Application
               Perfume Oilsfor a 
               Perfume Oilsfor a 
                                                     Wide Range of 
                                                     Wide Range of 
                                   Applications...
                                    Applications...
                                   It would be a mistake to think        As a result of the differing needs    fragrance. What are meant are
                                   that the work of perfumers            and objectives that perfume oils      perfumes, eau de colognes, 
                                   relates only to the develop-          have to satisfy, they are classified  eau de toilettes, after shaves and
                                   ment of perfume oils for the          into the following product            other fragrant splashes, which
                                   “fine fragrances” that are            groups:                               typically have a relatively high
                                   offered so elegantly on the                                                 perfume oil concentration of 
                                   shelves of perfume shops.             Fine fragrances                       between 8 and 20%.
                                   Almost every time they use a          This segment is also termed
                                   personal cleansing product or         “alcoholic perfumery,” as alcohol     Toiletries
                                   a toiletry or a household clean-      serves as the carrier for the         All products intended for cleaning
                                   er or care product, consumers                                               or grooming the body are grouped
                                   encounter the perfume oils                                                  in this category, although it also
                                   that these products contain.                                                includes perfume oils for cosmetic
                                                                                                               or sunscreen products.
                                                                                                               Household products
                                                                                                               This category comprises all of the
                                                                                                               products that are employed in the
                                                                                                               household. These include clean-
                                                                                                               sers and care products, all launde-
                                                                                                               ring and fabric care products, as
                                                                                                               well as air fresheners.
                            18  H&R Scents
          A perfume’s
          wide range of
          tasks
          The purpose of the
          perfumes from the
          fine fragrance group 
          is to use harmonious fra-
          grance development to reflect
          and underscore the wearer’s 
          individuality and personality. In
          selecting a fragrance, consumers
          often also identify with a brand, 
          a fashion trend or a philosophy of   should not only                                         “washed especially gently”,
          life. They associate their favorite  be visible, it should                                   “washed especially clean” or
          fragrance – either consciously or    also be “smellable.”                                    “was hard on the laundry”.
          subconsciously – with the emotio-    The importance of this fra-
          nal brand image they have seen       grance-effect relationship                              A finished perfume oil is
          from advertisements or TV com-       was demonstrated by a simple                            not created over night
          mercials, which is usually also      experiment. Consumers were
          reflected in the product’s packa-    asked to test three “different”                         If a new product from one of the
          ging and flacon design.              laundry detergents. What they                           above three segments is to be
                                               did not know was that while the                         brought to market (launched),
          If, for example, an extraverted      fragrance was different, the other                      the manufacturer usually turns to
          woman reaches for a transparent      ingredients in the laundry deter-                       a fragrance producer, a fragrance
          bluish or greenish flacon, she       gent were identical in all three                        house, to obtain a perfume oil
          expects a fresh-floral fragrance     cases. The results were as unam-                        that is custom-tailored to its
          that reflects her temperament.       biguous as they were surprising:                        needs. Only few companies that
          An introverted consumer will         Depending upon the fragrance                            use perfume oils in their finished
          likely select a flacon in red or     effect, the effectiveness of                            products have their own in-house
          gold, which means she wants          the detergent was assessed as                           perfumers.
          a warm, Oriental scent. So the 
          perfumer’s creations not only                                                                A “briefing” is used to explain
          have to be esthetically upmarket                                                             the assignment to the perfumers
          “olfactory garments” for the                                                                 from the fragrance house. The
          wearer, they also have to blend                                                              briefing contains information
          in harmoniously with the accus-                                                              about the nature and design of
          tomed brand image.                                                                           the new product, about the 
                                                                                                       defined target group for which
          A product fragrancing has a                                                                  the product was developed and,
          different purpose. In this case,                                                             of course, about such technical
          the fragrancing is intended to                                                               requirements as usage rate and
          make the product pleasant for                                                                fragrance profile. And the price
          the consumer to use. The hands                                                               that will have to be paid for the
          should smell fresh and clean after                                                           perfume oil also plays a major
          they have been washed with soap.                                                             role.
          And a freshly mopped floor
          should smell clean – but it should                                                           The briefing serves as the basis
          be a different kind of “clean”                                                               for the work of a team that con-
          than freshly washed hands.                                                                   sists of a perfumer, evaluator,
                                                                                    Perfumers          marketing specialist and usually a
          In product fragrancing, the scent                                         develop fragran-   product specialist. The members
          is expected to impart a message –                                         ces for widely     of this team work together to
                                                                                    differing product
          a product’s effect or effectiveness                                       groups.            translate the briefing into a 
                                                                                                           H&R Scents   19
                                      Application
                                                                                                                         they serve. They thus act as a 
                                                                                                                         link between the perfumer, who
                                                                                                                         develops the new fragrance with
                                                                                                                         a view to creative aspects, and
                                                                                                                         the marketing specialist, who
                                                                                                                         provides conceptual support in
                                                                                                                         developing the fragrance and
                                                                                                                         maintains an objective, marketing-
                                                                                                                         oriented view. 
