus or Fruity: An old fragrance family that until recently consisted mainly of
"freshening" eau de colognes due to the low tenacity of citrus scents.
Development of newer fragrance compounds has allowed for the creation of
primarily citrus fragrances.
Describing a perfume
Fragrance wheel
The Fragrance wheel is a relatively new classification method
that is widely used in retail and in the fragrance industry. The
method was created in 1983 by Micheal Edwards, a consultant
in the perfume industry, who designed his own scheme of
fragrance classification after being inspired by a fragrance
seminar by Firmenich. The new scheme was created in order to
simplify fragrance classification and naming scheme, as well as
to show the relationships between each individual classes.
The five standard families consist of Floral, Oriental, Woody,
Fougère, and Fresh, with the former four families being more
"classic" while the latter consisting of newer bright and clean
smelling citrus and oceanic fragrances that have arrived due to
improvements in fragrance technology. With the exception of
the Fougère family, each the families are in turn divided into
three sub-groups and arranged around a wheel:
Describing a perfume
Woody
Wood
Mossy
Woods
Dry
Woods
Floral
Floral
Soft Floral
Floral
Oriental
Oriental
Soft
Oriental
Oriental
Woody
Oriental
Fougères
Fresh
Citrus
Green
Water
Perfume is described in a musical metaphor as having three 'notes',
making the harmonious chord of the scent.
Top notes: The scents that are perceived immediately on application of a
perfume. Top notes form a person's initial impression of a perfume and thus,
they are very important in the selling of a perfume. The scents of this note class
are usually described as "fresh," "assertive" or "sharp." The compounds that
contribute to top notes are strong in scent, very volatile, and evaporate quickly.
Citrus and ginger scents are common top notes. Also called the head notes.
Middle notes: The scent of a perfume that emerges after the top notes
dissipate. The middle note compounds form the "heart" or main body of a
perfume and act to mask the often unpleasant initial impression of base notes,
which become more pleasant with time. Not surprisingly, the scent of middle
note compounds is usually more mellow and "rounded." Scents from this note
class appear anywhere from 2 minutes to 1 hour after the application of a
perfume. Lavender and rose scents are typical middle notes. Also called the
heart notes.
Base notes: The scent of a perfume that appears after the departure of the top
notes. The base and middle notes together are the main theme of a perfume.
Base notes bring depth and solidness to a perfume. Compounds of this class
are often the fixatives used to hold and boost the strength of the lighter top and
middle notes. The compounds of this class of scents are typically rich and
"deep" and are usually not perceived until 30 minutes after the application of
the perfume or during the period of perfume dry-down. Musk, vetiver and scents
of plant resins are commonly used as base notes.
A r o m a tPlant
i c sources
s Sources
Plants have long been used in perfumery as a source of essential oils and aroma
compounds. These aromatics are usually secondary metabolites produced by plants
as protection against herbivores, infections, as well as to attract pollinators. Plants are
by far the largest source of fragrant compounds used in perfumery. The sources of
these compounds may be derived from various parts of a plant. A plant can offer more
than one source of aromatics, for instance the aerial portions and seeds of coriander
have remarkably different odors from each other. Orange leaves, blossoms, and fruit
zest are the respective sources of petit grain, neroli, and orange oils.
Bark: Commonly used barks includes cinnamon and cascarilla. The fragrant oil in
sassafras root bark is also used either directly or purified for its main constituent,
safrole, which is used in the synthesis of other fragrant compounds such as helional.
Flowers & Blossoms: Undoubtedly the largest source of aromatics. Includes the flowers
of several species of rose and jasmine, as well as osmanthus, mimosa, tuberose, as
well as the blossoms of citrus and ylang-ylang trees. Although not traditionally thought
of as a flower, the unopened flower buds of the clove are also commonly used. Orchid
flowers are not commercially used to produce essential oils or absolutes, except in the
case of vanilla, an orchid, which must be pollinated first and made into seed pods
before use in perfumery.
Fruits: Fresh fruits such as apples, strawberries, cherries unfortunately do not yield the
expected odors when extracted; if such fragrance notes are found in a perfume, they
are synthetic. Notable exceptions include litsea cubeba, vanilla, and juniper berry. The
most commonly used fruits yield their aromatics from the rind; they include citrus such
as oranges, lemons, limes, and grapefruit.
Aromatics Sources
Leaves & Twigs: Commonly used for perfumery are lavender leaf, patchouli, sage,
violets, rosemary, and citrus leaves. Sometimes leaves are valued for the "green"
smell they bring to perfumes, examples of this include hay and tomato leaf.
