A Tiny Treasure Trove of Scents
By D. N. Smith
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2011 D. Norton-Smith
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Contents
Chapter One - Perfume Families and Composition: Woody, Fruity, Floral, Oriental and Green Fragrances
Chapter Two - Common Perfume Base Notes: The Most Popular Scents Used to Warm and Fix Fragrances
Chapter Three - History and Perfumes of Yardley: Makers of Fragrance, Cosmetics and Luxury Bath Treats
Chapter Four - Clive Christian No.1 Perfume: The World's Most Expensive Fragrance
Chapter Five - Discover Guerlain Perfumes: The Most Popular Fragrances of the Famous French Perfume Maker
Chapter Six - Chanel No. 5 Perfume History: How Did Chanel Create the Top Selling Fragrance of All Time?
Chapter Seven - Yankee Candle Company: Seasonal Scents for Summer, Winter, Spring and Autumn
Chapter Eight - Thierry Mugler Perfume: Innovative Fashion Designer and Fragrance Creator
Chapter Nine - Make Your Own Perfume: How to Design and Create Your Personalised Fragrance
Foreword
Scent can be exciting, comforting and most importantly evocative. How many times have you caught a scent and been sent hurtling back twenty years to a lost love or reminded of your mother or a party you attended?
I still have scents that remind me of specific times in my life; being a teenager, my first child, getting married, my first part time job, holidays and evenings out.
I have scents that I adore; coffee, cinnamon, lemon, zesty orange, coconut; and scents I hate; patchouli. I have scents that I used to hate and now love (lavender) and scents that I used to love and now hate (musk). When I was pregnant I was addicted to the scent of Dettol and cleaned continuously. I use Christmas scented air freshener all year round (cinnamon, pine and orange).
So here is a selection of the perfume and scent based articles that I wrote for Suite 101 in 2008. If you want to read more about specific perfumes (including my ultimate favourite of all time Pure Distance) then visit my perfume website Perfume FAQs (http://www.perfumefaqs.com)
Smell ya later!
Perfume Families and Composition: Woody, Fruity, Floral, Oriental and Green Fragrances
Fragrances fit into different families according to their composition. Knowing a bit about these families will help you to decide which perfume is for you.
Most people will know that there are top, middle and base notes of fragrances. That is the initial scent of a fragrance, the settled scent and the lasting base scent which is what can be smelt after about an hour of putting on a fragrance and until the fragrance fades. Not as many people are aware that fragrances fall into one or more of five set families.
The Fragrance Families
The five main fragrance families for women's perfumes are floral, fruity, woody (or chypre), oriental and green. There are also many other families which have developed as perfumes have become more diverse and complex.
The Five Main Families
Floral: The most traditional and popular family. It can range from a linear scent of one flower such as in Yardley's English Rose or can be a veritable bouquet of flowers such as in Guerlain's Champs-Elysées. Florals are femenine and romantic and suitable for any age.
Fruity: Fruity fragrances are fresh and youthful. They can range from sweet concoctions like Yardley's Strawberry and Kiwi or fresh and cutting like the more citrus DKNY. Fruity fragrances are always more popular in summer.
Woody: Woody fragrances are more earthy and masculine and are an acquired taste. You either love them or hate them. They range from smoky to mossy and include scents such as patchouli, pine and sandalwood. An example of a floral woody fragrance is Miss Dior.
Oriental: Oriental scents are spicy, warming and exotic such as Guerlain's Mitsouko, which also sits within the floral and woody families.
Green: Green scents are those of cut grass and fresh leaves. An example is Elizabeth Arden's Fifth Avenue.
Further Families
Water or marine: Water scents are those redolent of ocean breezes or rainstorms.
Aldehydics: Aldehydics are synthetis. They first found their way into the perfume world when Coco Chanel requested that a perfume be made that was entirely synthetic. The result was Chanel No. 5
Tabacco / Leather: These fragrances smell exactly how they sound and, like woody scents, are more masculine and mature.
Fougère: This family is also quite masculine but is used in perfumes as well. The strongest notes will usually be lavender and oakmoss.
Scents will rarely fall into one family. There will usually be a cross over so you will be unlikely to find a pure fruity scent but very likely to find a floral/ fruity. Unlikely to find a woody scent but quite likely to find a woody/ oriental.
So What Was That About Top Notes?
