The great wine writer Hugh Johnson considers that scientific decisions are made on the basis of measurements. Non-scientific decisions made on the basis of habit, intuition or occasionally inspiration. Deciding where to draw the line between craftsmanship and art he suggests that the first two are craftsmanship and only the third art. However intuition or inspiration cannot happen in a vacuum. The inspiration behind Kekule’s vision of the benzene ring, Beethoven’s compositions after he went deaf or Einstein’s musings about relativity all took form within their specialist areas of knowledge. These inspired creative leaps by definition always go beyond the rules. However, could the pianist Joanna McGregor, who according to the Irish Times doesn’t so much break down barriers but refuses to acknowledge that they exist, play like that without years of disciplined classical study? It is true that occasionally a Jimi Hendrix comes along but for the rest of us we must do some donkeywork to prepare the ground in our given field of study.

 

Ultimately there are no rules in perfumery but before we abandon ourselves in the dark to our muse it is wise to become thoroughly familiar with the basics. These basics are the essential oils and absolutes that make up the aroma tones on our palette. Deep familiarity with them is the ground, which can feed the roots of inspiration. We must not just get to know each but also the effects that they have on one another – some desirable others not. We must know not just how each changes over time but how to influence these changes by judicious blending. It is all too easy to imagine one has taken the last step first and fall into the romantic identification with the ancient alchemists. Many mainstream perfumers have a reputation amongst their workmates for being a bit aloof and ‘Prima Donna’ like and the industry has by and large romanticised them. How to square this with certain celebrity fragrances would have Roudnitska turning in the grave. So what is it that we need and can it be taught or cultivated?

 

A good sense of smell is prerequisite but equally important is the ability to derive sensual pleasure from aromas. People who already have these capacities are the most likely to be attracted to perfumery. We need the ability to drop out of our conditioned layers of experience into our instinctual nature and have the naked immediacy of experiencing an odour on a non-verbal and non-judgemental level. This is using our nervous system to get an ‘imprint’ of each aroma. Language and vocabulary can then store this impression in our memory so that it is accessible. We should be able to go beyond like and dislike into naked experience. Meditation is in my opinion the best training to facilitate this dropping out of like and dislike into the naked immediacy of experience. In most people smell becomes unconscious in early childhood because the majority of children are not encouraged to play using their noses. In order to coax it back a vocabulary is needed.

 

Many people can smell very well but lack the descriptive ability, which is a combination of recognition and language. Imagine smell as a spectrum with an ultra violet end, which is delicate, elusive, light, ethereal, diffusive and an infrared end which is heavy, earthy, musky and every possible aroma in between. Language and guidance can help us to ‘tune in’ and differentiate more and more of this spectrum. Working in a group is very helpful in this respect. I have been at numerous tutored wine tastings where the tutor would say something like ‘there is a delicate ginger biscuit quality’ or something as specific. People mostly respond with ‘oh yes’ i.e. they were able to detect it but unable to ‘grasp it’. Very rarely is anybody unable to get it. With experience people learn to scan the entire range of the spectrum for themselves but each of us has ‘blind spots’ and we all have off days.

 

I think people who are exceptional cooks have only to become very familiar with the oils and understand a few principals in order to begin to blend. After that the more experience the better. We must learn to play.

 

Creating a Blend

 

