An introduction into perfumery

Last week, we were lucky enough to have a fragrance workshop with Karen Gilbert. Karen is an expert in the industry and she delivered a lecture that gave us a brief insight into the world of perfumery. She started off by explaining our sense of smell which is part of the brain that connects to memories and past experiences. This is why we always associated memories with certain scents. I loved her phrase "Fragrance is a way of communicating without words" this is the perfect way to describe any smell because you automatically get a thought in your head. Fragrance can be created from both natural and synthetic materials, they differ because synthetics replicate naturals scents that aren't found in nature, they are reconstructed. Whereas natural scents are 100% made from natural materials.

To create any fragrance, you need three main components. The top note (the first impression when you smell a scent), middle note (the heart of the scent) and a base note (the longevity of the fragrance). Once you have the three main areas covered, you can begin to create the perfect scent. The main fragrance categories are Citrus, Floral, Oriental, Fougere and Chypre. Before the lecture, I was only aware of three of those categories.

The most important part of Karens lecture was when she was explaining the step process of choosing your theme, character or heart of the fragrance. This is the step by step process that all perfumers use. Step 1 - This could be a material, feeling, colour or fragrance type. Step 2 - Your accessories should aim to enhance the middle note of the fragrance. Step 3 - Fixatives are added to make the scent last (not overpower). Step 4 - Add a scent to blend the fragrance, refine it.

In the workshop, we then got to create out own scent in groups. We had already decided that we wanted to stick to the theme of nature and aromatherapy so we wanted a cool, relaxing scent that smelt herbal. These are the ingredients and the amount that we used:

(Step 1) Heart notes:

Naturelle Homme = 60 drops, Herbal = 60 drops

(Step 2) Accessory notes: 

Tobacco = 10 drops, Green = 20 drops, Vanilla = 20 drops

(Step 3) Fixatives:

Musk = 10 drops, Vanilla = 10 drops

(Step 4) Harmoniser:

ISO E = 50 drops

Above is an image of our final product. We asked peers what they thought of the scent and we got comments such as "it reminds me of a spa" and "oooo it's very herbal!" which is exactly what we wanted to hear! Although perfumery is complicated to get your head around, once you get the hang of it, it is quite fun!

Photo Credit - Chloe Ferdinand