Yesterday I posted my formula for L'air du Temps and thought it would be nice to give some alternatives for the given components for someone that doesn't have all these components, and want to use essential oils and absolutes. So here is the formula where I wrote down some alternatives behind the original components, they don't smell exactly the same but have some similarity:
Benzyl salicylate 6,7 (ylang ylang)
Eugenol 1,5 (clove)
Methyl Diantilis 0,5 (carnation)
Ylang Ylang 1
Methyl Ionone 4,4 (orris root)
Vertofix 2 (vetiver)
Sandalwood 1
Styrallyl acetate 0,2 (gardenia, jasmine)
Phenylethylalcohol 2 (rose)
Hydroxycitronellal 4,4 (smells like lilly of the Valley there is no essential oil of this flower)
Benzyl acetate 0,4 (jasmine, ylang)
Bergamot 2,4
Linalool 1 (rosewood)
Linalyl acetate 3 (bergamot, neroli, lavender)
Aldehyde C11 undecylenic 0,1 (orange or bergamot)
Vanillin 0,05 (vanilla)
Heliotropin 0,2 (smells like vanilla and almond,maybe a benzoin oil would work here)
Iris substitute Firmenich 0,05 (iris)
Exaltolide 0,15 (a musky fragrance with some similarity to angelica root oil)
Muscenone Delta 0,15 (a musky fragrance that could be replaced by Ambrette Seed Oil)
Jasmin etoile(givaudan) 0,2 (jasmine)
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13 comments:
Hi Jenny, May I tell you that I am impressed with your love of perfumery. I have recently begun to delve into the world of "natural" perfume blending and find that working with essential oils, absolutes, resins etc. is truly a mystical, magical experience. I was wondering, how do you break down a popular (commercial) fragrance so you are able to recreate the scent on your own? Do you have a Gas Chromatograph at your disposal, lol? Also, if you could, do you think you could break down the constituents that comprise the cologne; "Curve" for men by Liz Claiborne? I know on certain sites these ingredients are identified already (probably by "GC") but actual recipes to recreate them are nonexistent. Any information you can impart to a "novice" would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Frankiecee, I wish I had a Gas chromatograph!!! I just read about the perfumes in books and on the internet and make my own conclusion of the given information. The ingredients of L'air du Temps are described in the book Perfumery practice and principles by Robert.R.Calkin and J.Stephan Jellinek. I find it a very usefull book. The book doesn't write the complete formula's of the perfumes but give an indication of the used materials. For example it tells that L'air du Temps is build up out of 15 % Benzyl salicylate and 10 % methyl ionone and that it has notes of sandalwood, ylang ylang, linalool etc. So I made my own formula based on some information I had. Of course it's not exaclty the same and it's only an abstract version of L'air du Temps.
I don't have the information about Curve but you said you've find sites with indentified ingredients of this perfume, I would love to read this sites, can you give the url's of this sites?
Hi Jenny, yeah, you and me both, I wish I had a "GC" also, lol. Although the more I think about it, I kinda like the effects of the "natural" oils and they way they can evolve better than the synthetics. I do have some synthetics too but have been working with only the naturals lately. One site I found is www.Osmoz.com from the home page you click on "Encyclopedia" and then you can navigate your way around that section. You can locate popular scents in "Brands and Fragrances" then you can go to "Olfactory Groups" to see how some of them are categorized and why. Now, I don't know the exact method they use to determine the chemicals in each fragrance but they don't specify if they are natural or synthetic or how much of a combination. I'm pretty sure you can propbably guesstimate which ingredients would be true extracts etc., by the cost of the natural material. If they say "Tuberose" I'm sure you can pretty much figure they mean "fragrance oil" (being cost prohibitive) to market a reasonably priced commercial product and still be in business, lol. I hope it helps, I find that site to be very informative, but I haven't yet used it to recreate any formulas. I am impressed that you possess the courage and enthusiasm to just dive in head first, trying to "recreate" some of these compositions, lol. You must be very brave and intuitive, lol. Well let me know what you think about the site. Ciao, Frank
Hi Frank, Yes I know the site, I even placed a link of it in the links sector. You can use these information to find out in which catagory the perfume belongs but the discription don't tell you much about the components. When it describe rose for example it can be all kinds of rosy smells, sweet, fresh, petal like, heavy, light...the only way to find out is by smelling the fragrance. What you can do is to take two smellingstrips and put the perfume you want to recreate on one strip and the component you think belongs in it on the other strip, and compare the strips and ask yourself if the component is really in it.
