Perfume

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For the book "Perfume" by Patrick Süskind, see Perfume (book).

Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils and aroma compounds, fixatives, and solvents used to give the human body, objects, and living spaces a pleasant smell. The amount and type of solvent mix with the fragrance oil dictates whether a perfume is considered a perfume extract, Eau de parfum, Eau de toilette, or Eau de Cologne.

Image:Collage of commercial perfumes.jpg

Contents

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Description of a perfume

Image:Perfume shelf 536pix.jpg It is impossible to describe a perfume according to its components because the formulas are kept secret. Even if the formulas are known, the ingredients are often too numerous to provide a useful classification. Cognoscenti can, however, generally get a handle on the principle ingredients. On the other hand, it is possible to group perfumes into olfactive families and describe them through the notes that appear as they slowly evaporate. Perfumes can also be classified according to their concentration.

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Olfactive families

Fragrances can be classified into several olfactive families, by the themes, or accords, of these fragrances.

  • Floral: Fragrances that are dominated by the scent of one or more types of flowers. When only one flower is used, it is called a soliflore (as in Dior's Diorissimo, with jasmine).
  • Chypre: Fragrances build on a similar base consisting of bergamot, oakmoss and labdanum. This family of fragrances is named after a perfume by François Coty by the same name. Meaning Cyprus in French, the term alludes to where this base was inspired. This fragrance family is characterized by a scent reminiscent of apricot and custard.
  • Aldehydic: Fragrances that incorporate the family of chemicals known as aldehydes. Chanel No 5 was the first aldehydic perfume (created by the royal Russian perfumer Ernest Beaux in 1921). Others include Je Reviens and Arpege. Aldehydic perfumes have the characteristic "piquant" note produced by materials like Aldehyde C12 MNA.
  • Fougère: Fragrances built on a base of lavender, coumarin and oakmoss. Many men's fragrances belong to this family of fragrances, which is characterized by its sharp herbaceous and woody scent.
  • Leather: A family of fragrances which features the scents honey, tobacco, wood, and wood tars in its middle or base notes and a scent that alludes to leather.
  • Woody: Fragrances that are dominated by the woody scents, typically of sandalwood and cedar. Patchouli, with its camphoraceous smell, is commonly found in these perfumes.
  • Orientals or ambers: A large fragrance class featuring the scents of vanilla and animal scents together with flowers and woods. Can be enhanced by camphorous oils and incense resins, which bring to mind Victorian era imagery of the Middle East and Far East.
  • Citrus: An old fragrance family that until recently consisted mainly of "freshening" Eau de colognes due to the low tenacity of citrus scents. Development of newer fragrance compounds has allowed for the creation of primarily citrus fragrances.
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Fragrance Notes

A mixture of alcohol and water is used as the solvent for the aromatics. On application, body heat causes the solvent to quickly disperse, leaving the fragrance to evaporate gradually over several hours. The rate of evaporation (vapor pressure) and the odor strength of the compound partly determine the tenacity of the compound and determine its perfume note classification.

  • Top notes: Scents that are perceived immediately on application of a perfume. Top notes create the scents that form a person's initial impression of a perfume. Because of this, they 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.
  • Heart notes or Middle notes: The scent of a perfume that emerges after the top notes dissipate. The heart 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 heart note compounds is usually more mellow and "rounded." Scents from this note class appear anywhere from 2 minutes to 1 hour after the application of a perfume. Lavender and rose scents are typical heart notes. Top notes and heart notes are sometimes described together as Head notes.
  • Base notes: The scent of a perfume that appears after the departure of the top notes. The base and middle notes together are the main theme of a perfume. Base notes bring depth and solidness to a perfume. Compounds of this class are often the fixatives used to hold and boost the strength of the lighter top and heart notes. The compounds of this class of scents are typically rich and "deep" and are usually not perceived until 30 minutes after the application of the perfume or during the period of perfume dry-down. Musk, vetiver and scents of plant resins are commonly used as base notes.
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Concentration and composition

Perfumes oils, or the "juice" of a perfume composition, are diluted with a suitable solvent to make the perfume more usable. This is done because undiluted oils contain volatile components that would be too concentrated for people with sensitive skin or allergies. Although dilutions of the perfume oil can be done using solvents such as jojoba, fractionated coconut oil, and wax, the most common solvents for perfume oil dilution is ethanol or a mixture of ethanol and water. The percent of perfume oil by volume in a perfume is listed as follows:

As the percentage of aromatic compounds decreases, the intensity and longevity of the scent decrease. It should be noted that different perfumeries or perfume houses assign different amounts of oils to each of their perfumes. As such, although the oil concentration of a perfume in eau de parfum (EDP) dilution will necessarily be higher than the same perfume in eau de toilette (EDT) form, the same trends may not necessarily apply to different perfume compositions much less across different perfume houses.