Some scents are linear. That means that the same main scent runs all the way through the fragrance with no variations or buffers. Usual examples of linear scents are rose, lavender or magnolia perfumes. These fragrances are in the minority however and most scents have top, middle/ heart and base notes.
An example can be made of most perfumes, so to illustrate this we will look at Paris Hilton's Heiress. This is a fruity/ floral scent. The top notes of passion fruit, orange, peach granite and mimosa will be the scents smelt immediately upon spraying on the perfume. They will be the predominant scents for the first ten to 60 minutes. The middle or heart notes of jasmine, tiare flower, ylang ylang, honeysuckle, dewberry blossom and grenadine are the scents that will be most obvious after about an hour. The base notes of violet leaf, Tahitian tonka and blonde woods will be the last to be smelt and being the heaviest scents will be the ones you can still smell at the end of the day.
Common Perfume Base Notes: The Most Popular Scents Used to Warm and Fix Fragrances
Base notes of perfume are perhaps the most important as they last the longest. There are many base notes but some are more popular than others.
Perfumes are usually made up of top, middle/ heart and base notes. The base notes will usually be the heaviest and strongest scent and will be smelt long after the top and middle notes have faded.
How Are Base Notes Chosen?
Base notes will be chosen because of their fixative properties, their strength, their scent or more often than not all three of these. The base notes will often help dictate which fragrance family a perfume sits in. There is no prescriptive scent which a base note needs to have however they will usually be one or more of the following:
warm
sensual
mossy
spicy
exotic
smoky
woody
heavy, heady or strong
Many base notes have been used for centuries and so are now rare and exotic and only used in the most exclusive and expensive scents such as Clive Christian No 1, the world's most expensive perfume. In addition many base scents are now seen as politically incorrect as they may be taken from rare animals. This has led to almost identical synthetic versions being created. Most other base notes are extracted from plant and tree resin.
Some of the Most Common Base Notes
Amber is very often found as a base note of perfumes as it is a good fixative and liked by most people. It is warm and woody. It most often comes from fossil resin of the fir tree.
Ambergris is from the stomach of sperm whales and is a fatty substance. It is very unpleasant until processed but then becomes warm and pleasant. For obvious reasons, it is rarely used nowadays and a synthetic version is used in its place.
Opoponax is a resin which smells like sweet liquorice.
Patchouli is earthy and sweet and instantly recognisable to anyone who lived through the '70s or has a fondness for incense sticks. It comes from the South East Asian patchouli plant. Patchouli is very heady and is one of those love-it-or-hate-it scents.
Tonka bean is used in many perfumes as a base note to give an oriental flavour. It is strong and comes from the pod of the South American tonka tree. It smells of caramel and marzipan. Due to its candy shop smell it is quickly becoming a very popular base note for many celebrity scents and other fragrances marketed towards the younger consumer.
Musk, like amber and tonka bean, is one of the most commonly used base notes. Traditionally it came from the musk glands of the Himalayan musk deer, but is today synthetically created. It can be quite strong, but is now produced in a variety of strengths.
Sandalwood is almost as widely used as amber and musk and it comes from the sandalwood tree. Yardley has a fragrance entirely dedicated to sandalwood.
Balsam is a resin from some trees and plants, and is sweet-smelling.
Benzoin is a resin from the stryax tree. It is an excellent fixative and gives a chocolaty note.
Courmarin is found in tonka beans and smells like marzipan.
Leather nowadays usually comes from specific birch and fir trees rather than animal hides, and gives a warm smoky scent.
Oakmoss comes from a lichen most often found on oak trees. It is oaky and mossy.
Olibarnum is a resin from the boswellia tree and is spicy and strong.
Vetiver is extracted from khuskhus grass from, among a few other places, India and the Caribbean. Its scent is green and earthy.
History and Perfumes of Yardley: Makers of Fragrance, Cosmetics and Luxury Bath Treats
Yardley of London has historically been famous for its English Lavender range but it has now expanded to fashionable fruity fragrances.
In 1620 a member of the wealthy Yardley family paid a large sum of money to King Charles I for a concession to manufacture soap for the whole of London. All of the soap was perfumed with English lavender. Yardley's still have a full range of products in that fragrance to this day.
