As a kid I spent many hours watching my father restoring old saxophones. He’d disassemble them at our dinner table, work on the mechanical parts, replace the pads under the keys, and put all the tiny bits and screws back in place. His work always paid off, giving us both a great feeling of satisfaction and pride. I’ve loved beautiful instruments and machines for as long as I can remember, and have always looked up to people with technical skills. Browsing through the second edition of The Chemistry of Fragrances painfully reminded me that I have no such skills myself. It made me realize that I’ve been wearing fragrances for over a decade, and that I was only vaguely aware of how perfumes are actually created and developed. This book, published by the Royal Society of Chemistry, deals with all the essential steps in the industrial-creative process, from handling perfume ingredients to toxicological testing and the outlining of a fragrance brief.
Rather than a do-it-yourself guide for budding perfumers, this is a comprehensive reference book with lots of in-depth insights into technical issues. Like Sagarin’s The Science and Art of Perfumery (1945), Theimer’s Fragrance Chemistry (1982), and Muller & Lamparski’s Perfumes: Art, Science and Technology (1991), it’s more likely to be found on the shelves of fragrance manufacturers than in a perfumista’s collection. But if you know your way around in chemistry, you might find this an incredibly rewarding read.
The first twenty pages are easily accessible to anyone…
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Posted by Robin
on
9 February 2009
Today 95% of chemicals used in perfume manufacture are derived from petroleum, and perfume "houses" are really laboratories full of scientists bent on discovering the most profitable apple-smelling molecule rather than artisanal "noses" mixing vats of rose petals. As the nose of Hermès, Jean-Claude Ellena, puts it: "One-third of my collection [of materials] consists of natural products and two-thirds of synthetic products."
— From Is there an eco perfume for Valentine's Day? at the Guardian, with many thanks to Vanessa for the link!
Posted by Robin
on
20 June 2008
It’s cheap to make, so accountants love it. It’s easy, so creatives love it. Kenzo’s Pour Homme, loaded with methylbenzodioxepinone to add a fake sea-breeze smell, is permanently atop the bestseller list in France, grinding out cash. Yves Saint Laurent’s Homme is found at Bloomingdale’s on Lexington, Creed’s Acier Aluminium is found at Bergdorf’s on Fifth, and Derek Jeter Driven is found at Walgreen’s everywhere. They all smell exactly the same.
— Chandler Burr in the New York Times, writing about Chanel's Allure Homme Sport.
Posted by Robin
on
24 February 2008
Its scent is reminiscent of a just-picked apple and a rose in its prime. But to the Japanese company Takasago that manufactures this synthetic material, it smells even sweeter.
Last year, that chemical concoction, whose trade name is Thesaron, became an essential ingredient in a new perfume, Silver Shadow Altitude, released by Davidoff, a brand owned by Coty. Playing a role in one of the most successful international fragrance brands...means the "molecule," as the industry refers to any such chemical, is highly profitable for Takasago.
— Read more in Ahhh, the Seductive Fragrance of Molecules Under Patent, by Chandler Burr in the New York Times. Thanks to Ruth for the link!