I realized you had the link on your home page after I posted, lol, sorry. Well I haven't found any other venue where actual formulas are listed, I believe I will try and access the books you listed previously. I have been trying to get my hands on a volume written by Steffen Arctander (1960's), he wrote all about natural and synthetic chemicals in the field of perfumery. I believe he is the authoritative figure in this field. But the cost is rather prohibitive, being more than $600.00 ( for "1" book, that's a bit too speculative for me a this stage) I believe his complete works on that subject contains 2 or 3 volumes. But I know that many in the industry regard his works as venerably, as a "Bible" is to a theologian. Maybe someday though, if it is still being published. I would love to get my hands on them, lol. Have you read, Essence & Alchemy, Mandy Aftel? I found it to be a very informative, interesting read. Well sorry about the bum lead, lol. Ciao, Frank
Hi Frank,
It's difficult to find formula's of perfumes, they kept a secret of course. I read a lot of books and sometimes I find information about the components, so you will need to read a lot of books before you get the information I gess. Oh I love the books of Arctander, it's very expensive but I rent it a couple of times from the library and copied the most important pages; that means a lot of pages!!! I put them in a map so I can do research on the materials. I didn't reed the book of Mandy Aftel but I will rent it from the library one time, I think it's a very interesting book. I love the library, you can find all the books you want to read, right now I'm reading Chemistry and technology of flavors and fragrances by David J. Rowe. I'm not a chemist so I don't understand everything written in it but I learn more about all the chemicals this way.
Well, you are very lucky Jenny. The fact that the library even had access to Arctander is a small miracle in itself I think. I can't recall if I actually searched for his works by name but I tend to think it would be an impossible task, but I shall try anyway. Although you say you're not a chemist, you certainly do impress me with your knowledge of the chemical constituents in your formula. And the fact that you can associate the chemical with the "botanical" name is quite impressive. Do you market any of your creations or just make them for your own use? How are your chemicals set up, did you make yourself a fragrance organ like the "noses" in the perfume houses do? Well I am thoroughly impressed with your expertise. How many formulas have you created to date? Speak to you soon. Thanks, Ciao, Frank
Hi Frank,
At the library you can order special books from university libraries, just ask them. This way you can read all the books without buying all the books. Some books I buy because I just want to have them but most of them are really really expensive!!!
I don't sell any of my fragrances, I just make them for my family, friends and for my self. I'm just playing around, I'm not that good.
I once made a post about my perfumery room with some pictures, you can find the post here:
http://perfumemaking.blogspot.com/2006/04/look-inside-my-perfumery-room.html
Just copy the whole link.