In 1770 the business, which by now had also branched out to produce perfume, was inherited by William Cleaver, son in law of one of the Yardley family. Unfortunately he ran into debt and so the company returned to the name of Yardley as his father in law William Yardley took over the business. At his death the company passed to his son Charles who appointed his own son, also Charles, to the business. After exhibiting at the Great exhibition in Hyde Park London in 1851 under the name Yardley and Statham, the business was soon booming and expanded overseas.
In 1920 Yardley was converted into a public limited company, and in 1921 expanded into America. By 1932 the spirit duty on lavender was removed and turnover doubled. Yardley also expanded in its production areas to produce male fragrances, female fragrances, luxury bath products, cosmetics and skin care. At this time the fragrances White Satin, Lace and English Blazer were launched. With war fresh in everyone's mind, Yardley took the daring and successful approach by advertising their lipstick as “women's ammunition”.
The Fragrances
Yardley specialises in creating fragrances based around one or two key linear notes (a note that remains constant throughout the scent) and softened with subtle top, heart and base notes.
April Violets: Sweet violet top and heart notes, floral heart and sweet woody base notes. Very reminiscent of Parma Violets
English Lavender: English lavender top and heart notes toned down with floral and musk base notes
English Rose: English rose with added top green notes, middle floral notes and base spicy woody notes
Jasmine: Jasmine with a woody amber and musk base note
Lily of the Valley: Pure lily of the valley with subtle green notes throughout
Strawberry and Kiwi: Strawberry and kiwi with notes of passion fruit and bergamot
Magnolia: Magnolia with notes of rose, lily of the valley and orris over a woody base
Melon and Peach: Melon and peach with apple notes and rose and jasmine heart notes. The base is described by Yardley as "creamy"
Orange Blossom: Orange with middle notes of rose and jasmine and base notes of patchouli and sandalwood
Raspberry and Vanilla: Raspberry, vanilla and citrus notes
Red Roses: Rose, lilac and jasmine with a woody base of amber and musk
Sandalwood: Exactly what it says! Sandalwood with a woody base
Clive Christian No.1 Perfume: The World's Most Expensive Fragrance
If you have a spare $2,350, then why not splash out on a bottle of the Guinness Book of World Records holder of the Most Expensive Perfume title.
Ever wondered what the most expensive perfume in the world is? In the opinion of the Guinness Book of Records it is Clive Christian No. 1
Clive Christian No. 1
For a one-ounce bottle of Clive Christian No. 1, you could expect to part with $2,350. To put that into context, imagine a can of soda. That can holds 330 ml of liquid, which is approximately 11 fluid ounces. So your $2,350 will buy you an eleventh of a can of soda worth of perfume.
Still not expensive enough? You can pay extra for a customized bottle. Elton John got his fluid ounce in a piano-shaped bottle and reportedly paid around $250,000 for the privilege.
It was released at Harrods in London and Bergdorf Goodman in New York. Only 1,000 bottles of the men's version and 1,000 bottles of the female version are released each year.
The un-customized bottle is impressive enough, but the limited edition version of the fragrance goes one step further. The scent, named Imperial Majesty, is in a Baccarat crystal bottle with a five-carat diamond and an 18-carat gold collar. Only ten were ever made, of which five were released for sale and five were put in Clive Christian's personal archive. The limited edition scent is valued at over $200,000.
The Scent Itself
So what was the brief for the perfume to surpass all other perfumes? To make the best possible perfume mankind has ever known using the best ingredients regardless of rarity or price. As some of the ingredients used are increasingly rare, the perfume bought this year may not even be possible to produce next year as one of the ingredients may no longer exist. This will undoubtedly mean that those precious bottles in the perfumery's archives will skyrocket in value each year. The two most expensive ingredients are natural aged sandalwood from India and Tahitian vanilla.
The 2008 version of the fragrance has top notes of pineapple, plum, mirabelle and peach, heart notes of jasmine, ylang ylang, orris and carnation, and base notes of vanilla, benjoin balm, tonka seeds and cedarwood. It comes in the classic lead crystal bottle with a diamond set in a gold collar.
Who Is Clive Christian?
Clive Christian is an English millionaire and exclusive furniture maker whose stores can be found worldwide. In 2000 Clive Christian bought the Crown Perfume Company. The company was first opened by an American in London as a corset maker whose most famous client was Queen Victoria; hence the crown emblem. Around 1870 the company produced a lavender scented smelling salt, used at the time to revive ladies who fainted (probably as a result of the corsets bought from Crown in the first place). They then expanded into perfume. The company was bought out by the Lever Brothers and then in 2000 by Clive Christian.
