#6 : Oakmoss
Oak moss is a crossing between an algae and a fungus. It grows on tree trunks, without any humidity nor city pollution.
Warm and salty, this woody note is indispensible in a “chypre” accord, accompanied by bergamot, geranium and patchouli. It is also a fixing note for citrus, which plays an important part in a “fougere” accord.
Unfortunately, moss has been recognised as allergen by scientists, and its use is very restricted by the IFRA (International Fragrance
Association) nowadays.
That’s why so much perfumes has been reformulated andtheir smell changed suddenly.
(c) Laure BOYER, April 27th, 2012.
#5 : Rose.
Rose is the symbol of Woman in some religions and, among other, in litterature. Widely used in perfume creation, it is often accompanied with violet to give floral, feminine and delicate smells.
This flower can give differents facets, according to its origine.
Produced in France (more precisely in Grasse), rose is called “Rose de Mai” or “Rose Centifolia”. Honey and waxy, it distinguish itself from the fruity scent of the Turkish one. More fresh and smelling like the litchee, it is called “Rose Damascena”.
Both are extracted by volatile solvent extraction, thus giving a concrete in a first time, and after a second extraction, an absolute. In contrary, the essential oil is obtained by vapour extraction.
An ancient technique is the “enfleurage” (fresh flowers put on animal waxes) but it is not used anymore.
Composed by 300 different chemical compounds, rose is probably the most hard scent to replicate.
Perfumes, made in France or not, always contains rose in more or less high quantities, most in feminine creations sur as “soliflores” or “floral bouquets” (Joy of Jean Patou, Paris of Yves Saint Laurent …)
(c) Laure BOYER, April 24th, 2012.
#4 : Vanilla.
Do you want a feminine, sweet, and ambery breath for your brand ?
Put vanilla in your personalized perfume !
Vanilla-pod is the fruit of an orchid. Picked green on the tree, they become black after a long treatment. Pods are widely used for cooking, but they are also put under an alcoholic maceration to give a “teinture” for fine perfumery.
Extremely expensive, perfumers replace it with a synthetic molecule in their compositions : the vanilline.
(c) Laure BOYER, February 8th, 2012.
#3 : Sandal wood.
Sandalwood is found in the region of Mysore, India. The essential oil is obtained from its trunk, ground to dust, then distilled with water steam.
These trees begin to be endangered because of their illegal cutting . That’s why the sandal of Mysore is so expensive.
Widely used to make incense, in a perfume creation, it gives woody bottom notes, and it helps to fix a fragrance.
Sandalwood sublimates both men and women perfumes with its milky, smoky facets.
(c) Laure BOYER, February 8th, 2012.
# 2 : Iris.
Iris is probably the most expensive raw material of perfumer’s palette. Its price is so high that it’s used in very little quantities.
Iris is a purple flower, which has big white roots named “rhizomes”. Its rhizomes are firstly dried, during 3 years, then crushed into a thin powder, and finally distilled with steam. An “iris butter” is obtained, with a very little yield (hence its price).
Contrary to rose or jasmine, its petals can’t be extracted : it gives nothing.
Powdery, iris gives a smell which is similar to violet, due to the presence of a common molecule : the ionone.
Feminine and delicate : Thus is iris.
(c) Laure BOYER , January 31st, 2012.
#1 : Lemon.
Lemon blossoms in almost all perfumes, in their top notes. Used is a huge proportion in ‘Eaux de Cologne’ and ‘Eaux Fraîches”, this citrus is accompanied with other ones such as orange, bergamot …
Picked all year, most of the harvest is intended for food industry. Fruit pulp is used for producing juice. The essential oil is extracted by cold pressure on the zest. It’s a quite simple process.
Lemon expresses vitality, happiness, dynamism, youth.
(c) Laure BOYER , January 30th, 2012.
When orange tree reveals us its resources ….
Orange tree is full of different raw materials. From its leaves, we can extract “petit grain”. “Neroli” comes from its flowers, and essential oil of orange, from its fruits. All parts of the tree are treated to give noble raw materials for perfumery.
First, leaves give two type of “Petit grain” : essential oil and absolute. Essential oil is obtained by steam distillation, and absolute by solvant extraction.
Water allows to separate only the essential oil from a material (because oil mixes with water but not the other compounds as waxes, natural colorants …). Solvents allow to extract the essential oil plus waxes and colorants from the vegetal.
An essential oil is liquid, while an absolute is generally more stucky (because of the waxes which have been extracted at the same time).
Alike, flowers give three kind of products : essential oil, absolute and concrete. This is the same process as for leaves. Although, when flowers are treated by solvent extraction, they first give a concrete. Concrete is extracted with solvent to give absolute.
Concrete could be a solid or a stucky liquid. It depends on the quantity of waxes it contains.