To complicate matters more, some fragrances with the same product name but having a different concentration name may not only different in their dillutions, but actually use different perfume oil mixtures altogether. For instance, in order to make the EDT version of a fragrance brighter and fresher then its EDP, the EDT oil may be "tweaked" to contain slightly more top notes or less base notes. In some cases, words such as "extrême" or "concentrée" appended to frangrance names might indicate completely different frangrances that relates only because of a similar perfume accord. An instance of this would be Chanel‘s Pour Monsieur and Pour Monsieur Concentrée.

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Natural and synthetic aromatics

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Plant sources

Plants have long been used in perfumery as a source of essential oils and aroma compounds. These aromatics are usually secondary metabolites produced by plants as protection against herbivores as well as to attract pollinators. Plants are by far the largest source of fragrant compounds used in perfumery. The sources of these compounds may be derived from various parts of a plant. A plant can offer more than one source of aromatics, for instance the aerial portions and seeds of coriander have remarkably different odors from each other. Orange leaves, blossoms, and fruit zest are the respective sources of petit grain, neroli, and orange oils.

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Animal sources

  • Musk: Originally derived from the musk sacs from the Asian musk deer, it has now been replaced by the use of synthetic musks due to its price and ethical issues.
  • Civet: Also called Civet Musk, this is obtained from the odorous sacs of the civets, animals in the family Viverridae, related to the Mongoose.
  • Castoreum: Obtained from the odorous sacs of the North American beaver.
  • Ambergris: Lumps of oxidized 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.
  • Honeycomb: Distilled from the honeycomb of the Honeybee.
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Synthetic sources

Synthetic aromatics are created through organic synthesis from various chemical compounds that are obtained 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 are usually not obtained directly from the plant itself but are instead synthetically created to match the fragrant compounds found in various orchids.

The majority of the world's synthetic aromatics are created by relatively few companies. They include:

Each of these companies patent several processes for the production of aromatic synthetics annually.

See Aroma compound

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Obtaining natural odorants

Before perfumes can be composed, the odorants used in various perfume compositions must first be obtained. Synthetic odorants are produced through organic synthesis and purified. Odorants from natural sources require the use of various methods to extract the aromatics from the raw materials. The results of the extraction are either essential oils, absolutes, concretes, or butters, depending on the amount of waxes in the extracted product.

All these techniques will to a certain extent, distort the odour of the aromatic compounds obtained from the raw materials. This is due to the use of heat, harsh solvents, or through exposure to oxygen in the extraction process which will denature the aromatic compounds, which either change their odour character or renders them odourless.

  • Maceration/Solvent extraction: The most used and economically important technique for extracting aromatics in the modern perfume industry. Raw materials are submerged in a solvent that can dissolve the desired aromatic compounds. Maceration lasts anywhere from hours to months. Fragrant compounds for woody and fibrous plant materials are often obtained in this matter as are all aromatics from animal sources. The technique can also be used to extract odorants that are too volatile for distillation or easily denatured by heat. Commonly used solvents for maceration/solvent extraction include hexane, and dimethyl ether. The product of this process is call a "concrete".
    • Supercritical fluid extraction: A relatively new technique for extracting fragrant compounds from a raw material, which often employ supercritical CO2. Due to the low heat of process and the relatively unreactive solvent used in the extraction, the fragrant compounds derived often closely resemble the original odour of the raw material.
    • Ethanol extraction: A type of solvent extraction used to extract fragrant compounds directly from dry raw materials, as well as the impure oily compounds materials resulting from solvent extraction or enfluerage. Ethanol extraction is not used to extract fragrace from fresh plant materials since these contain large quantities of water, which will also be extracted into the ethanol.
  • Distillation: A common technique for obtaining aromatic compounds from plants, such as orange blossoms and roses. The raw material is heated and the fragrant compounds are re-collected through condensation of the distilled vapour.
    • Steam distillation: Steam from boiling water is passed through the raw material, which drives out their volatile fragrant compounds. The condensate from distillation are settled in a Florentine flask. This allows for the easy separation of the fragrant oils from the water. The water collected from the condensate, which retains some of the fragrant compounds and oils from the raw material is called hydrosol and sometimes sold. This is most commonly used for fresh plant materials such as flowers, leaves, and stems.
    • Dry/destructive distillation: The raw materials are directly heated in a still without a carrier solvent such as water. Fragrant compounds that are released from the raw material by the high heat often undergo anhydrous pyrolysis, which results in the formation of different fragrant compounds, and thus different fragrant notes. This method is used to obtain fragrant compounds from fossil amber and fragrant woods where an intentional "burned" or "toasted" odour is desired.
  • Expression: Raw material is squeezed or compressed and the oils are collected. Of all raw materials, only the fragrant oils from the peels of fruits in the citrus family are extracted in this manner since the oil is present in large enough quantities as to make this extraction method economically feasible.
  • Enfleurage: Absorption of aroma materials into wax and then extracting the odorous oil with alcohol. Extraction by enfleurage was commonly used when distillation was not possible due to the fact that some fragrant compounds denature through high heat. This technique is not commonly used in the present day industry due to its prohibitive cost and the existence of more efficient and effective extraction methods.
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Fragrant extracts