Discover
Guerlain Perfumes: The
Most Popular Fragrances of the Famous French Perfume Maker
Guerlain's philosophy of perfume is to produce a beautiful scent in a more than beautiful bottle. This is a look at some of the most popular Guerlain scents.
The Guerlain company was founded in 1828 by Pierre-François-Pascal Guerlain and has been headed since then by a succession of five generations of the Guerlain family. Since then they have created over 620 perfumes. They opened the doors of their first elite boutique in 1828 there are now seven boutiques in Paris and many in major cities around the world. In 1994 Guerlain were purchased by Louis Vuitton Möet-Hennessey, the international giant which owns companies such as Louis Vuitton, Möet & Chandon, Dior Perfumes and TAG Heuer.
Part of the enduring appeal of Guerlain perfumes are the decadent decorative bottles which are more akin to art than bottling and that is the theory behind their design. Most of the older designs were created by Raymond Guerlain and Baccarat, the crystal designer also behind the bottle for the world's most expensive perfume. Since 1975 most bottles have been designed by Robert Granai
The Scents of Guerlain
Eau de Cologne Imperiale was created by Guerlain in 1853 and was inspired by the Empress Eugenie (the wife of Napoleon III). So impressed was she by the scent she named Guerlain the Majesty's Official Perfumer. The scent consists of top notes of bergamot, neroli, verbena, lemon and orange, middle notes of lavender and base notes of cedarwood and tonka bean.
Heure Bleue was created in 1912 and was inspired by the last moments of light as day fades to night. This scent has top notes of neroli, middle notes of carnation and iris and base notes of vanilla.
In 1919 we were brought Mitsouko which was inspired by a beautiful Japanese character in a very fashionable book of the time called La Bataille. The fragrance has top notes of bergamot and rose, middle notes of jasmine, spices and peach and base notes of oak moss and woody notes.
Continuing the oriental theme fashionable in the '20s, Guerlain created Shalimar with top notes of bergamot, middle notes of iris and opopanax and base notes of vanilla.
The avant-garde movement of the '30s made Paris the fashionable place to be and Coque D'or was created in a Baccarat midnight blue bow tie shaped bottle surrounded by gold. In the '40s and '50s the antique decorative bottle style gave way to simple bottles. Fleur De Feu and Ode came in American skyscraper inspired bottles.
The '60s saw two men's fragrances: Vetiver with top notes of bergamot, lemon, mandarin, neroli, and coriander, middle notes of vetiver and cedar and base notes of tobacco, nutmeg, pepper, tonka bean and capsicum. Habit Rouge had top notes of bergamot, lemon, rosewood, basil and pimento, middle notes of sandal, carnation, patchouli, cedar, rose and cinnamon and base notes of vanilla, amber, moss, leather, benzoin, labdanum and olibanum.
In 1989 one of Guerlain's most famous scents, Samsara, was created. Samsara, Sanskrit for “eternal birth” has top notes of jasmine, ylang ylang, middle notes of jasmine, sandalwood and narcissus and base notes of tonka, iris and vanilla.
1994 saw a perfume to introduce children and young teenagers to the world of perfume. It was called Petit Guerlain and has top notes of lavender and hesperidic notes, middle notes of mimosa, jasmine and rose and base notes of tonka bean.
1996's fragrance Champs-Elysées has top notes of mimosa leaf, almond blossom and rose middle notes of buddleia and mimosa blossom and base notes of almond wood, hibiscus and hibiscus seed.
In 2003: L'Instant de Guerlain with top notes of citrus honey, middle notes of magnolia inclusion and base notes of crystalline amber.
In 2006 the new fragrance, Insolence, was released with top notes of violet, orange blossom and rose, middle notes of red berries, lemon and bergamot and base notes of iris, musk and woody notes.
Chanel No. 5 Perfume History: How Did Chanel Create the Top Selling Fragrance of All Time?
A look at the top-selling perfume of all time, Chanel No. 5. With one bottle selling every 30 seconds, how has this perfume so successfully become an iconic fragrance?
