Deep Fragrances

It sure seems like nearly every quality women’s perfume comes from France, which has been the center of the fragrance industry for over 300 years. The actual beginnings of using fragrance have different origin though.

History shows us that it is actually Egypt that birthed the use of fragrances with them being used in rituals, as incense, and in lotions and ointments as far back as 3500 years ago, a few hundred years after that the women of Egypt were using certain scents for their cosmetic and aphrodisiac qualities.

Getting back to our story, France began expanding into the perfume industry in the 1600’s by first offering perfumed gloves. It seems that ladies didn’t like the way that leather gloves made their hands smell so they were perfumed. It was so popular that perfume makers and glove makers joined together to market them.

Within a century or so the use of fragrances had advanced to the point that they were used by themselves on a large scale and the invention of the eau de cologne using citrus and spices caused a virtual revolution in the fledgling industry. Along with the topical applications these early scents were even combined with wine and used as a mouthwash.

Believe it or not the fragrance industry, especially in France has never seen a decline. The statistics of usage are astounding with nearly all women using some kind of perfume and half of the men! Every year sees at least a hundred new perfume scents brought to market in France and the cost of bringing these products out isn’t cheap, it can be as much as twenty million dollars. Add to that the fact that a fragrance it not even considered to be successful unless it does over $200 million in sales.

The exact geo center of the world’s fragrance market can probably be narrowed down to the city of Grassed near Cannes. This is where the industry developed from the early partnership with the glove makers, a fad that didn’t last, to now being the center for perfume making. Most perfume makers today use more chemicals and synthetics to make their fragrances but the flowers that grow here in Grassed are where they draw their inspiration.

The area employs over two thousand people in the fragrance industry and is responsible for over a half billion dollars in sales annually, making up half of the entire French perfume market. No wonder they are known all over the world for fine perfume.

The Perfumer

The task of composing perfumes that will sell is to enhance an expert on perfume composition or known in the fragrance industry as the perfumer. They are also sometimes referred to as “The Nose” due to their fine sense of smell and skill in smell composition. The perfumer is effectively an artist who is trained in depth on the concepts of fragrance aesthetics and who is capable of conveying abstract concepts and moods with their fragrance compositions.

A perfumer must have knowledge of a large variety of fragrance ingredients and smell. They must be able to distinguish each of the fragrance ingredients whether alone or in combination with other fragrances. As well, they must know how each ingredient reveals itself through time when mixed with other ingredients.

The composition of a perfume begins when the perfumer’s employer’s are given a brief which will contain the specifications for the desired perfume that the organisation is trying to achieve. The employees are given several tasks to complete. They are expected to describe what the perfume smells like, their feelings after smelling the perfume, when the perfume should be worn, also the price of the perfume oil concentrate. This will determine what aromatics and fragrance ingredients can/will be used in the perfume composition.

This process is an in depth and tedious task but it is essential. The perfumer will then start a process of blending various perfume mixtures and try to achieve the outcome the brief. This process can take several months or years. Once all the information is gathered the perfume composition may be used as a fragrance enhancement in shampoos, make-up, detergents, etc or it may be marketed and sold directly to the public as a fine fragrance.

Technique

Perfume oils usually contain tens to hundreds of ingredients. These ingredients can be roughly grouped into four groups: primary scents, modifiers, blenders and fixatives (refer notes below).

Instead of building a perfume from “ground up”, many modern perfumes and colognes are made using fragrance bases, which are essential oils and aromatic chemicals. The effort used in developing bases by fragrance companies or individual perfumers may equal that of a marketed perfume, since they are useful in that they are reusable.

The perfume’s fragrance oils are then blended with ethyl alcohol and water, aged in tanks for a minimum of 14 days and filtered through processing equipment to remove any sediment and particles before the solution can be filled into the perfume bottles.