Although fragrant extracts are known to the general public as the generic term "essential oils", a more specific language is used in the fragrance industry to describe the source, purity, and technique used to obtain a particular fragrant extract.

Of these extracts, only absolutes, essential oils, and tinctures are directly used to formulate perfumes.

  • Absolute: Fragrant materials that are purified from a pommade or concrete by soaking them in ethanol. By using a slightly hydrophilic compound such as ethanol, most of the fragrant compounds from the waxy source materials can be extracted without dissolving any of the fragrantless waxy molecules. Absolutes are usually found in the form of an oily liquid.
  • Concrete: Fragrant materials that have been extracted from raw materials through solvent extraction using volatile hydrocarbons. Concretes usually contain a large amount of wax due to the ease in which the solvents dissolve various hydrophobic compounds. As such concretes are usually further purified through distillation or ethanol based solvent extraction. Concretes are typically either waxy or resinous solids.
  • Essential oil: Fragrant materials that have been extracted from a source material directly through distillation or expression and obtained in the form of an oily liquid. Oils extracted through expression are sometimes called expression oils.
  • Pommade: A fragrant mass of solid fat created from the enfleurage process, in which odorous compounds in raw materials are adsorbed into animal fats. Pommades are found in the form of an oily and sticky solid.
  • Tincture: Fragrant materials produced by directly soaking and infusing raw materials in ethanol. Tinctures are typically thin liquids.
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Composing perfumes

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.

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The Nose

The job of composing perfumes that will sell is left up to an expert on perfume composition, more commonly known in the fragrance industry as the Nose. The nose 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. They must not only have a keen knowledge of a large variety of fragrance ingredients and their smells, but must also be able to distinguish each of the fragrance ingredients whether alone or in combination with other frangrances.

The composition of a perfume typically begins with a brief by the nose's employer or an outside customer. The customers to the nose or the nose's 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. The nose 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 marketed and sold to the public.

Alternatively, the nose 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.

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Technique

Perfume oils usually contain tens to hundreds of ingredients. Included in the perfume are fixatives, which bind the various fragrances together, such as balsams, ambergris, and secretions from the scent glands of the civet cat and musk deer (undiluted, these have unpleasant smells but in alcoholic solution they act as preserving agents). The mixture is normally aged for one year.

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History of perfume and perfumery

Image:Egypte louvre 021.jpg Perfumery, or the art of making perfumes, began in ancient Egypt but was developed and further refined by the Romans and the Arabs. Although perfume and perfumery also existed in East Asia, much of its fragrances are Incense based.

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Islamic

Islamic cultures contributed significantly in the development of western perfumery in both perfecting the extraction of fragrances through steam distillation and introducing novel raw ingrediants. Both of the raw ingredients and distillation technology significantly influenced western perfumery and scientific developments, specifically Chemistry.

As traders, Islamic cultures such as the Arabs and Persians had wider access to different spices, herbals, and other frangrance material. In addition to trading them, many of these exotic materials were cultivated by the Islamics such that they can be successfully grown outside of their native climates. Two examples of this include jasmine, which is native to South and Southeast Asia, and various citrus, which are native to East Asia. Both of these ingrediants are still highly important in modern perfumery.