The Birth of Chanel No. 5
Chanel No. 5 is one of the most famous perfumes in history and sells around one bottle every 30 seconds. This famous fragrance was created for Coco Chanel in 1921 by a perfume creator named Ernest Beaux. Something which may seem surprising in a 21st century obsessed with getting back to nature is that Coco's inspiration behind the scent was to create something very artificial. She is quoted on the official Chanel website as saying “I want to give the world something artificial.... like a dress. Something that has been made.... I want a perfume that is a composition”. Ernest Beaux responded by creating a masterpiece inspired by the midnight sun, the lakes and the rivers of the Arctic circle which he had visited a year previously.
The Scent of Chanel No. 5
Top note – Ylang-Ylang and Neroli
Heart note – Grasse Jasmine and May Rose
Base note – Sandalwood and Vanilla
An Inspiration
In addition to being Marilyn's favourite scent, Chanel No. 5, like many other iconic brands, secured a place in the art world. In 1959 Andy Warhol, an icon himself, did a series of nine silkscreens of the Chanel No. 5 bottle, once again making it the fragrance to covet.
The fragrance now sells a bottle every 30 seconds and is the top selling fragrance in the world. Celebrities still flock to wear it, and the latest spokesperson is Nicole Kidman, now reportedly one of the highest earning ad celebrities as a result. The adverts are based on Baz Luhrman's Moulin Rouge, a movie in which (perhaps not coincidentally), Nicole pays tribute to Marilyn Monroe in singing her own adaptation of Marilyn's "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend".
Coco Chanel's Main Fashion Triumphs
Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel was born in 1883, although in a move amusingly similar to many women today she claimed to have been born ten years later. She opened her first millinery shop in 1912, selling simple tailored clothes for men and women, as well as perfume, jewellery and textiles.
Coco Chanel believed that women should wear perfume wherever they wanted to be kissed. In addition to her No. 5 perfume Chanel also created modern classics with the Chanel cardigan, the Chanel Suit and the little black dress, now a staple in most women's wardrobes. In the '70s, Coco introduced bell bottoms and pea jackets for women. Coco worked until she died in 1971, leaving Karl Lagerfeld in her stead to as the head designer of Chanel
An Icon
As Marilyn Monroe once famously said “What do I wear in bed? Why Chanel No. 5 of course”.
This is probably the most famous of Marilyn's quotes and undoubtedly what gives Chanel No. 5 such appeal. Who wouldn't want to smell like Marilyn? That is not however the beginning and the end of the story. Chanel No. 5 is a very carefully planned and created scent both in the philosophy behind its creation and the inspiration for its fragrance.
Coco Chanel's evergreen designs and quality have secured Chanel's throne as the classiest and most stylish of designers. The planned sensuality of Chanel No. 5 has ensured that it remains the top-selling fragrance of all time, but it seems the birth of it as a cult classic is largely thanks to the celebrity endorsement of Marilyn and Andy
Yankee
Candle Company: Seasonal
Scents for Summer, Winter, Spring and Autumn
From a last-minute home-made gift to a 150-fragrance strong company - for an example of the American dream then look no further than the Yankee Candle Company.
Like many teenage boys, 17-year-old Mike Kittredge couldn't afford a Christmas present for his mother. His solution was to melt a bunch of crayons and make the into a candle. His neighbour liked it so much that she asked to buy it, and so the first candle of the Yankee Candle Company was sold. Mike made another for his mother and one to sell, and the company found its wings.
That was in 1969, and today that one crayon candle has turned into a full range of different candles and home fragrances in over 150 scents. The Yankee Candle Company is now the only candle company name that most people have ever heard of. The company has now gone worldwide and also has an online store. In addition they do a lot of charity work to share their success.
The Ranges
The ranges include house warmer jars, small jar candles, votive candles, novelty and floating candles, wax potpourri tarts and tea lights. They also have a home fragrance spray range.
The Fragrances
The company specialise in seasonal fragrances but also have a worldwide collection and some traditional scents. Most of the fragrances are food or mood based. Whether selling your home, entertaining or trying to create a festive or summer feel then there is a candle that will fit the occasion. Here are just a few of the 150 fragrances on offer.
