"A classic perfume is determined by the quality of the raw materials you put in it and by its elegance, distinction

and originality", Guerlain says ."Above all it has to be memorable". Every perfumer is influenced by the work of other perfumers before him and will add something new to it. In perfumery, there are no real standard rules but there are some principles that can help guide us. It is important to learn from the work of the great masters. It's a way to discover how aromas work together. The best way to learn the principles of how aromas work, together, is by re-creating their work. By re-creating the work of the master perfumers, you can get an idea of what the "master" thought, why he used certain notes and why he combined them in a certain way. Through experience, you learn how aromas react to one another. By studying the classic, famous, perfumes you already have one-step up in experience because you know now why the perfumer had used certain notes. By knowing the perfume families and studying the classics, you gain a great advantage in perfumery, something you can use for finding your own style and method when making a perfume. In this lesson, we will study the classic perfumes: L'air du Temps, Chanel no 5, Shalimar and Femme We will find out what kinds of notes are used in these perfumes as well as some more background information about them. In order to re-create these fragrances, we will need the information about what types of notes they may contain; we will then need to compare our creations to the original fragrance. Analyzing scents: We try to find the notes in the Classic perfumes by the information we will be reading, later on in this lesson. Another way of detecting the notes in these perfumes, is by smelling them on our skin and on scent-strips as well . It takes a lot of concentration to discover the notes of a perfume. You can ask yourself questions like: "do I smell clove or is it another spicy note I smell", "does this fragrance contain lemon or is the citrus note coming from Bergamot or neroli", "do I smell phenylethyl alcohol or is it geraniol" etc.

After you've discovered a certain note you need to put that note aside and then smell around that already discovered note, to detect the other notes of the fragrance. On the next page, you can find some tips on how to smell and compare the classic perfume to your own re-creation. Some smelling tips: *After you have discovered a note and smelled it intensely you can make your nose tired (fatigued)of that note thereby eliminating that note from the perfume, now you can smell the other notes around it. *The same method can be used when you want to compare your re-creation with the original. When your nose gets tired of the notes from the original, it can then detect the notes in your re-creation, that do not belong in there. *Another way to discover the components of a classic perfume is by using two scent strips, one strip is made later than the other strip, so you might detect a note that no longer exists on the first strip, yet can still be detected on the newer one. This way you can distinguish the top, heart and base notes. It is also important to smell the base notes from the original, you can do this by using a smelling strip and leaving it for a couple of hours or even days. Another way to find out if a particular note exists in the original perfume, is by putting an individual note on a smelling strip (e.g. bergamot) and then comparing the scent of that strip with the strip that contains the original perfume. When you, for example, used clove in your re-creation of the original, but have doubts that it exists in the original, you can use two smelling strips, one with the original and one with your re-creation, then by smelling the two strips, without knowing which one you are smelling. When you can smell clove in one of them but not the other, you are probably right, that it doesn t belong in there. Try not to concentrate too much on one aspect. Let s expand further on the classic perfumes, we will start with L'air du Temps L'air du Temps was launched in 1948 by Nina Ricci, and was created by perfumer Francis Fabron. The magnificent bottle was designed by Marc Lalique. L'air du Temps is a floral, salicylate fragrance, Nigel Groom describes the notes as:

Top: Bergamot, Carnation, Rose Heart: Gardenia, Jasmine, Rose, Orris root, Ylang Ylang Base: Musk, Iris, Sandalwood But, what is really inside L'air du Temps? Lets have a closer look at the ingredients...... In the book: "Practice and principles of perfumery" it says that L'air du Temps contains a Carnation complex made of Benzyl Salicylate and Eugenol at a ratio of 4.5 to1 respectively, with the formula containing 15% Benzyl Salicylate. The Carnation complex also contains Ylang Ylang and iso-Eugenol. The base has an accord made of Methyl Ionone(10%) Vetiveryl Acetate, Sandalwood, Musk Ketone and Musk Ambrette, the base notes along with the Carnation complex, is the main accord of this fragrance. The heart contains a bouquet of floral notes reduced to their simple components: Terpineol for Lilac, Styrallyl Acetate for Gardenia, Phenylethyl Alcohol for Rose, Hydroxycitronellol for Muguet and Benzyl Acetate and Amyl Cinnamic Aldehyde for Jasmine. The top notes (14% of the formula) are a classic mix of Bergamot and Rosewood together with their components Linalool and Linalyl Acetate. The richness and complexity of this fragrance is coming from Jasmine and Rose absolutes. To the basic structure of the fragrance as it stands now, there are added in small amounts the following materials: Aldehyde C11 undecylenic, gives impact and blends beautifully with Styrallyl Acetate, it also works as a bridge between the top notes and the rest. Vanilla, Heliotropin and Iris complement the Carnation complex. Vanilla adds some impact, but it must used carefully. So how can we use this information? We can begin by making a copy of L'air du Temps and then by analyzing, or better yet, smelling what the perfumer Francis Fabron may have thought when he created it, why he used certain notes in combination. We can then alter this formula. We can do this by, for example, replacing some of the known materials with other (newer) materials. Many perfumers were inspired by L'air du Temps and created fragrances that had similar notes, but used other notes to replace some of them, like in the perfume: Fidji by Guy Laroche(1966) The Benzyl Salicylate is replaced by cis 3 Hexenyl Salicylate and the Hydroxycitronellol is replaced by Lyral.

In the perfume Paris by Yves Saint Laurent(1983) The Carnation complex is replaced by a Violet and Rose complex. In L'air du Temps the Methyl Ionone works as a woody-iris character in combination with Vetiveryl Acetate, while in Paris it works as the basis for a Violet accord in combination with iso E Super as the woody note. Chanel no. 5 Chanel no. 5 was launched in 1921 and was created by the perfumer Ernest Beaux. It's a floral aldehydic fragrance. Chanel 5 utilizes Lemon and Bergamot along with synthetic aldehydes, used possibly for the first time, in amounts larger than usual and larger than those found in nature. Natural oils like citrus oils do contain Aldehydes but never in such a high content. There is a story that the assistant to Ernest Beaux, who prepared the formula, created by Ernest Beaux, made a mistake and used 10 times more of the Aldehydes than was supposed to be used. The result was so refreshingly new that Ernest kept the formula as it was. Nigel Groom describes the notes as: Top: Ylang Ylang, Neroli, Aldehydes Heart: Jasmine, Rose, Iris, Lilly of the Valley Base: Sandalwood, Vetiver, Musk, Vanilla, Civet, Oak moss The top notes of Chanel no. 5 contain Bergamot, Linalool, Linalyl Acetate, Neroli and Aldehydes (1%). The heart notes contain a high percentage (4 to 5%) of Rose and Jasmine absolutes. It also contains 8% Methyl Ionone, 10% Hydroxycitronellal, Cinnamic Alcohol, iso Eugenol, Ylang Ylang, Rose alcohols(Geraniol, Citronellol etc) and a little Phenyl acetaldehyde. The base notes contain Ciste oil, natural Musk, Amber grey, Civet, Styrax, Vetiveryl Acetate, Sandalwood, 5 % Coumarin, 1.5% Vanilla and 10% Nitro Musks. We do not actually know which Aldehydes or Musks were used in Chanel no. 5 When we read the book, The Emperor of Scent by Chandler Burr, we can read that Aldehydes with less than seven carbon atoms have an unpleasant smell, but above seven they have a pleasant smell and can be used as perfume ingredients. The Aldehydes with an even number of carbon atoms have a citrus-like scent but the Aldehydes with an odd number of carbon atoms smell waxy and candle-like. The secret to Chanel no. 5 was that Ernest Beaux used a large amount of the even-numbered Aldehydes like Aldehydes; C8, C10 and C12 and just a small amount of the uneven Aldehydes, like Aldehyde C11.

