Online Sources for Learning About Raw Materials

You have to be a sleuth to learn about perfumery. As I already mentioned several times on this blog, there is not one definitive textbook or publication that covers all of the fundamentals but if you’re prepared to search, you can find a wealth of sources. This applies particularly well to the study of perfumery raw materials. Soon enough you find yourself curious about more details than an average fragrance description provides. While articles like the kind I have published in Perfume Notes are helpful, it’s also useful to have a database reference on hand where you can look up the materials you know or scroll through the lists to discover something new. Where does the material come from? How is harvested? How is it processed?

The online raw material catalogs provided by fragrance and flavor suppliers are a great source. They’re typically compiled for potential customers, so they explain the origin of a material, its olfactory characteristics, processing and main components. They might also list regulatory stipulations and other useful details for those who work with these materials. These databases are constantly updated, so I recommend bookmarking them. For your convenience, I have compiled the databases I use the most for my work. I hope that you will find these useful.

IFF LMR Naturals Online Compendium

IFF LMR Naturals Online Compendium

Monique Rémy founded Laboratoire Monique (LMR) in 1983 and became renowned for the quality of her materials and sustainable sourcing. LMR was eventually purchased by IFF and integrated into their raw materials offer. The online catalog I shared above covers only the LMR naturals. IFF also produces synthetic raw materials, which appear in a separate database.

Robertet Raw Materials Catalog

Robertet Raw Materials Catalog

This fragrance supplier is renowned for its naturals and I particularly like its catalog, because it’s organized by fragrance family and you can search by the types of materials easily. Many indie perfumers buy their ingredients from Robertet, as they make it fairly easy to order small samples.

Interesting fact: their current best-sellers are Patchouli Indonesia, Vetiver Haiti, Rose Oil Turkey and Vanilla Absolute.

Firmenich Perfumery Catalog

Firmenich Perfumery Catalog

Firmenich is famous for its ingredients and especially captives, proprietary molecules. The raw material catalog is comprehensive and detailed.

Givaudan Fragrance Index

Givaudan Fragrance Index

Another big fragrance supplier with a good, well organized online database of its materials, both natural and synthetic.

Symrise Perfumery Ingredients

Symrise Perfumery Ingredients

Another catalog of natural and synthetic materials. If you’re curious what ingredients are in perfumer Maurice Roucel’s palette, take a look here.

Mane Compendium

Mane Compendium

Mane has a beautiful collection of natural materials and the online compendium is organized by fragrance families. Useful for learning what materials fall into which category.

Example

If you click on Rose Oil Turkish in IFF LMR Naturals Online Compendium, here is the kind of information you will find. Other online catalogs might included more details on the regulations, usage and applications.
ORIGIN: Turkey
OLFACTORY TERRITORY: Opulent
OLFACTORY DESCRIPTION: Floral typical odor of rose with a spicy fruity green character.
PROCESSED PART: Flowers
PROCESS: Hydro distillation
LIST OF COMPONENTS: citronellol, nerol, geraniol, eugenol, stearoptenes
VISUAL DESCRIPTION: Pale yellow liquid with a tendency to crystallize
YIELD: 1 kg is made from about 4000 kg of vegetal
TSCA CAS NUMBER: 8007-01-0
EINECS NUMBER: 290-260-3
SOLUBILITY
FLASHPOINT: 45°C
ALTERNATIVE IPC NUMBERS: 180075 Rose Oil Turkish Low Methyl Eugenol
SHELF LIFE (DAYS): 365

Photography by Bois de Jasmin