The five standard families consist of Floral, Oriental, Woody, Fougã¨Re, 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 Fougã¨Re family, each of the families are in turn divided into three sub-groups and arranged around a wheel:
1.Floral
2.Oriental
3.Woody
4.Fresh
5.Fougere
The Fougã¨Re family is placed at the center of this wheel since they are large family of scents that usually contain fragrance elements from each of the other four families; citrus from the fresh family, oak moss and woods from the woody family, coumarin and incense from the Oriental family, and lavender from the floral family.
In this classification scheme, Chanel No.5, which is traditionally classified as a "Floral Aldehyde" would be located under Soft Floral sub-group, and "Amber" scents would be placed within the Oriental group. As a class, Chypres is more difficult to place since they would be located under parts of the Oriental and Woody families. For instance, Guerlain Mitsouko, which is classically identified as a chypre will be placed under Mossy Woods, but Hermès Rouge, a chypre with more floral character, would be placed under Floral Oriental.
Aldehydic
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Sharp, fatty or soapy, marine odors, (straight chain aldehydes in the range C8 to C12.) |
Amber
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Sweet, warm, slightly animalic, frequently vanilla-like. |
Animalic
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Animal-like odors, includes civet, musk, ambergris and castoreum. |
Balsamic
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Warm, sweet and resinous with a faint medicinal note, vanilla character. |
Camphoraceous
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Medicated, smells of camphor, sage and eucalyptus. |
Chemical
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usually harsh, aggressive and basic odors, typified by products such as Amyl Alcohol, Acetophenone and Diphenyl Oxide. |
Citrus
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Fresh, tangy and zesty, smelling of Lemon, Lime, Orange, Mandarin, Grapefruit, Bergamot. |
Earthy
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usually a combination of green, rooty and dank odors. Damp humid earth after rain. |
Fatty
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having the odor of animal or vegetable fats and oils. |
Floral
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Flower odours particularly carnation, honeysuckle, jasmin, lily, rose, violet or ylang ylang. |
Fresh
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Subjective depending on personal taste and experience; commonly citrus, light floral, green or fruity. |
Fruity
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Any natural fruit note. |
Green
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light intense, odor of freshly cut grass or freshly crushed leaves. |
Herbal
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Fresh plant odors eg Lavender (floral), Rosemary (medicinal), Camomile (fruity), Basil (culinary), Coriander (spicy). |
Leather
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Phenolic, warm, animalic. |
Light
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Discrete, usually floral, green, citrus or combinations. |
Medicinal
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Phenolic, Camphoraceous, Herbal, often pungent. |
Metallic
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smells of metal coins, or freshly cut steel. |
Minty
|
Peppermint, Menthol, Spearmint |
Mossy
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Earthy, woody, phenolic, green, from lichen, algae or fungus. Normally from trees.. |
Nutty
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Sweey, oily, natural nut odors. |
Pine
|
odors of pine wood, needles and resins. |
Powdery
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Soft,gentle, sweet, often balsamic, ambery and musky. |
Resinous
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Warm, sweet, balsamic, sharp in the top note. |
Spicy
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Pungent, hot and culinary eg. bay, cardamon, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, ginger, nutmeg, pepper. |
Sweet
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Heavy, cloying, notes of vanilla and sugary mixes. |
Warm
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Typically ambery, animalic, balsamic and sweet. |
Waxy
|
Reminiscent of Candle wax. |
Woody
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natural (freshly sawn) wood notes eg. sandalwood, cedar and oregan. |
Odor Descriptors used in describing Perfumes
Perfume is described in a musical metaphor as having three 'notes', making the harmonious chord of the scent. The notes unfold over time, with the immediate impression of the top note leading to the deeper middle notes, and the base notes gradually appearing as the final stage. These notes are created carefully with knowledge of the evaporation process of the perfume.
Top notes: The scents that are perceived immediately on application of a perfume. Top notes consist of small, light molecules that evaporate quickly: they form a person's initial impression of a perfume and thus 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 two minutes to one 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 middle notes. The base and middle notes together are the main theme of a perfume. Base notes bring depth and solidity 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.
Plant Sources
~ described above under Essential Oils.
Animal Sources
Ambergris:
Lumps of oxidised 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 musks.
Other Natural Sources
Lichens: Commonly used lichen includes oakmoss and treemoss thalli.
Seaweed:
Distillates are sometimes used as essential oil in perfumes. An example of a commonly used seaweed is Fucus vesiculosus, which is commonly referred to as bladder wrack. Natural seaweed fragrances are rarely used due to their higher cost and lower potency than synthetics.
Modern perfumes are almost exclusively made from synthetic odorants that are commonly synthesised 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. Similarly Methyl Salicylate is prepared synthetically rather than obtained from Oil of Wintergreen which contains 98.5% Methyl Salicylate.
Perfume compositions are an important part of many industries ranging from the luxury goods sectors, food services industries, to manufacturers of various household chemicals. The purpose of using perfume or fragrance compositions in these industries is to affect customers through their sense of smell and entice them into purchasing the perfume or perfumed product. As such there is significant interest in producing a perfume formulation that people will find aesthetically pleasing.
The job of composing perfumes that will sell is left up to an expert on perfume composition or known in the fragrance industry as the perfumer. They are also sometimes referred to affectionately as "the Nose" due to their fine sense of smell and skill in smell composition. The perfumer is effectively an artist who is trained in depth on the concepts of fragrance aesthetics and who is capable of conveying abstract concepts and moods with their fragrance compositions. At the most rudimentary level, a perfumer must have a keen knowledge of a large variety of fragrance ingredients and their smells, and be able to distinguish each of the fragrance ingredients whether alone or in combination with other fragrances. As well, they must know how each ingredient reveals itself through time with other ingredients. The job of the perfumer is very similar to that of flavourists, who compose smells and flavourants for many commercial food products.
The composition of a perfume typically begins with a brief by the perfumer's employer or an outside customer. The customers to the perfumer or their employers, are typically fashion houses or large corporations of various industries. Each brief will contain the specifications for the desired perfume, and will describe in often poetic or abstract terms what the perfume should smell like or what feelings it should evoke in those who smell it, along with a maximum per litre price of the perfume oil concentrate. This allowance, along with the intended application of the perfume will determine what aromatics and fragrance ingredients can/will be used in the perfume composition.
The perfumer will then go through the process of blending multiple perfume mixtures and will attempt to capture the desired feelings specified in the brief. After presenting the perfume mixtures to the customers, the perfumer may "win" the brief with their approval, and proceed to sell the formulation to the customer, often with modifications of the composition of the perfume. This process typically spans over several months to several years. The perfume composition will then be either used to enhance another product as a functional fragrance (shampoos, make-up, detergents, car interiors, etc.), or marketed and sold directly to the public as a fine fragrance.
Alternatively, the perfumer may simply be inspired to create a perfume and produce something that later becomes marketable or successfully wins a brief. This usually happens in smaller or independent perfume houses.
Although there is no single "correct" technique for the formulation of a perfume, there are general guidelines as to how a perfume can be constructed from a concept.
14 October 2007