Notes:

• Primary scents: Can consist of one or a few main ingredients for a certain concept, such a “rose”. Alternatively, multiple ingredients can be used together to create an “abstract” primary scent that does not bear a resemblance to a natural ingredient. For instance, jasmine and rose scents are commonly blends for abstract floral fragrances. Cola flavourant is a good example of an abstract primary scent.
• Modifiers: These ingredients alter the primary scent to give the perfume a certain desired character: for instance, fruit esters may be included in a floral primary to create a fruity floral; calone and citrus scents can be added to create a “fresher” floral. The cherry scent in cherry cola can be considered a modifier.
• Blenders: A large group of ingredients that smooth out the transitions of a perfume between different “layers” or bases. Common blending ingredients include linalool and hydroxycitronellol.
• Fixatives: Used to support the primary scent by bolstering it. Many resins and wood scents, and amber bases are used for fixative purposes.

With many fragrance manufacturers to choose from, a company can easily select a house to work with and instinctively sign with the lowest bidder. After all, if 8 different fragrance creators are offering you what appears to be the same fragrance oil, why not go with the cheapest price? Right? Well…I’d have to disagree. With a handful of fragrance houses to select from, you should choose wisely and learn more about your vendors’ fragrance quality, inventories, and overall operations. Choosing by price alone, may have you sniffing for an alternate sooner than later.

There are many things a fragrance house will fail to tell you as they are pitching price to you as their major selling point. Of course, no one will admit their faults, shortcomings, or negative press when it comes to landing that 55 gallon drum order. As an 11 year veteran, with experience in all areas of fragrance creation, shipping, purchasing, and sales…I can tell you that there are many hidden thorns in that Rose fragrance you probably just purchased from the lowest bidder.

In the fragrance industry, quality is key for most…but not for all. Companies who are using an inexpensive masking agent for a portable toilet application need not worry about specific gravity or color index. However, in fine fragrance, candles, personal care, and the now growing “Green” product lines…a fragrance house needs to pride themselves on quality and consistency. Failing to remain consistent with fragrance batch formulations will result in off spec. material. This off spec. material may not be suitable to use in candles as it may cause discoloration or not properly blend in wax. For fine fragrance, it may cause irritation to the skin. These types of issues are a major concern to the Yankee Candle type companies and Revlon cosmetic type companies that hold sterling positions in the market. Companies such as these, do not purchase on price alone. Quality control plays a large role in their decision making and dictates which fragrance house qualifies as a core vendor…or not.

When considering a fragrance manufacturer, initially, you should perform a Dun and Bradstreet on the company to see its history and viability. Take that information into consideration, then meet with your area sales representative to gather more information like quality and delivery terms. Keep pricing on the back burner for now…that part is coming next. Then, you should ask for representative samples of fragrances that you either cannot find elsewhere, or comparative samples to what you are currently using to use as a benchmark for quality and price. Giving a sample to this vendor to see what their duplication capabilities are isn’t such a bad idea. However, you may want to wait until the initial sample request is completed first. After your meeting, count the days and see how long it takes for your samples to arrive. Anything over two weeks is considered slow…at least in my eyes. Samples should be able to be produced in a week to 10 days max…unless you specify that you are in no rush for them. In most cases, you will be.

When your samples arrive, have your chemist, r & d manager, or evaluation panel test the fragrances for strength, compatibility, and overall fragrance characteristic. The nose always knows. Check out the various fragrance listings possible for various products at www.robertyoreyjr.com

If all seems ok and you think you’re done…you’re not. You should then discuss the vendor’s inventory of raw materials and standard lead times. Right now, most fragrance houses turn around fragrances in approximately 7 days. If you’re not too keen on forecasting, you’d better be sure that your vendor can come through when you need them to.

Following all of these steps…the rest is relationship, consistency, and discretion. The last thing you want is a fragrance house selling your fragrances to someone else for a similar line. Also, be sure that this fragrance house can produce marketing information, and trend reports as part of their regular routine. This can be very valuable. You can find free trend information at my site robertyoreyjr.com

Hopefully, following this guidelines will help you set the tone with your fragrance vendor. Developing a warm business relationship with your vendors is key. As a buyer, you’re not always in the driver’s seat. When crops fail, or crude oil prices skyrocket…you may want to be sure that you’re close to your sales representative. He or she just may need to pull strings to get you your product on time and without a price increase.

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