Synthetic perfumes can imitate natural scents or create new ones that aren’t found in nature. From a fresh marine scent that can’t be obtained naturally to a sensuous orchid aroma that is highly prized but not attainable from natural sources, synthetic odors have been a boon to the perfume industry. 

Nearly all great perfumes contain synthetic molecules, not because synthetics are less expensive but because perfumers can create scents that evoke memories and emotions that nature lacks the raw materials for. All of Chanel’s perfumes contain synthetic components as do every other truly remarkable perfume. Methyl dihydrojasmonate, for instance, imparts the sense of pure light and clean air that imitates the scent and feel of water, an aroma not possible to imitate with any natural ingredients. 

Many lovers of perfume harbor a strong prejudice against synthetics, thinking they cheapen true perfume. Nothing could be further from the truth! The world-famous Chanel No. 5 would be mediocre without synthetic aldehydes developed in 1903. Cheap? The best synthetic creations, much like rare natural ingredients such as true vanilla, are very expensive. A truly wonderful synthetic ingredient can cost up to $1200 per pound. 

CHANEL # 5 BY CHANEL (EAU DE TOILETTE SPRAY 1.7 OZ)
Price : $81.17

Synthetics can also prevent allergic reactions. There are many people who love the scent of Sandalwood but have allergic reactions when they try to wear perfume containing it. A synthetic named Sandalore prevents that reaction and brings joy to the allergy sufferer. As an added bonus, synthetics help to preserve our natural environment. The sandalwood forests in India have been harvested at an alarming rate to sate our thirst for their fragrance in perfumes, soaps, and other everyday products. Many perfumers, seeing the destruction of natural resources for the sake of commerce, are turning to synthetics in order to serve their customers while preserving the earth’s beauty for their own children and grandchildren. 

Take musk, for example. The musk deer was hunted to the point of endangerment up till a couple of decades ago when synthetic musk was developed and laws enacted to protect the animal. Synthetic musk not only lasts longer than the real thing, the guilt factor is removed completely. You can wear your favorite musk-based perfume knowing that no suffering was involved for innocent animals. 

In summary, you can make a nutritious dinner using only natural ingredients and practices such as baking your own bread over a fire but why would you want to? Artificial methods and growing practices have greatly enhanced our lives and our health. Synthetic perfumes, in the same way, not only protect our natural resources but allow us to enjoy a large spectrum of truly remarkable and memorable scents that would normally be out of reach.

Tim Walt

Creating a perfume can actually be described as an art. It can be said that the job of a creator is to portray the current social motion and attitude in an extremely precise manner and highlight each personality types with related scents. A perfumer has to make use of smells to induce mental imagery and has to make the wearer feel confident.

It is the perfumer or ‘Nez’ as they are fondly called who are responsible for creation of fine scents. The customer or fashion house or corporate house who wants to create a perfume relies upon the perfumer’s fine sense of smell and composition skills to bring out a product. According to the client’s requirements, the perfumer blends the required smells and composes a version which may be approved for further manufacture.

It must be said that there are no hard and fast rule in the creation of perfumes. The general pattern followed is to go by some guidelines which could help in formulating the end product. A perfume is generally born out of a concept and the ultimate product may be achieved out of mixture of many ingredients along with the required coloring, anti-oxidants, etc to add to the shelf life of the perfume.

The first step in the conception of a perfume starts with the creation of perfume oils which can either be from a plant source like flowers, barks, fruits, leaves, etc., animal source like civet, honeycomb, musk, etc., other natural sources like lichens or seaweeds, or synthetic sources. Perfume oils are made up of a variety of ingredients which can be grouped roughly into four: Primary scents, modifiers, blenders, and fixatives. One or a few chief ingredients can be combined to form a primary scent such as ‘rose’ or ‘jasmine’. Sometimes a blend of primary scents can give rise to an abstract primary scent too. Modifiers give character to the primary scent like bringing about a change in its behavior. For example, the cherry scent in cherry cola can be considered as a modifier. Blenders are responsible for the effective blending between different layers or bases. Linalool and hydroxycitronellal are commonly used as blenders. Fixatives have the responsibility of strengthening the primary scent. Common fixatives that are in use are wood scents, amber bases, resins, etc.

Ethyl alcohol and water are blended in with the perfume oils and are stored in tanks for aging. After a minimum of fourteen days, they are processed and filtered in suitable equipments to remove any impurities or sediments and particles. The perfume is now ready for filling into perfume bottles.

Tim Walt

Leather is a scent that is either loved or hated with very little expression in between. Most people are attracted to it, visualizing wonderful memories from their childhood or vacations spent camping or a carefree day in the saddle. But did you know there are different classes of perfume in the leather category? There are true leathers, floral leathers with influences of iris or violets and even tobacco leathers that have smoke or wood notes added. 