The Summer and Spring Scents
Juicy Watermelon: pure melon
Canary Island Banana: pure banana
Cherry Lemonade: cherries and lemon
Coconut Bay: coconut
Cottage Breeze: salt air
Country Linen: fresh florals "like a breath of spring air through an open window"
Fresh Herbs: sweet basil, spearmint, apple and patchouli
Fruit Smoothie: vanilla, kiwi, strawberry, melon and peach
Ginger Citrus: ginger and lime citrus
Island Spa: mandarins and lemon verbena
Mango Peach Salsa: mangoes, peaches, citrus, ginger flowers and pink pepper
Sun and Sand: orange flower, lemon, lavender and powdery musk
The Autumn and Winter Scents
Autumn Leaves: birch and maple leaves, pomegranate, juniper berry and orange blossom
Christmas Cookie: vanilla sugar cookie
Christmas Eve: warm hearth, sugared plums and candied fruits
Christmas Wreath: pine, balsam and hollyberry
Cider Donut: cider, ginger, star anise, rum, almonds and vanilla cream
Home for the Holidays: cinnamon, clove, cedarwood and balsam
Jack Frost: peppermint and vanilla cream
Pumpkin Pie: pumpkin, nutmeg, molasses, cinnamon, apple and buttery crust
Some Year-Round Scents
Berry Jam: berries, pomegranate, cassis, peach and vanilla bean
Buttercream: butter, sugar and vanilla
Clean Cotton: sun-dried cotton, green notes, white flowers and lemon
Creme Brulée: vanilla cream custard, honey, brown sugar and nutmeg
Egyptian Cotton: pure Egyptian cottonseed extract
Good Morning: breakfast muffins, sweet pears, citrus, spicy cadamom
Home Sweet Home: cinnamon, baking spices and tea
Shortbread Cookie: sugar, butter, lavender and mint
Thierry Mugler Perfume: Innovative Fashion Designer and Fragrance Creator
Thierry Mugler has now created an innovative set of fragrances inspired by the movie "Perfume: Story of a Murderer" starring Dustin Hoffman, Alan Rickman and Ben Wishaw.
Thierry Mugler was born in 1948, in Strasbourg, France. He actually began his career as a dancer, but in 1967 he began designing and also worked as a photographer. In 1974 he launched his clothing line and did his first haute couture runway show in 1992. All of his clothes are designed to be comfortable to move and express yourself in. In 1990 he launched his perfume range. It is for that which he is now best known.
Whether it is fashion, cosmetics or fragrances everything which Thierry creates is inspired by a higher artistic theme. One of science fiction, the celestial and metamorphosis.
As a child Thierry would lie on the ground on summer nights and watch the stars waiting for a shooting star. This was the inspiration behind the bottle for Angel. To this day stars remain an inspiration and can be seen on most of Thierry's perfume bottle. He created the perfume and bottle in an icy blue to symbolise capturing a piece of the sky and celestial dreams. For the fragrance he wanted to create a duality of a fragrance for a grown woman, a diva but also one with hints of being an innocent child.
Perfume: Story of a Murderer
This inspired set contains 15 fragrances and is inspired by the book and film of the same name. For a review of the film read this article. In the film, a character named Grenouille creates a fragrance which surpasses all other fragrances and is the most sublime scent ever smelt by man. Unfortunately, to get his ingredients he becomes a murderer. The set contains less macabre ingredients than those in the movie (which is made up of the scents of recently deceased virgins). The non-murderous set contains:
Baby - 25 ingredients blended to capture the sweet-sour and milky scent that a freshly cleaned baby's skin exudes.
Paris 1738 - the unpleasant scent of the streets of Paris.
Atelier Grimal - The scent of tanned animal skins.
Virgin No. 1 - Pure and innocent
Boutique Baldini - The smell of the inside of Baldini's shop (a perfume shop).
Amor & Psyche - A best seling perfume in the book
Nuit Napolitaine - The scent that Grenouille creates when making Amor & Psyche better.
Ermite - A mineral fragrance.
Salon Rouge - In his dreams, the place where Grenouille gets drunk on scents whose formulas he alone knows.
Human Existence - The human-being odor that Grenouille needed as he himself had no smell.
Absolu Jasmin - The flower harvested in Grasse where Grenouille worked.
Sea - A marine scent
Noblesse - Human Existence is elevated to sophistication.
Orgie - The scent of pure sensuality
Aura - Grenouille's masterpiece. This scent captures that very special je-ne-sais-quoi, that charisma which every women (and man) wants to radiate. To ensure that the elixir harmonizes with all 12 of the current main fragrance families, Aura contains one or several ingredients from each respective group. This makes the formula unbelieavably complex - it comprises 84 ingredients.Thierry Mugler's Other Perfumes
Alien: a blend of amber, woods, orange blossom, green notes and vanilla.