                                                                                                                         The fragrance has to
                                                                                                                         prove itself in the finished
                                                                                                                         product
                                                                                                                         Guided by the evaluator’s assess-
                                                                                                                         ment, the perfumer then varies
                                                                                                                         and modifies his or her compo-
                                                                                                                         sition until optimum fragrance
                                                                                                                         development has been achieved
                                                                                                                         in the product. Realistic applica-
                                                          The amount of a perfume in                                     tion tests are an absolute neces-
                                                          the finished product, e.g. in a                                sity in this connection: A laundry
                                                          shower gel, ranges between                                     detergent, for example, should
                                                          0.1 and 2.0%.                                                  not just have a pleasant scent
                                                                                                                         when it is added to the washing
                 fragrance composition that will          to the medium in question and
                 satisfy all of the desired criteria. In  then tested. This is why perfume
                 doing so, the first step is to select    houses usually have product 
                 a fragrance theme that will do a         specialists, often chemists, who
                 good job of esthetically under-          work in their own laboratories to 
                 scoring the effect of the product.       develop a wide range of media,
                 Only then does the perfumer              such as soaps, shampoos, creams
                 set about to transform this idea         or dishwash detergents. The 
                 into a perfume oil. In addition to       perfume oil concentrate is appro-
                 esthetics, two additional aspects        priately added to the medium in a
                 are also very important – the            typical concentration (usage rate)
                 masking power of the fragrance           of between 0.1 and 2.0 % of the
                 and its stability.                       finished product in the case of
                                                          toiletries and household products.
                 Masking power means a com-
                 position’s ability to cover up the       An evaluator then assesses the
                 inherent odor of the medium              fragrance in a sample of the 
                 to be fragranced, for example a          finished product. Evaluators are
                 soap or a cleanser, without sig-         fragrance specialists who have a
                 nificantly altering the selected         specially trained nose and can               An Evaluation
                 fragrance theme. This can natu-          speak the professional language               staff member
                 rally only be assessed within the        of the perfumers, on the one                     testing the 
                 context of the application itself,       hand, as well as a very good                      fragrance 
                                                                                                     development of 
                 i.e. the fragrance has to be added       knowledge of the market segment                 a shampoo.
                               20  H&R Scents
                                                                                        Both the scent
                                                                                        of the fabric 
                                                                                        softener itself 
                                                                                        as well as the
                                                                                        scent of the
                                                                                        washed laundry
                                                                                        are assessed.
          machine. When the wet laundry          substances that can react with         their thumbs-up to the aging
          is removed from the machine,           both one another as well as with       sample is the fragrance develop-
          the dried laundry is hanging on        the medium that is being frag-         ment process concluded. Only
          the clothesline and is later ironed    ranced. In either case, this could     now will a presentation be made
          – the fragrance always has to be       cause the fragrance to change          to the customer. If the customer 
          noticeable and pleasing. The           significantly, and often in an         is satisfied with the fragrance, 
          same also applies in developing        unpleasant way. Discoloration of       the composition – which has thus
          a fragrance for a shampoo: It is       the product is also possible. To       far been compounded only on a
          necessary to assess fragrance          avoid both of these risks, special     scale of grams – can now be 
          development and substantivity          endurance tests were developed         produced on a production scale.
          on both wet and dry hair. Air          in which the fragrance compo-          Fully automated, computer-con-
          fresheners or cleansing agents,        sition is subjected to weeks of        trolled compounding equipment
          too, are assessed with respect to      exposure to heat and light in the      then uses the perfumer’s formula
          their effect in the room in stan-      product. Only when the evaluator       to produce batches of up to 
          dardized, individually ventilated      and the perfumer have given            several tons in size.
          olfaction chambers. Only when 
          all of these tests have produced
          satisfactory results is the first step
          in the development of a fragrance
          completed.
          In addition, the perfumer also 
          has to keep an eye on the stability
          of the fragrance composition as 
          it is being developed. In this case,
          stability means that only minor
          changes in the fragrance may
          occur throughout the long weeks
          and months that the product
          spends on a supermarket shelf
          and in the consumer’s home. 
          Although this would appear to 
          be obvious, it does necessitate
          good knowledge and experience
          on the part of the perfumer.                 Computer-
          Yet in spite of this professional        controlled pro-
          knowledge, only a final test can        duction systems
                                                  compound even
          provide definitive information            huge volumes 
          about stability, because a perfume       of perfume oils
          oil is a blend of a wide range of      with an accuracy
                                                 of a single gram.
                                                                                                                H&R Scents   21