You'll Be Shocked at How Enjoyable These Terrible Smells Can Be!

In the world of perfumery, bad smells can be a good thing. This may seem contradictory, but it is totally true.
Many times some people curious about my profession imagine that working with fragrances is creating a beautiful smell from raw materials that smell of flowers, herbs, wood, fruits, spices, etc. and to a certain extent they are right, however many times the materials Foul-smelling raw materials are a great element in creating beautiful fragrances that we all love to wear.

Many of the raw materials used in perfumery have unpleasant odors when extracted from their natural sources. For example, animal-derived ingredients like civet and musk have strong animalic odors with fecal and unpleasant notes, but are invaluable in creating a composition because they provide unique and complex aromatic qualities that often cannot be replicated. by synthetic substitutes.

Other materials, such as certain flower extracts and resins, may have sour or pungent odors when first extracted. However, these scents can be transformed through the use of various techniques, such as distillation and enfloration, which help capture the delicate and nuanced fragrance profiles that make these materials so valuable in perfumery.

In my experience I would say that some of the most interesting and complex fragrances are often created from raw materials that have strong and sometimes unpleasant odors. These materials provide the foundation for many of the world's most beloved fragrances, including Chanel No. 5, which relies heavily on jasmine and ylang-ylang, both of which have strong, distinctive, animalic odors and are certainly responsible for of that captivating and sexy smell that has made this fragrance unforgettable, allowing it to transcend after more than 100 years of being launched on the market.

So the next time you come across a perfume you love, remember that its fragrance profile may be due to raw materials that have strong, unpleasant odors. In the world of perfumery, bad odors are often an essential component of the creative process and play a vital role in enabling those of us who work as perfumers to create the beautiful and complex fragrances that we all enjoy wearing.

Alejandra Merino – Perfumer at My Zent Sense Your Brand