Finally, fruit zest are only be distilled with water steam, giving orange essential oil.
Essential oil of orange is the most used oil worldwide, for perfume creation but also in medicine (for pills aromatization), food industry and house care.
In perfumery, essential oils, absolutes or concretes of orange tree are used mostly in Eaux de Cologne or Eaux Fraîches. Classified in the citrus family, this kind of scents are considered as top or heart notes. They are extremely volatile and evaporate very quickly.
Orange essential oil is a citrus, sweet note. “Neroli” (orange blossom) gives floral facets to a perfume, and “petit grain” is rather green.
(c) Laure BOYER , January 27th, 2012.
The 7 olfactive families of perfumes
Citrus family is the oldest one in perfumery.
In the eighteenth century, first “Eaux de Cologne” appeared and were only made of top notes. Thus, they were short lasting. Few decades ago, top notes were mixed with spices, woods or flowers : here were born new “Eaux Fraiches”.
In both case, the “citrus accord” is made of fruits zests: Orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit, mandarin, and less common ones as cedrat or yuzu. Essential oils of citrus are obtained by cold pressure, as it will be described in a future article.
By-products of orange tree are also considered as citrus : orange flower and « petit grain ».
All these raw materials bring fresh notes to a perfume, slightly acid with smell of zest. Sparkling, vivifying and tonic : such are the perfumes belonging to citrus family.
Examples : Eau de Cologne Impériale of Guerlain (1856), Eau Sauvage of Dior (1956).
Floral family is the widest, including a lot of world-known perfumes.
They are worked on with one flower (a « soliflore ») or a whole bouquet (a « floral bouquet »).
Flowers used are numerous : nearly all these existing in the Nature. Essential oils of fresh flowers are obtained by steam distillation or extraction with volatile solvents : iris, lavender, geranium, jasmine, ylang … Certain flower, too fragile to be extracted, must be reconstituted chemically : lily of the valley or violet, among others.
The basic floral heart is generally accompanied with green, fruity or « aldehydée » facets. Aldehydes are a kind of molecule which gives a metallic, cold inflexion. They have been widely used for the first time in n°5 of Chanel, in 1921.
Floral perfumes are mostly for women : Diorissimo of Dior (1956, a soliflore around the lily of the valley), Paris of YSL, Arpège of Lanvin (1927). The most known floral perfume for men is Pour un Homme de Caron (1936, a soliflore around the lavender).
Woody family is also very wide.
It includes differents types of raw material :
- Dry woods : Cedar, Sandal, Oud.
- Moss : tree moss, oak moss.
- Roots and leaves : Vetiver, Patchouli.
- Balms and resins : Incense, Myrrh, Benjoin.
Woody notes can be married with various facets : citrus, spicy, marine, fruity or floral.
Woods are indispensible in perfumery. They are almost used in all perfumes, rather in men ones (Vetiver of Guerlain or Dior Homme (2006)). There are also a few feminine ones (Samsara of Guerlain (1989), Feminité du Bois of Serge Lutens).
«Fougère» family is a fanciful denomination.
It doesn’t mean compounds with the smell of the fern but a special accord : lavander, oakmoss, coumarin (straw smell), bergamot and geranium. This accord was first used in the « Fougère Royale » of Houbigant, in 1882.
There are 4 sub-families of fougères : amber, spicy, amber floral and aromatic.
Jicky of Guerlain (1889) and, a century later, Cool water of Davidoff (1988) both belong to the fougère family. Masculine, this family is a little less used than before because of the harsh regulations on moss.
Leather family gathers only a few perfumes.
They are composed of dry, burned or smoked notes, and can be matched with flowers to lighten this very strong accord.
This family isn’t very representative in actual perfumery, with only 3 sub-families. The most known may be Cuir de Russie of Chanel (1927).
«Chypre» family comes from the perfume of Francois Coty : Chypre, created in 1917.
Its particular accord is composed of bergamot, oakmoss, ciste-labdanum and patchouly.
The chypre accord can be married with almost all the raw materials existing in perfumery : leather, spices, aldehydes and green notes. However, the two main sub-families are floral and fruity, gathering a lot of perfumes launched in the market nowadays : Antaeus of Chanel (1981), Eau du Soir de Sisley (1990), Miss Dior chérie (2005)…
Past chypres (as Mitsouko of Guerlain) must be reformulated because of the moss in their composition (as explained for fougère family). That’s why they now could be a little different from their first version.
Amber family is also known as «Oriental».
Rich, solar and warm, these perfumes are mostly composed of balms, resins, woods and noble materials such as Vanilla, Sandalwood, Jasmine … Flowers, spices, fruits and citrus could also be found in their composition.
