Laundry and Lavender

I extracted the fragrance from 3 South American/Central American fabric softener samples today, and had some interesting observations (well, interesting to a fragrance geek like me) about them. These fabric softeners were general, grocery-store types (equivalent to Snuggle or the like), and new to the market.

1. The fragrances smell much finer than what I'm used to for laundry applications; more complex, with a better balance of notes and generally just smell more expensive.

2. They are quite different from competitors on the market (this is an established brand's new line). I feel that fragrances in laundry applications really try to convey a feeling of "clean" more than anything else. It may be a "clean" floral, or a "clean" summer breeze, but they are still aiming for that "clean" feeling, which to me causes them to be somewhat similar and predictable. These fragrances were much less concerned with pushing the "clean" agenda, and instead pursued other ideas (rich woods, exotic blossoms, flower-herb-water hybrids, etc.), which made them more interesting.

3. The theme in these 3 samples was something along the lines of aromatherapy. Not exactly aromatherapy, because there were no claims of benefits from these fragrances (which, by aromatherapy definition, would have to be essential oils in that case), but rather tried to transmit an emotion through fragrance. An interesting concept for fragrance in what I usually viewed as a mundane household item.


And now for something that I'm trying for the first time! I am going to try to highlight one aroma chemical daily (well, at least every other day); something that either I have been using a lot lately or something that I found new and exciting!

Today's aroma chemical is Furaneol.

Common Names: Furaneol, Strawberry Furanone, Furonol

Chemical Name: 4-hydroxy-2,5-dimethylfuran-3-one

State: Off-white powder which turns into a VERY sticky paste over time and exposure to air

Odor Class: Sweet

Odor: Strawberry jam, cotton candy, caramel, sugar

Strength: very strong, can easily be detected in a fragrance as 0.5% of a 1% solution

Detection threshold: 1-4 ppb in air (that's parts per BILLION, so if someone opened a jar with 10g of this stuff in it, you could easily fill the Louisiana Superdome with the smell)

Original Manufacturer: Firmenich

I've used it for the obvious: to add strawberry notes to a fragrance, to sweeten a fruity fragrance, to enhance berry notes (raspberry and blueberry especially), etc. But it also adds an interesting sweet sparkle to many feminine fragrances. Careful doses can really bring a boring floral to life, and this molecule is essential for fruity gourmand fragrances (strawberry cheesecake or cotton candy for example).

Let there be SCENTS!

Greetings! I am going to try to update daily with:

• the inner workings of the fragrance industry
  
• reviews of aroma chemicals and natural extracts
  
• trends in perfumery
  
• accords (sets of fragrance raw materials that, together, make a single fragrance note)
• fragrance terminology
  

Scents are an integral part of our everyday life. You may have heard that the sense of smell is more tied to memory than any other sense, and this is a scientifically proven fact. The nerves that transmit signals from your olfactory gland (in the upper part of your nose), pass through the hippocampus (the portion of the brain responsible for converting experiences into long-term memories), before being processed. This often leads to a person recalling an event or memory from earlier in their life before recognizing what they are smelling.

However, it does not explain why the smell of ginger essential oil makes me think of the bleachers in my high school gym class...