perfume ingredients: 4 posts

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.

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Mimosa, Cassie, and Honeyed Almonds : Perfume Note

In the depths of winter, when I begin to lose faith that spring will ever come again, the yellow pompoms of mimosa lift my spirits. No matter how rushed I am, the slender branches arranged in the florist’s windows tempt me to slow down, and I walk out of the store burying my face in a large bouquet. The fluffy flowers caress my cheeks and dust them with lemon-yellow powder, and the scent is vivid and joyful to match the explosive color–a mixture of green violet and honey soaked almonds. It’s delicate, but remarkably persistent, filling the room with the aroma of Provence within minutes.

Even if you haven’t smelled real mimosa*, chances  are you’ve encountered it in perfume. This material is one of the most intriguing and complex. The mimosa used in perfumery belongs to a related family, Acacia, with two varieties processed commercially for their fragrant oil–Acacia decurrens var. dealbata (called simply mimosa in the perfumery trade) and Acacia farnesiana (cassie). The former is the pompom like yellow mimosa in my photo, the latter is simpler and more austere but equally fragrant.

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Lilac : Perfume Note That Smells of Almonds and Roses

My childhood smelled like crushed strawberries, dirt caked fingers, freshly baked sugar buns, sun dried linens and lilacs. Those few days in the spring when the lilacs would bloom profusely and fill our house with their heady perfume were enough to leave a lasting memory for years. So whenever I see a lilac bush in bloom, I can’t resist burying my face in the thick foam of its tiny blossoms.  Lilac smells of roses, milky almonds and green leaves. The first whiff is citrusy and fresh; a deeper inhale reveals its haunting accent of decay and mothballs (indole, the same aromatics that give jasmine, tuberose and orange blossom their seductive timbre).

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Jasmine Perfume Note and Material

It seems fitting to start my reflections by devoting some attention to jasmine, which is not only my favorite fragrance note, but also the most widely used perfume ingredient, be it natural or synthetic.  While the rose is “the queen of flowers,” jasmine is indisputably the king.
jasmine
The original habitat of jasmine is considered to be India, which alone possesses about 42 species with various olfactory characteristics. In India, Ghazimpur has traditionally been the center of jasmine cultivation, while in Europe, it was Grasse, France. The jasmine was first cultivated in in Provence in 1548, being a gift of the Arab trade network (Morris 1984, 104). Today, jasmin de Grasse is the most expensive jasmine available, and the only widely available perfume using it is Chanel No 5 extrait de parfum. It is sweeter and fruitier than the more commonly available jasmines from Italy, India, Morocco and Egypt (responsible for 80% of jasmine production).

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