Angel: essences of honey, chocolate and caramel, vanilla, sandalwood, and patchouli, fresh citrus, melons, peaches, and plums
Angel Lily, Angel Rose, Angel Violet and Angel Peony (The Garden of Stars collection): The base scent of Angel but with an added strong lily, peony, violet or rose notes
Angel Innocence: pure mandarin, honey, fresh almond and other exotic fruits, rich musk and amber. Travers le Miroir (Through the Looking Glass): citrus notes, a bitter edge, with quinquina bark and vetiver enhanced by licorice.
Dis-Moi, Miroir (Mirror Image): based on the lives of women this fragrance has lily for the young girl, orange blossom for the bride, and milky notes for the mother.
Miroir des Secrets (Mirror of Secrets): This natural aldehyde, used for the first time in fragrance, adds vibrant tones to a bitter-sweet blend of patchouli and musk.
Miroir des Vanites (Mirror of Desires): warm toast and sun-kissed skin contrast with a heart of jasmine.
Make Your Own Perfume: How to Design and Create Your Personalised Fragrance
With perfume selling at around $40 to $90 just for a normal mass produced scent, why not spend just $20 and create your own?
The artisans of the perfume trade practise a very specialised and complex craft and most people feel that to be a true “nose” you need to be born with the gift.
So you probably won't be creating a multi-million-dollar scent, but you can have fun and make a lovely personalised fragrance for not much money and how satisfying when someone compliments you on it.
Making a scent is quite easy but does need a bit of thought and patience.
How To Make Perfume
You will need pure grain alcohol (vodka), bottled water and between one and five essential oils.
Mix 1/4 cup of vodka with 5 drops of essential oil. If you are just doing an experiment then leave for 48 to 72 hours. If you are playing for keeps, then wait 3 to 4 weeks.
Once you have left for the desired amount of time, add two tablespoons of water and one of glycerine (try your chemist for this)
Bottle and use or give as gifts
What Scents To Choose
You can choose any fragrances in the essential oil world but here are some suggestions for inspiration.
A linear scent i.e. All one note. rose, lavender and sandalwood are all Yardley linear scents (five drops of one oil).
A complex scent using up to five different oils (one drop of each)
A mood scent based on oils that stimulate your chosen mood e.g. romantic, energising, calming
Inspired by your favourite scent
A Complex Scent
These are oils which sit well within each category.
Top notes: orange, orange blossom, lemon, mint, lime, bergamot, sage, basil, ylang-ylang, grapefruit
Heart notes: lavender, rose, jasmine, neroli, chamomile, ginger, juniper, marjoram, may chang, rosemary, rose wood
Base notes: patchouli, cedar, pine, musk, vanilla, benzoin, black pepper, frankinsense
A Mood Scent
Calming: lavender, bergamot, cedarwood
Energising: lime, lemon, grapefruit, mint, basil
Romantic: rose, jasmine, lavender, pettigrain
Warming: ginger, black pepper, clove, juniper
If you are particularly practised in using essential oils you can even create a scent to tackle specific mood needs. For example, if you are going through a stage of depression or have just begun a new job and want a confidence-inspiring perfume.
Inspired by a Favourite Scent
If you find out the notes of your favourite scent, you can create an homage to it. For example, for an homage to Christian Dior's Diorella you would just need one drop each of lemon, honeysuckle and peach with two drops of a vetiver base note. Obviously some scents will be nigh-on impossible to reproduce, but that is why your perfume will be inspired rather than a copy. You could also find inspiration in these scents by Yardley, Dior or Guerlain.
So go forth and invent and get extra satisfaction from the compliments rolling in at your own signature scent
Author Bio
D.N.Smith has worked as a Feature Writer for website Suite 101 and as a freelance ghostwriter. Dulcinea’s short stories can be found in books from Wyvern Publications, Rebel Books LLP and Bridge House Publishing. She also works as an editor for Wyvern Publications and runs a forum for writers and illustrators called Pen and Palette. Dulcinea can be found at http://www.dulcineanortonsmith.co.uk where you will also find links to her work both online and in print.
Discover other titles by D.N.Smith at Smashwords.com:
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/deenortonsmith
All content from A Tiny Treasure Trove of Scents was written by Dulcinea Norton-Smith and was first seen on Suite 101 in 2008. Dulcinea’s perfumeblog can be found at http://www.perfumefaqs.com