In perfumery we talk about accords like in music you use the term chords. A chord in music is made from different tones but together they sound like a single tone or note because they have a harmony.When we say that a perfume has a strong accord we mean that it is build upon notes that harmonise together and smell complete, they 'work' together. The perfume has character and the notes are there for a reason it doesn't smell confusing it's like the perfume couldn't be made on another way.
Accords have mostly just a couple of notes, like 5 or 7 notes but they could have also much more. These notes are combined together in a way that the result smells complete, this accord is the skeleton of the perfume the perfume is based and build around this accord. Than the perfumer starts to add notes in real tiny amounts to complete the perfume, maybe to enhance some notes or to tone down some notes. This process takes a lot of time and patience of the creator.
There are many types of accords like Chypre, Fougere etc Here are some of them:
Ambre accord
Has beside ambernotes also vanilla, cinnamonlike,
spicy, dry fruitlike aspects. Together with balsamic
notes like: Benzoin, Tolu and Labdanum.
Ambrein accord
Bergamot, Vanilla or Vannilin, Coumarine and Civet
makes the Ambrein accord, together with balsamic
notes like Benzoin, Opopanax, Tolu, Labdanum. Mostly
combined with wood and rose notes.
Typical perfumes made of the ambrein accord are
Shalimar, Must de Cartier and Obsession
Chypre
Chypre has a harmony between the freshness of bergamot and the
intense fragrance of oak moss. Mostly combined with roses and
jasmine. The base contains beside the oak moss also patchouli,
cedar and labdanum. Chypre was the name of a perfume made by
coty in 1917. It does not exist anymore but many chypre perfumes
are inspired by it.
An example of a Chypre formula:
Bergamot 15
Sandalwood 8
Vetiver 6
oakmoss 5
Rose 6
Jasmin 5
Gamma Methyl Ionone 3
Patchouli 5
Musk ketone 3
Clary sage 2
Neroli 2
Fougere
Fougere is a type of perfume that has lavender,
patchouli, oak moss and the fragrance of hay from
coumarine, Tonka bean or Hay absolute. In French Fougere means fern.
In 1882 Houbigant made Fougere Royal. The Fougeres
are related to that perfume. Fougere based perfumes
are mostly men perfumes.
Mellis accord
The Mellis accord has Benzyl salicylate,
Eugenol combined with Patchouli, Hydroxycitronellal,
spices, woodnotes and Coumarine together with balsamic notes.
Typical Mellis perfumes are Youth Dew, Opium and Coco Chanel.
There are many more accords and sometimes two or more accords are blended together. Perfumers use these accords that already been found by other perfumers to create complete new accords by adding new or unexpected materials to these accords. Also new accords are still discovered.
Below an example how different notes can create a whole new note where you don't smell the single notes anymore.
Just take these notes, combine them (only in the right proportions)and ...... scroll down to the bottom and see the result
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Fresh grass
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Ripe apples
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Cotton candy
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Strawberry
I would like to give you a traditional formula of Eau de Cologne one of the oldest perfumes that still exist. I always have a bottle beside my bed and use it when I have a headache. It's refreshing and uplifting.
Cream cheese pie with lavender honey
Testing testing and testing that is how I spend the days right now. It's like paradise smelling al these lovely fragrances. I received some materials from IFF and have to get to know all these new materials. It's like you meet a new person, you don't know the person accept you first impression, but to really know a person you have to spent time with him and know how that person will react in different circumstances. The same thing with the perfume materials. You have to spent time with them, wearing it on your skin, smell it on a smelling blotter, dilute it and so on. But then you only know the material on his own, most important is how it will react with other materials. One of the materials I"ve got from IFF is Cashmeran it has peppery soft musky notes, I tried it with Clove oil and am surprised how it enhanced the spicy smell of the Clove. I tried it in my Magnolia perfume as well and it's lovely, it doesn't ad the stayingpower that I was looking for but it's real nice with this perfume, I think I will keep it in it. I'm also working on a Fougere base, Fougere is a type of perfume that has lavender, patchouli, oak moss and the fragrance of hay from coumarine or Tonka bean. In French Fougere means vern. In 1882 Houbigant launched Fougere Royal made by the perfumer Paul Parquet . The Fougeres are related to that perfume. Fougere based perfumes are mostly men perfumes. Here is a simple basic Fougere base:
You love it or you hate it, and I just love it. Tuberose or Polianthes tuberosa has a complex scent that reminds me a bit of Jasmine, Narcissus, Ylang Ylang and Gardenia but has more layers. It starts with green notes reminding of sappy green leaves. But it has also some sweet honeylike notes, fatty sultry notes, spicy notes reminding of Clove and even a note that smells like coconut. The fragrance is sultry, sensual, sweet, heady, heavy and intoxicating. Originally the Tuberose comes from Mexico but now it grows in France, India, Marocco and Egypt. It has fragrant waxy white flowers that gives their fragrance at night. A concrete and absolute is extracted by solvent extraction from the fresh flowers, picked before the petals opened. The absolute is more expensive than his weight in gold. I reed once that the smell has similar notes like the scent of the vulva of a woman and even the smell of sweat. The important components of Tuberose are: Methylsalicylat, Methylanthranilate, Methyl benzoate, Benzyl benzoate, Eugenol, Geraniol, Nerol, Farnesol and Benzyl alcohol. I have an old German book of Fred Winter(1942) where he gives a formula of a Tuberose scent:
