Posted by in Aspects of perfume, How people perceive perfume, Perfumers, The psychology of fragrances People do all kinds of things in an effort to keep or get back something of the person they loved who has died. They make diamonds of their ashes, they have paintings of them, they dedicate park benches to them in their favourite parks, keep their clothes in their wardrobes until the smell has faded,…Read more »
Posted by in Aspects of perfume, Perfume notes, Perfumers About classic old fragrant roses “Attar of roses is an important ingredient is some cosmetic preparations. The yield is very small: 500 kg (about 1,102 lb) of rose petals, which is about 3,000,000 blooms, are required for 1 kg (roughly 2 lb) of attar of roses. The need for roses, like the need for flowers…Read more »
Posted by in Aspects of perfume, Marketing of perfume Powerful. Authoritative. Mysterious. Timeless. The official fragrance for the Markham man. The signature fragrance of men’s fashion and clothing retailer Markham has just been launched. The product was designed and produced in South Africa by perfumer Max Millies and his firm Earthgro. The overall impression of the perfume is that it is rather delicious and quite…Read more »
Posted by in Aspects of perfume, How people perceive perfume, Marketing of perfume, Perfumers “To the uninitiated, discovering a perfume from a list of its raw materials is like reading the ingredients for a cooking recipe with all the frustration of not being able to imagine what the dish would taste like; images seem to create more of an echo in us and speak more fully to our senses.…Read more »
“When we reflect on the origin of creativity, in whatever field of endeavour, our thoughts turn first to the imagination…And the imaginative person, gifted with taste, will naturally be drawn in the direction of artistic creation.” – Edmond Roudnitska
The creation of perfume is both an art and a science; the ancient art of composing and creating a substance that will evoke specific memories and emotions in the person who uses it, combined with the science of organic chemistry.
A perfume that has been specially created is like an abstract painting. Its meaning for the wearer lies in the personal associations they experience when they smell it – a hot summer’s day, their mother’s scent, the skin of a loved one, walking through damp cedar woods, or standing on a beach, breathing in the sea scent. Each person will interpret a perfume differently, and for each, a perfume will reveal its top, middle and bottom notes as subtly different as each person’s own chemical makeup. Magically (though it is actually mainly science!) the perfume creator combines different extracts of carbon-based compounds, found in plants, in a systematic and intentional way to layer different smells to recreate memories for the user. One sniff – and you are somewhere else.
The word perfume is used today to describe scented mixtures and is derived from the Latin word, “per fumus,” meaning “through smoke”. And that is exactly what wearing perfume is like – the fragrance reveals itself like fragrant, invisible wisps of smoke – first the top notes, then, after a while, the middle notes, and lastly, lingeringly, the base notes. The words we use to describe these notes in a perfume are generally understood, but like describing a piece of art, or a wine, or a piece of music, the words and imagery are merely approximations. To truly experience a perfume, you have to smell it.
For most people, a perfume is the closest they will ever come to owning a piece of art, or a poem or piece of music dedicated to them. But today, owning your own piece of perfume art is more attainable than ever before.