In Islamic culture, perfume usage has been documented as far back as the 6th century and its usage is considered a religious duty. The Prophet Muhammad said, "The taking of a bath on Friday is compulsory for every male Muslim who has attained the age of puberty and (also) the cleaning of his teeth with Siwak (type of twig used as a toothbrush), and the using of perfume if it is available." (Recorded in Sahih Bukhari)

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Western

Knowledge of perfumery came to Europe as early as the 14th century due partially to muslim influences as well as knowledge from the Ancient Romans. During the Renaissance period, perfumes were used primarily by royalty and the wealthy to mask bodily odors resulting from the sanitary practices of the day. Partly due to this patronage, the western perfumery industry was created. By the 18th century, aromatic plants were being grown in the Grasse region of France to provide the growing perfume industry with raw materials. Even today, France remains the centre of the European perfume design and trade.

Perfumers were also known to create poisons; for instance, a French duchess was murdered when a perfume/poison was rubbed into her gloves and was slowly absorbed into her skin.

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Health and ethical issues

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Use of Aromatics

In some cases, an excessive use of perfumes may cause allergic reactions of the skin. For instance, acetophenone, ethyl acetate and acetone while present in many perfumes, are also known or potential respiratory allergens.

It is important to note that there is no benefit from creating a perfume exclusively from natural materials. There are several reasons for this:

  • Many natural aroma materials are in fact inherently toxic and are either banned or restricted by IFRA. These naturals have been replaced by safer artificial or synthetic materials.
  • Many natural materials and essential oil contain the same chemicals used in perfumes that are classified as allergens, many of them at higher concentrations.
  • Perfume composed only of expensive natural materials could be very expensive. Synthetic aromatics make possible perfumes at reasonable prices.
  • In the distillation of natural essential oils any biocides (including pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides) that have been applied while the plant is growing may be concentrated into the essential oil making the oil toxic. Unless the essential oil is distilled from a certified "organic" origin, it may be dangerous.
  • There are many new synthetic aromas that bear no olfactory relationship to any natural material and yet modern perfumery depends on these new odours for the infinite variety of perfumes available today. Many synthetics have very beautiful aromas not available in nature.
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Natural Musk

Musk was traditionally taken from the male musk deer Moschus moschiferus. This requires the killing of the animal in the process. Although the musk pod is produced only by a young male deer in oestrus musk hunters usually did not discriminate between the age and sex of the deers. Due to the high demand of musk and indiscriminate hunting, populations were severely depleted. As a result, the deer is now protected by law and international trade of musk from Moschus moschiferus is prohibited:

"Musk deer are protected under national legislation in many countries where they are found. The musk deer populations of Afghanistan, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Pakistan are included in Appendix I of CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. This means that these musk deer and their derivatives are banned from international commercial trade." [1]

Due to its legality, rarity, high price, and ethical reasons, it is the policy of many perfume companies to use synthetic musk in place of natural musk for ethical reasons. Numerous synthetic musks of high quality are readily available. approved safe by IFRA.

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Preserving perfume

Fragrance compounds in perfumes will denature and breakdown if stored in the presence of:

  • High heat
  • Bright lights
  • Oxygen

As such, proper preservation of perfumes involve keeping them away from sources of heat and store them where they will not be exposed to light. An open bottle will keep its aroma intact for up to a year, as long as it is full or nearly so, but as the level goes down, the presence oxygen in the air that is contained in the bottle will alter the perfume's smell character, eventually distorting them.

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Lists of perfumes

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Famous perfumes classified by year of creation

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Celebrity endorsed perfumes

In recent years, celebrities have signed contracts with perfume houses to associate their name with a signature scent, as a self-promotion campaign. The scents are then marketed; the association with the celebrity's name usually being the selling point of the campaign. Such products generally do not have the longevity of classic fragrances.

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Celebrity Scents

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Promotional scents associated with fictional characters

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See also

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References

  • Template:Cite book
  • Camps, Arcadi Boix (2000). "Perfumery Techniques in Evolution". Allured Pub Corp. ISBN 0931710723
  • Fortineau, Anne-Dominique (2004). "Chemistry Perfumes Your Daily Life". Journal of Chemical Education.81(1)
  • Edwards, Michael (2006). "Fragrances of the World 2006". Crescent House Publishing. ISBN 0975609718
  • Edwards, Michael (1997). "Perfume Legends: French Feminine Fragrances". Crescent House Publishing. ISBN 0646277944
  • Moran, Jan (2000). "Fabulous Fragrances II: A Guide to Prestige Perfumes for Women and Men". Crescent House Publishing. ISBN 0963906542
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External links

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