Week 11 - learning how to make perfume

There are and will be plenty of occasions where I just do my weeks on the fly.  I'll find something random from searching on the web; an interesting talk or lecture for example, or something that I hadn't really thought of or considered before.  On the other hand, there were of course, plenty of things that I knew I would like to take a crack at.  One of which was perfume making.

The funny thing is, I don't have a fragrance habit, I'm not someone with dozens and dozens of perfumes.  But then again, I'm a tireless creature of habit and when I find something I like, I do tend to stick to it.  So FYI, my day perfume is Jean Paul Gaulthier Summer fragrance and for night, its Hugo Boss Red.  I've pretty much stuck with those for about ten years and before that, I dabbled with Chanel Allure.

Nevertheless, I am obsessed with smells and so I was looking forward to something where I could put my olfactory skills to the test.  The Experimental Perfume Club took my fancy, as on the website it claims to take you on a journey to rediscover the "lost art of the nose".  I liked that very much, the nose is probably one of our most primal organs and yet, there is an art to using it wisely.

So on Saturday afternoon I found myself in a small but perfectly formed little studio in Holborn where myself and nine others met the very lovely, Emmanuelle Moeglin, a fragrance trend consultant and perfumer from Paris.   We all sat down for teas and coffees and she had made some delicious, homemade madeleines to snack on while we learnt the art of pefume making.  Ah, how terribly French!

We were all given some gorgeous notebooks to write in and were encouraged by Emmanuelle to use them as much as possible and write whatever came into our head when smelling all our ingredients.  

The first half of the afternoon was essentially all about scent-appreciation and this involved smelling 25 of the most commonly used ingredients, some natural and some synthetic, all in liquid-form with those little paper strips you get.  There is definitely a skill in being able to articulate what exact notes are being smelt, or for that matter how they make you feel or what images they conjure up for you.  Unless you are highly trained, its not that easy to coherently describe a perfume as having a delicate base of musk and amber mixed with a hint of orange blossom and jasmine with a strong whiff of lemon, leafy green and bergamot. (FYI I have no idea how that conconction would turn out!)

In reality, for me, orange blossom just smelt soapy and a bit like an old rubber tyre. Patouli, uch, smelt like old cigarette butts and mould.  To my nose, Bergamot smelt like cough sweets and earl grey tea.  But then, orange smelt like orange and lemon smelt like lemon.  The natural oils are the ones that are a bit easier to decipher.  The synthetic oils are the ones that tend to stump the nose a little and some of them are very subtle but add a great deal of freshness or smoothness to a final blend.  So for example there was an oil called Hedione, which is a sort of fresh air smell or how about Marine which is the smell of the seaside.  (Smelt more like antiseptic wipes to me).

After smelling all 25 of these stimulating liquids, we all felt a touch of headiness so took a break for some air and more snacks.  The rest of the afternoon was then dedicated to creating our own fragrances.  We learnt about the compostion of a good perfume.  It is made up of the base, the heart and the top notes.  The base is the depth; the scent that lingers the longest, whereas the heart is the signature; the most important characteristics of the fragrance.  Finally, the top notes are the intrigue; what creates the instant but fleeting impression.

We got to design and take home a 10ml bottle of our creations.  I knew straight away that I wanted my base to be mainly woody and I combined both the sandlewood and dry wood liquids, while carefully measuring out my percentages that I had marked down on my perfume formula sheet.
After adding in some edible notes as well a bit of musk and amber I concentrated on the heart of my fragrance, going for mainly floral notes including jasmine, hedione and a touch of orange blossom.
My top notes included bergamot, blackcurrant and leafy green.  

The result was a just bit too sweet for me but somehow, paradoxically it also smelt rather manly.  I consulted Emmanuelle for her expert, nosely skills and she advised that perhaps a touch of marine might freshen it up a bit.  I dutifully took her advice and added 0.35g of marine and also an extra 0.3g of leafy green.  It was much better and quite incredibly, I really did like it.  Smelling it right now, I think its warm and rich and has a bit of depth - I think its the same feeling I get when I smell lillies, my favourite flower.

I was done and happy and all that remained for me to do was name my fragrance.  I could have gone for something clever or sexy or witty but in the end, it had to reflect the fact that I did this course as part of my blog and so, nearly three months in and no doubt, coming to a store near you, may I present number Eleven.