Fixation

It’s frustrating to discover a fragrance, get all worked up about it, put it on the skin, and have it disappear in 20 minutes. Perfumers describe this phenomenon as caused by a lack of “fixation,” the idea being that certain ingredients— “fixatives” –“fix” the...

The Top Notes: Will They Behave?

It’s one thing to make a satisfying combination of top notes, but it is far trickier to coordinate them with the underlying facets in a perfume. After working on a top-note combination of grapefruit and red peppercorn essential oil, I added aldehyde C-11 enic. for...

Top Notes

Top notes—the most volatile and evanescent compounds in a perfume—give an immediate impression and help sell the product. Whether you like them or not, the top notes in today’s fragrances are incredibly smooth. However, the top notes may not smell like the heart...

Sandalwood III: Faking It, Continued

I want to see how Serge Lutens solves the problems of longevity and projection in his fabulous perfume, Iris Silver Mist. The opening iris accord is much like mine and, like mine, evaporates sooner than I, and apparently, he, would like. Lutens creates another series...