Hey, you shouldn't sell yourself short Jenny. I thought I read in one of your posts that a professional perfumer had sampled some of your creations and had been quite impressed with the results? Unless I dreamt it, lol, that's what I recall. Talk about dreams, I had a really weird one last night, lol, it was great but mostly just fantasy, too bad. So where do you get the chemicals you work with? I have been trying to obtain them but it seems you have to do volume quantities to obtain them from the chemical manufacturers. I am, like you, small potatoes at this stage and can't afford to speculate with expenditures amounting in the thousands. I'm heading over now to check out the link you sent. So unless you're not comfortable divulging your source, maybe you might share some information on vendors. Ciao! Grazie mille, Frankie
Wow! Now I am "truly" impressed. You appear to be very well organized. That's great! I'm just working out of boxes (I store them), lol, Let me ask you, are your perfume materials "all" perfume/fragrance oils, or do you have some pure essential oils and absolutes? Which is your favorite class of perfume; i.e., Floral, Floriental, Chypre, Ozone, Oceanic, etc.? Which oil/absolute do you like working with the best, if you have a favorite? Me, I "love" working with Tonka, I guess it's the coumarin factor which piques my interest. I do realize that it must be used in very small quantities but I can't help loving it, lol. I also have established a strong affinity to Jasmine Grandiflorum. I have been working on a masculine (for me) formula, I'd say in the Chypre/woodsy family. I don't think it's quite complete yet, I'm not too thrilled at the dry-down stage and the middle accord seems to be lacking a teensy bit of some "special" modifier, or something yet. Right now, I my middle accord, I have Jasmine G., some Tuberose and some Orange Blossom absolutes. My base accord is the dominant accord though with approx. 10-12 different oils and absolutes. My "top" is very simple with approx. 2 different EO's. I don't know how you would approach a composition of similar nature with ingredients. Would you use the basic "chemical" constituents? Well if you've got any suggestions for a modifier for my blend, keeping it in the same Chypre/woodsy family, I would be beholden to you. Speak to you soon, ciao, Frankie
Hi Frank,
It's really difficult to get chemicals in small quantities but some companies sell them like The goodscents company and here in Europe Omrikon. You will find all the information about that on the Yahoo group.
Did you get the impression that I only work with chemical aroma's? I love the naturals and started with only naturals but I like to use all the nice stuff naturals and the chems. I love white flowers so I like the absolutes from Jasmine, tuberose, orange blossom, osmanthus, mimosa, magnolia, Acacia, narcissus I like the smell of cedar, sandal, benzoin, and yes I like tonka as well. I love the smell of oudh and guiacwood, cardemom, galbanum, ginger and so much more. I like the rose a lot but somehow I'm more atracted to jasmine.
I don't like to choose between being a natural or a chemical perfumer, I use both sites!
My favorite perfume family is Chypre because I love the complexity of it, I love green perfumes as well and white flower perfumes, but I love orientals as well.
You asked a modifier for your Chypre, did you use cedar? I think it blends very well with the oakmoss, and Ciste(labdanum)is important for the chypre as well. Another note that works well with oakmoss is orris(iris). To make the heartnotes come out stronger you can use clove oil. Oh and for the tuberose you can use a little bit of celery seed oil.
Good luck!
Aha, yes we appear to love the same things. I never thought about Cedar, I'll have to try some, I already have some labdanum and orris in my oakmoss base and also, I forgot, I have a touch of violet leaf absolute in the heart accord, I figured to accentuate the hints of "green" from the florals, i.e., the Tuberose and I figured it would complement the Orange blossom as well. So, you think a touch of Clove would enhance the heart accord? Interesting concept. I don't have any celery seed oil in my arsenal yet, lol, you think it is a vital oil to have in stock? Tell me, I was thinking along the lines of maybe a bit of "musk" to sweeten up the dry-down stage and maybe a hint of ylang to smooth out the heart. Or, do you think I am too "floral" heavy going in that direction? I'm gonna take your advice though and isolate some of my existing formula and add your suggestions to the mix. Meanwhile, tell me what your feelings are as far as my thoughts about enhancing the base and heart accords. I was reading your post about the Tuberose, lol, I'd love to walk around with the sweet scent of vulva on my wrist, hahahaha, I'm teasing you, I'm not trying to be offensive so please don't take that the wrong way, LOL, I'm laughing so hard my eyes are tearing. LOL. I just couldn't resist the analogy though, I'll never smell tuberose in the same way again. Now, I think I'll love it till the day I die, hahahaha, LOL, LMAO! Ciao bella ragazza! Frankie PS - you are very nice.
Hi Frank, I think Ylang Ylang would be nice in it as well, but I think a little bit will do, because it's very sweet. The selery seed oil isn't that important it was just an idea to blend with the vulva uhm I mean Tuberose. LOL
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