Leather perfumes originated in the 16th century when perfumers were asked to alter the smell of freshly tanned hide used to make gloves and boots for the upper classes who didn’t particularly care for the gamy smell of their new garments. Since tanning leather in those days involved the use of animal excretions, the odor could be quite strong and unpleasant! 

Leather perfumes are most often associated with masculine images but several varieties are made for women. Fendi makes a perfume of the same name for women that tempers the scent of leather with rose, amber, musk and sandalwood for a creation that is alluring as well as intriguing. Combining the scent of leather with subtle floral notes imparts an unmistakable air of femininity and freshness to the full-bodied and memorable scent of leather. 

FENDI BY FENDI (EAU DE TOILETTE SPRAY 3.4 OZ)
- Price : $38.13

Of course, men’s perfumes make liberal use of leather scents to impart a rugged impression of authority and strength. In 1996 the late Luciano Pavarotti commissioned a perfume he named Pavarotti Donna whose fresh leather aroma was combined with subtle tobacco and wood scents. It is still a very popular cologne; its use of elements usually associated with male attributes is said to make it a definition of masculinity. 

PAVAROTTI DONNA BY LUCIANO PAVAROTTI (EAU DE TOILETTE SPRAY 1.7 OZ)
- Price : $10.78

Leather is a very versatile scent for perfumers to work with and has inspired many great perfumes. Tempering the leather with citrus, spices or floral oils can produce nearly endless formulas both manly and feminine. Leather perfumes can convey strength and aggression or delicate sophistication and all the conception between those two
extremes. It can be manipulated by using spices, woods, citrus and florals to create moods ranging from free and easy fun to adventure and rugged strength.

Some perfumes using leather essences invoke a strong impression of fine luxury such as leather upholstery while others use the scent as a means of tempering florals or spices, lending them a more basic, earthy quality. Leather is a wonderful attribute to many perfumes, truly versatile and consistently pleasant.

Tim Walt

Amber is well known for its rich, earthy and exotic fragrance.
Popular due to it being natural, good alternative to diluted perfume oils
or synthetic perfumes.  Amber resin
is great to wear as a solid because the scent gets stronger as it’s heated by
the body or the sun.

Making amber perfume begins with Liquidambar Orientalis, a deciduous amber
resin tree that is native to the eastern Mediterranean region of Europe ,
sometimes called the Oriental Sweetgum.  The
most basic form of amber perfume is made by mixing it with beeswax and benzoin
gum to create a rather tacky-feeling solid that’s very easy to apply. 
This simple form of amber scent has been shown through biofeedback to
have a psychoactive effect, acting as a relaxant to the brainwaves.

PASHA
DE CARTIER BY CARTIER 
(EAU DE TOILETTE SPRAY 1 OZ) - Click to Buy

Condition:
New - Retail Box
Sale Price: $24.70

Amber perfume was distilled hundreds of years ago from ambergris, which was
commonly found floating on the oceans.  Ambergris,
believe it or not, is a digestive secretion of the sperm whale that is flammable
as well as aromatic.  It was natural
that in years past when the whale population was many times what it is today
that ambergris was easily found and used not only for perfuming but as fuel for
lamps.  Since then, of course,
perfumers have discovered amber resin which is the preferred method of producing
not only amber perfume but adding the scent to combinations of other elements.

PROVOCATIVE
BY ELIZABETH ARDEN
(EAU DE PARFUM SPRAY 1 OZ)

- Click to Buy

Condition:
New - Retail Box
Sale Price: $14.99

Because of its woodsy nature, amber is often used in scents manufactured for
men.  Aramis by Aramis, for example,
combines amber with musk, jasmine and bergamot to produce a very masculine scent
that women love their men to wear.  Cartier
adds lavender, mint, musk and wood to amber to make their popular Pasha De
Cartier for men.

Amber’s basic and earthy properties make it ideal for so many formulas
that there is a wide variety of perfumes both masculine and feminine that
feature it.  It can enhance woodsy
scents as well as floral; Provocative by Elizabeth Arden uses subtle amber
undertones to compliment its lotus, orchid and lily features.

ARAMIS
BY ARAMIS (AFTER SHAVE 4 OZ)
- Click to Buy

Condition:
New - Retail Box
Sale Price: $26.51

Amber perfumes have long been popular in the Middle East, Far East and
Europe , particularly because its aroma goes well with so many other scents,
drawing out subtle properties of flowers, herbs and fruits. 
Hundreds of years ago it was distilled, as most perfumes were, drawing
out the liquid from the resin in order to add it to other scents, for use by
itself or even in lamps, incense and candles. 
In India and Persia (now Iran ) it was a luxury reserved for royalty,
used to perfume the hair and clothing of kings and their favorite wives.

Amber’s woodsy fragrance is so versatile that today it is used not only in
perfumes but in shampoos and other toiletries, sachets for linens or clothing
and even air fresheners for the house or the car. 
Most scents aren’t as universally liked as amber has always been and
its appeal throughout the centuries certainly hasn’t diminished in modern
times.

Tim Walt