Shalimar of Guerlain (1925) and Opium of Yves Saint Laurent (1977) are the most famous oriental perfumes. Amber family still remains in perfumery, with a lot of perfumes for both women or men : Angel of Thierry Mugler (1992) or Le Mâle of Jean Paul Gaultier (1996).
(c) Laure BOYER, January 18th, 2012.
Specialties of a Perfume Made in France
Man has progressed a lot but still he is dependant on his five senses. You may do not agree with me for a few minutes, when you read it, but it is a true fact that we are sensitive to body smell. This fact is the basic reason of day-by-day increase of perfume usage. People rush to search an affordable sweet scent which can give a groomed look to their personality. A large variety of perfumes are available in market nowadays but a perfume made in France has its own importance. Perfume creation is one of the most flourishing businesses in France and a big lot of people, is stepping in this business nowadays.
Defining perfume creation, in simplest word, is mixing many scents and essential fragrant oils extracted from various plants. These oils were obtained by some animals like Musk deer. Now, the killing of Musk deer is strictly prohibited due to some legal issues. This is the commonest method for creating perfume worldwide. Every perfume industry has some distinctive characters and it modifies its product in different ways to make it separate from products of other companies. Same goes for a perfume made in France. It would have its own distinguished smell and additives.
The French perfume industry began in 16th century and has evolved into one of the most versatile and renowned perfume industries throughout the world. A perfume made in France has immense attraction in it and customer considers it a worth purchasing brand. Initially a perfume made in France was the privilege of wealthy only, but Francois Coty made it affordable for common masses, in 1900s. The French perfume industry is one of the oldest industries in the world. Channel No. 5 has been the first perfume made in France ever. It is one of the most demanding perfumes, not only in France but also outside the country. According to an estimate given by French government, a bottle of No. 5 is sold every thirty minutes and generates sales of $100 million a year. This perfume was developed by Russian-French chemist Ernst Beaux. It is often considered the world’s most famous perfume made in France.
Some gleaming and well-reputed manufacturers are working in France at present and they are providing brilliant and first-class products. Fragonard is one of them. Fragonard is one of the great perfumes made in France. Fragonard is a most popular brand and it has served France for several years. It is an exclusive perfumery and its products are widely sold. These are purchased in France and few countries outside France. It offers excellent quality perfumes and colognes made in perfect conditions. This manufacturing company is contributing a lot in French perfume industry. Apart from this, another attractive feature is that, the factory has its own store running side by. This store offers you an expensive and striking perfume made in France, at one third of its retail price. We all know that France is known for its beauty and French perfume industry is contributing largely in this aspect.
Customised Perfume: Your Unique Fragrance
It goes without saying that, with the advent of customized user products, people around the world try to make their lifestyle the way they like. The concept of customized perfume is one of them. It is a perfume made for special purpose for only for a fraction of people or even for individual persons. These include certain engraving, custom perfume bottle designs, individual’s name, some sentiments, wishes or even something that is memorable for a group of people. Higher level of customization includes unique bottle design and most important customised perfume has their unique fragrance. Most commonly some engraving or some piece of writing is done on demand. The purpose is to provide something that imparts an adult or sexual arousal effect. These perfumes may sometimes be associated with immoral activities; however, there are a lot of youngsters using it for the sake of fun and mere enjoyments.
Customised perfume may sometimes be considered in the category of personalised perfumes. Nowadays all the major perfume and cosmetic brands offer quite enhanced level of personalized perfumes with a little cost above the base price. The cost of a personalised perfume may vary depending upon the mode of customization required by the customer. These brands mainly offer unique fragrance, especially formulated for a unique perfume. There fragrances are formulated for customers to meet the kind of personality they have. One may not find a fragrance that exactly represents his personality. However, when it comes to talking particularly about customized perfume, it is worth mentioning that these perfumes actually involve the combination of such scents which trigger the sexual emotions in human beings. These sorts of perfumes are largely used by the youngsters and are very much in trend these days. The other purpose of formulating these perfumes is to be fit in a set of certain requirements. Some personal perfumes are made that are exclusive of properties of an ordinary perfume but the central idea of this particular perfume design remains the same. Mostly, the sale of these kinds of perfumes is prohibited to under age kids in certain countries, however in others, there is no such restriction like this at all. Besides, we see that there is a huge market for this kind of perfume designs all over the world. One may also place a purchase order for customised perfume through internet and a safe and prompt home delivery is made to your address at a very minimal cost thus facilitating you to purchase this product design.
There are several companies that manufacture this customised perfume with collaboration of famous perfume brands like Gucci, Adidas, Blue, Versace etc. There are certain multinational companies that demand formulation of a perfume to fit in the requirements of their product. Sometimes some perfumes are made for a specific occasion, like wedding perfumes, party perfumes, appetizing fragrances, boutique fragrances etc. Personalized perfumes although cost a bit higher but they are an extensive tool to reflect your personality in the way you like.