Any composition begins as a mental process so we start with conceptualising the nature of what it is we are trying to create. This might be following some parameters outlined by a client or it may originate entirely from within ourselves. Towards the end of the 19th century the technique of making a fragrance, which comprised of three layers was invented. This method has since become standard and involves taking account of volatility when deciding upon the structure of a composition. In accordance with this method each fragrance will comprise of top notes, middle notes and base notes. Over time the most volatile (top notes) evaporate soonest and the least volatile (base notes) with much lower boiling points will stay on the skin for the greatest length of time. If a composition is overweight in top notes it will vanish very quickly and may be completely gone in a few minutes. If a composition is overweight in base notes it may last for days but will be difficult to detect. In a balanced composition the top notes, which provide the initial impression should last for some minutes, the middle notes for at least a couple of hours and the base notes or dry-away should be discernable for a few more hours or even longer. Most base notes act as fixatives by increasing the boiling point of middle and top notes making them last longer. The top and body notes bring some lift to the base notes. There have been several attempts to define precisely the proportions of each. We need to do this as a starting point as it gives some measure but it will differ with fragrance type and desired effect. As a rule of thumb the base notes should be comprise of between 30% and 50% of the total blend. The remaining 70% to 50% can be divided up equally or slanted to favour lift (top notes) or intimacy (body notes).

I have evolved another conceptual tool, which I have found very useful. It involves thinking about a fragrance in terms of heart, nuance and intrigue. The heart® is the body of the fragrance, its main theme. Nuance® is provided by complimentary smell groups in order to make the heart more interesting and complex. Finally, intrigue® is provided by unexpected even dissonant notes, which invite curiosity by not being obvious. If you imagine the infra red/ultra violet spectrum of top, middle and base as a vertical axis and if we combine the use of heart, nuance and intrigue® as a horizontal axis we have a three dimensional model to aid conception.

A client presents us with a brief. They want a fragrance based on Osmanthus which they love having just smelled it. This is going to be the heart of their fragrance. Even if we are going to make a soliflor (single flower) fragrance we need more than just the single flower. By really ‘listening’ to the aroma of Osmanthus we can get clues about what the nuance and intrigue might be. It is definitely floral - sweet soft warm delicate jasmine like with hints of plum and dried fruit. You may also notice a similarity to mimosa in terms of a soft green backnote and some slight waxy characteristics. We can enhance any of these characteristics by using other compatible oils, which have them in more prominence. Because of the inclusion of ‘edible’ notes and a light freshness in the floral quality I am also inclined to think citrus. This would be discussed with the client during the consultation to try and define more and more precisely what it is about Osmanthus that they love and other aromas they might want combined.

After some musing I may settle for something like the following as a starting point. Heart – Osmanthus floral, Nuance – other florals, green notes, citrus, Intrigue – spices and herbs. At this point I may start making notes of what I intend to put into the composition. Experience tells me that so far there is not much evidence of base notes to act as fixatives to compound this the client was not particularly keen on any of those heavier oils which would provide that function. The list I wrote looked like this.

Osmanthus

Mimosa

Jasmine

Rose Abs Maroc

Ylang Abs

Violet Leaf Abs.

This first group will provide the floral Heart of the fragrance. Later I will decide by a combination of experience and actual blending of the proportions. Small amounts of jasmine, rose and ylang always work well to give some substance but they must never be so much that they overwhelm the main effect which we are after - in this case osmanthus. Violet leaf absolute is included for the subtle greenness it brings and mimosa because it has a considerable overlap in odour profile with Osmanthus. By including mimosa we are much more likely to get the feel of one harmonious floral scent. Never forget that you can always add more of something but it is impossible to take something out.

Lavender Abs
Coriander
Angelica
Clary Sage Abs
Thyme Abs
Lemon Myrtle

 

Lavender will marry the floral heart with the herbs as it odour profile naturally has both aspects. Coriander and angelica are included for effect and lift. Clary sage absolute will act as a fixative and with the thyme absolute add further depth and complexity. Lemon myrtle will marry the herbal notes with the citrus oils.

Litsea Cubeba
Grapefruit
Lime
Green Mandarin
Mint Abs.

 

Litsea cubeba has a distinctive lemony body, which is made more complex with grapefruit, green mandarin and a hint of lime before being freshened, lifted and greened by the mint abs. Experience tells me that the oils above are going to need fixing but I want to avoid heavy musky type fixatives as this will destroy the subtle delicacy of the Osmanthus .