Lichens: Commonly used lichen includes oakmoss and treemoss thalli.
Resins: Valued since antiquity, resins have been widely used in incense and
perfumery. Highly fragrant and antiseptic resins and resin-containing perfumes
have been used by many cultures as medicines for a large variety of ailments.
Commonly used resins in perfumery include labdanum, frankincense/olibanum,
myrrh, Peru balsam, gum benzoin. Pine and fir resins are a particularly valued
source of terpenes used in the organic synthesis of many other synthetic or
naturally occurring aromatic compounds. Some of what is called amber and copal
in perfumery today is the resinous secretion of fossil conifers.
Roots, rhizomes and bulbs: Commonly used terrestrial
portions in perfumery include iris rhizomes, vetiver roots,
various rhizomes of the ginger family.
Seeds: Commonly used seeds include tonka bean,
coriander, caraway, cocoa, nutmeg, mace, cardamom, and
anise.
Woods: Highly important in providing the base notes to a
perfume, wood oils and distillates are indispensable in
perfumery. Commonly used woods include sandalwood,
rosewood, agar wood, birch, cedar, juniper, and pine.
Aromatics Sources
Animal sources
Ambergis: Lumps of oxidized fatty compounds, whose precursors were secreted and expelled by
the Sperm Whale. Ambergris is commonly referred as "amber" in perfumery and should not be
confused with yellow amber, which is used in jewelry.
Castoreum: Obtained from the odorous sacs of the North American beaver.
Civet: Also called Civet Musk, this is obtained from the odorous sacs of the civets, animals in
the family Viverridae, related to the Mongoose.
Honeycomb: Distilled from the honeycomb of the Honeybee.
Musk: Originally derived from the musk sacs from the Asian musk deer, it has now been
replaced by the use of synthetic musk due to its price and ethical issues.
Synthetic sources
Synthetic aromatics are created through organic synthesis from various chemical
compounds that are obtained from petroleum distillates, pine resins, or other
relatively cheap organic feedstock. Synthetics can provide fragrances which are not
found in nature. For instance, Calone, a compound of synthetic origin, imparts a
fresh ozonous metallic marine scent that is widely used in contemporary perfumes.
Synthetic aromatics are often used as an alternate source of compounds that are not
easily obtained from natural sources. For example, linalool and coumarin are both
naturally occurring compounds that can be cheaply synthesized from terpenes.
Orchid scents (typically salicylates) are usually not obtained directly from the plant
itself but are instead synthetically created to match the fragrant compounds found in
various orchids.
Raw Materials
Natural ingredients—flowers, grasses, spices, fruit, wood, roots, resins,
balsams, leaves, gums, and animal secretions—as well as resources like
alcohol, petrochemicals, coal, and coal tars are used in the manufacture of
perfumes. Some plants, such as lily of the valley, do not produce oils
naturally. In fact, only about 2,000 of the 250,000 known flowering plant
species contain these essential oils. Therefore, synthetic chemicals must be
used to re-create the smells of non-oily substances. Synthetics also create
original scents not found in nature.
Some perfume ingredients are animal products. For example, castor comes
from beavers, musk from male deer, and ambergris from the sperm whale.
Animal substances are often used as fixatives that enable perfume to
evaporate slowly and emit odors longer. Other fixatives include coal tar,
mosses, resins, or synthetic chemicals. Alcohol and sometimes water are
used to dilute ingredients in perfumes. It is the ratio of alcohol to scent that
determines whether the perfume is "eau de toilette" (toilet water) or cologne
Manufacturing Process
Collection
Before the manufacturing process begins, the initial ingredients
must be brought to the manufacturing center. Plant substances
are harvested from around the world, often hand-picked for their
fragrance. Animal products are obtained by extracting the fatty
substances directly from the animal.
Aromatic chemicals used in synthetic perfumes are
created in the laboratory by perfume chemists.
Extraction
Oils are extracted from plant substances by several methods:
steam distillation, solvent extraction, enfleurage, maceration,
and expression.
In steam distillation, steam is passed through plant material
held in a still, whereby the essential oil turns to gas. This gas is
then passed through tubes, cooled, and liquefied. Oils can also
be extracted by boiling plant substances like flower petals in
water instead of steaming them.
Manufacturing Process
In solvent extraction,
flowers are put into large
rotating tanks or drums and
benzene or a petroleum
ether is poured over the
flowers, extracting the
essential oils. The flower
parts dissolve in the solvents
and leave a waxy material
that contains the oil, which
is then placed in ethyl
alcohol. The oil dissolves in
the alcohol and rises. Heat is
used to evaporate the
alcohol, which once fully
burned off, leaves a higher
concentration of the
are extracted from plant substances by steam distillation,
perfume oil on the bottom. Oils
solvent extraction, enfleurage, maceration, or expression.
Manufacturing Process
During enfleurage, flowers are spread on glass sheets coated with
grease. The glass sheets are placed between wooden frames in
tiers. Then the flowers are removed by hand and changed until
the grease has absorbed their fragrance.
Maceration is similar to enfleurage except that warmed fats are
used to soak up the flower smell. As in solvent extraction, the
grease and fats are dissolved in alcohol to obtain the essential
oils.
Expression is the oldest
and least complex method
of extraction. By this
process, now used in
obtaining citrus oils from the
rind, the fruit or plant is
manually or mechanically
pressed until all the oil is
It is the ratio of alcohol to scent that determines perfume,
squeezed out.
eau de toilette, and cologne.
Manufacturing Process
Blending
Once the perfume oils are collected, they are ready to be blended together
according to a formula determined by a master in the field, known as a "nose."
It may take as many as 800 different ingredients and several years to develop
the special formula for a scent. After the scent has been created, it is mixed
with alcohol. The amount of alcohol in a scent can vary greatly. Most full
perfumes are made of about 10-20% perfume oils dissolved in alcohol and a
trace of water. Colognes contain approximately 3-5% oil diluted in 80-90%
alcohol, with water making up about 10%. Toilet water has the least amount—
2% oil in 60-80% alcohol and 20% water.
Aging - Fine perfume is often aged for several months or even years after it is
blended. Following this, a "nose" will once again test the perfume to ensure that
the correct scent has been achieved. Each essential oil and perfume has three
notes: "Notes de tete," or top notes, "notes de coeur," central or heart notes, and
"notes de fond," base notes. Top notes have tangy or citrus-like smells; central
notes (aromatic flowers like rose and jasmine) provide body, and base notes
(woody fragrances) provide an enduring fragrance. More "notes," of various
smells, may be further blended.
Quality Control
Because perfumes depend heavily on harvests of plant substances and the
availability of animal products, perfumery can often turn risky.
Thousands of flowers are needed to obtain just one pound of essential oils,
and if the season's crop is destroyed by disease or adverse weather,
perfumeries could be in jeopardy. In addition, consistency is hard to maintain
in natural oils. The same species of plant raised in several different areas with
slightly different growing conditions may not yield oils with exactly the same
scent.
Problems are also encountered in collecting natural animal oils. Many
animals once killed for the value of their oils are on the endangered species
list and now cannot be hunted. For example, sperm whale products like
ambergris have been outlawed since 1977. Also, most animal oils in general
are difficult and expensive to extract. Deer musk must come from deer found
in Tibet and China; civet cats, bred in Ethiopia, are kept for their fatty gland
secretions; beavers from Canada and the former Soviet Union are harvested
for their castor.
Synthetic perfumes have allowed perfumers more freedom and stability in their
craft, even though natural ingredients are considered more desirable in the
very finest perfumes. The use of synthetic perfumes and oils eliminates the
need to extract oils from animals and removes the risk of a bad plant harvest,
saving much expense and the lives of many animals.
F ut ur e … … .
Perfumes today are being made and used in different ways than in previous
centuries. Perfumes are being manufactured more and more frequently with
synthetic chemicals rather than natural oils. Less concentrated forms of perfume
are also becoming increasingly popular. Combined, these factors decrease the
cost of the scents, encouraging more widespread and frequent, often daily, use.
Using perfume to heal, make people feel good, and improve relationships
between the sexes are the new frontiers being explored by the industry. The
sense of smell is considered a right brain activity, which rules emotions,
memory, and creativity. Aromatherapy—smelling oils and fragrances to cure
physical and emotional problems—is being revived to help balance hormonal
and body energy. The theory behind aromatherapy states that using essential
oils helps bolster the immune system when inhaled or applied topically.
Smelling sweet smells also affects one's mood and can be used as a form of
psychotherapy.
Like aromatherapy, more research is being conducted to synthesize human
perfume—that is, the body scents we produce to attract or repel other humans.
Humans, like other mammals, release pheromones to attract the opposite sex.
New perfumes are being created to duplicate the effect of pheromones and
stimulate sexual arousal receptors in the brain. Not only may the perfumes of
the future help people cover up "bad" smells, they could improve their physical
and emotional well-being as well as their sex lives.