On the Internet you can find what kinds of musks Chanel no. 5 contains, for instance, it contains a high amount of Musk Ketone followed by Galaxolide, a bit of Tonalide and Musk Xylene among others. Rive Gauche by Yves SaintLaurent(1971) is an aldehydic perfume as well, where the rose complex dominates the fragrance with an accent on Geranium and Aldehydes. It contains 15% of the following combination of materials: Cyclamen Aldehyde, Muguet, Hedione and Hexylcinnamic Aldehyde, it also contains Coumarin and Musk ketone, Cedarwood 2% and Kephalis. Femme Femme, was launched in 1945 by Rochas. It was created by the perfumer Edmond Roudnitska. Femme is a fragrance that belongs to the Chypre family. Nigel Groom describes the notes as: Top: Peach, Plum, Apricot, Bergamot, Cinnamon Heart: Jasmine, Rose, Immortelle, Ylang Ylang Base: Oak moss, Sandalwood, Patchouli, Musk, Amber, Vanilla Femme contains a high percentage of fresh top notes like: Bergamot, Lemon, Petit Grain (Citronnier). It has a fruity Jasmin note, Oak moss, Methyl Ionone, Patchouli and Labdanum. Edmond Roudnitska used small amounts of woody materials, fruity notes of bases like Prunol or de Laire, as well as Balsams and spicy notes like Cumin and Cardamom. He also used a Carnation base, which contains Eugenol, iso Eugenol, Heliotropin and Ylang Ylang. The fragrance also contains a lilac note and Opopanax (sweet Myrrh). Cabochard by Gress(1958) has similar notes as Femme but instead of the fruity notes of peach and apricot, there are more green top notes used by Galbanum and Basil. The heart notes contain a lily note from Hydroxycitronellal. Instead of a lilac note, a Gardenia note is introduced by using Styrallyl Acetate together with Aldehyde C11 undecylenic, much the same as was used in L air du Temps. The base contains most of the same notes as in Femme but there are also some leather notes used, like iso Butyl Quinoline. Miss Dior(1947)

does contain some similar notes found in Femme, only doesn t have the fruity notes, instead they used Galbanum (as used in Cabochard) and Styrallyl acetate combined with Aldehydes such as; Aldehyde C11 Undecylenic, and Aldehyde C10. Where the spicy notes in Femme were Cumin and Cardamom, in Miss Dior they used Pepper and Coriander. Miss Dior contains Hydroxycitronellal as does Cabochard, though newer versions contain the substitute Lyral (Hydroxycitronellal being a skin sensitizer). Shalimar Shalimar was launched in 1925 by Guerlain. It was created by the Perfumer Jacques Guerlain. It is an oriental perfume. It was inspired by an Indian Emperor s love for his magnificent wife. Shalimar is named after The Gardens of Shalimar, where their love grew and flourished. Top notes: Bergamot, Mandarin, Cedar, Lemon Heart notes: Patchouli, Jasmine, Rose, Orris Base notes: Vanilla, Benzoin, Peru Balsam, Leather Shalimar has a high percentage of natural, animal and balsamic notes. The formula contains 3% Ethyl Vanillin and 9% Coumarin. The top contains 30% Bergamot, other citrus notes, Neroli, and rosewood. It is based on the Ambrein accord which contains: Bergamot, Vanilla, Coumarin and Civet. Besides the Ambrein accord it contains 4% Patchouli, Sandalwood and Vetiver. For the leather note, Jacques used Castoreum and a leather base, like Cuir de Russie and a small amount of Cinnamon bark oil to complement the leather notes. He also added a peach note by using Aldehyde C14. For the rose notes, he used Rose absolute, Citronellol and Geraniol. Then, tinctures of Vanilla, Tonka, Benzoin, Civet, Castoreum, Amber grey and Musk, were employed. Must de Cartier (1981) is also based on the Ambrein accord with additions of Coumarin, Vanilla (vanillin) and Civet. It also contains Sandalwood, which together with Hedione and Galaxolide takes up 40% of the formula. A bit of Cedryl Acetate was then added to the sandalwood. For the green-fruity notes, they used Triplal and Aldehyde C14, Galbanum and a little bit of Thyme oil. We learned in this lesson the basic structures of some classical perfumes and how these classical perfumes inspired other perfumers to use the same structures and change them a little bit to create a whole new perfume. I hope it inspired you as well.

Jenny A big thanks to Frank for helping me with the grammaire.