Benzoin

Tonka Bean

Labdanum

Frankincense

Vetivert Bourbon

 

There are many balsamic fixatives and these can be very subtle and delicate so they do not interfere too much with the more delicate oils. On this occasion I have chosen benzoin, tonka bean abs and labdanum. Frankincense works not only as a superior fixative but helps to lighten the others in the blend. Vetivert Bourbon is included because it is a superior fixative with a distinctive green earthy quality. Notice that we have green on each level - in the Osmanthus, mimosa, violet leaf in the heart, in the herbs – angelica, thyme abs, clary sage abs, in the citrus - lime, green mandarin and of course mint abs. All this green is anchored by the green in the vetivert Bourbon. A good composition should be beautiful, seamless, complex, intriguing and work by fulfilling its function in terms of tenacity. It is all about proportion. After finalising the proportions of the above I decided to be bold and add some more intrigue and depth.

Tobacco Abs.
Vanilla Abs
Cocoa Abs.

 

The tobacco leaf abs brings some mysterious smoky notes and I decide to marry this into the balsamics by using the mother of all balsamics – vanilla abs and by way of a wild card cocoa abs. Our botanical musk fixative was also used at 5% of the scent content – not 5% of total volume. The botanical musk fixative is available as an extrait. I am not going to disclose the exact proportions but will say that the there is more Osmanthus in the blend than any other single ingredient. If Osmathus is the soloist then all the other oils in the orchestra support the soloist. It should not be a jam session amongst competing ego maniacal prima donnas.

Vanilla is a beautiful addition to many fragrances but caution is needed. It is one of a few absolutes that is not only very tenacious but its odour profile does not change much over time. In other words it will easily dominate. This perfume is one of our house fragrances, which we call Kuan Yin to acknowledge its Chinese ancestry. Having named the perfume after Kuan Yin it then seemed appropriate to add some pink lotus absolute.
The importance of precise record keeping cannot be overemphasised. It is an enormous aid to learning. There is absolutely no point in creating something amazing if you can’t remember how you did it or repeat it. Using ratios is the most effective method as a unit of 1 can be one drop or one tonne. Assuming a simple floral blend that contains the following:-

Osmanthus 5
Mimosa 2
Jasmine 1
Rose Abs Maroc 1
Ylang Abs 0.5
Violet Leaf Abs. 0.3
Total 9.8

 

Blend using accurate measuring equipment – our 1ml pipette can measure down to 1/100 of 1ml. Make a small amount and only when you are happy with the blend add up the ratio parts as shown above. Now supposing you need to make 50 mls of the above blend. Subtract 8% (being the amount of water we are going to add later) from the desired quantity or take 92% of the desired amount. Either way we want 46mls. We divide 46 mls by 9.8 being the total of the ratios which gives us 4.69. Now simply multiply each of the ratio quantities by 4.69 and blend in the resulting quantities directly into a blending bottle. Add 4 mls (being 8%) of spring water. Please note that freshly blended fragrances take time to marry and mature. Using our extraits speeds this process up because each has already married with the organic alcohol base. We suggest that finished compositions are left for a week at room temperature before chill filtering as described below.

After a week at room temperature add a quarter teaspoon of fullers earth and mix thoroughly and place the bottle upright in the fridge overnight. Chilling the blend in the fridge solidifies the wax content and the tiny particles of fuller’s earth bind with smaller particles and make them heavy enough to fall out of suspension.

The next day without shaking carefully pour the blend through a perfume grade filter. The sludge in the bottom consisting of wax, fullers earth and any stray plant material can be poured out last into the funnel and left to drain slowly to avoid wastage. You should now have a crystal clear fragrance, which will not go cloudy again even in a very cold bathroom. If you have used our extraits you will now have an extrait strength fragrance, which you can dilute further using aged alcohol to get the desired strength. Please see Our Extraits An Explanation for instructions regarding dilution.

 

 

‘Heart, Nuance and Intrigue’® is a registered trademark of Essentially Me LLP. Words and images copyright Alec Lawless 2008.

 

 

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