The 3 “N’s”: Normal Natural Notes

In perfumery there are thousands of different notes, both natural and synthetic, that are available for perfumers to incorporate in their formulations. Here, I will be discussing natural notes that are typical for a newcomer studying fragrance to initially learn about, along with their corresponding fragrance families and means of procurement.

First, what is a natural note? A natural or raw note is any material that comes directly from a plant or animal. In modern perfuming, animal notes — known as animalic notes — have been abolished for use in fragrance houses for decades as the means of obtaining these materials catalyzed innumerable threats upon an array of species. Flora and its fruits offer a vast range of opportunities for sourcing different notes. From rinds, peels, leaves, stems, roots, petals, pistils or pods, seeds, grains and bark, these different facets of plants and fruits lead way for various extraction methods to obtain the desired concluding materials. Natural notes have paved a global bridge for big businesses and local businesses to procreate. Fragrance houses and large corporations alike commonly source their ingredients from small community farmers, providing circulation regarding local employment stability to commitments of conserving spaces. Natural notes also have cons, as it is more challenging in a formulation to control the variations of naturals. To gain stability of these variations, naturals must be dictated with other materials. Now let’s talk about these customary natural notes!

FLOWER POWER

First, how are florals obtained to become a material suitable for a formulation? Florals can undergo steam distillation in order to produce an essential oil. Flowers, stems, leaves, etc., are used commonly in a distillation process. The solvent extraction method is a great option to obtain powerful essential oils from plants that are fragile or produce little essential oil, such as rose and jasmine. For a full list and detailed explanations of extraction methods, check out the terminology section in the Glossaire. The most common floral notes are ones you are most likely familiar with. Rose and jasmine are the two typical flowers one will learn straight away in any fragrance class, as these are commonly utilized in formulations across the prestige and niche fragrance lines. Rose is known for is aspects of soft powder, gentle honey, green, animalic, and slightly fruity aroma. However, depending on the species of rose, different nuances may come off stronger or softer. This is true for all species of natural materials. Rose de Mai for example, is known to be more potent than other rose species. Rose de Mai comes from Grasse, France, and blooms annually in May, hence its name. Native to countries such as Bulgaria and Turkey, Rose Otto provides a noticeably greener and vegetal nuance than compared to the Rose de Mai. Jasmine is a highly expensive floral primarily due to the enormous volume of petals it takes to create the essential oil. Jasmine typically offers a sweet, sunny, animalic, and notably rich olfactory offering. Native to Asia, jasmine can be found today in countries such as India, Egypt, Morocco and in select European countries. Jasmine is considered a heavy floral — a subcategory in the floral olfactive family regarding flowers that lean heady, rich, and/or powerful. Think of solar ylang-ylang or the heady, animalic fierceness of orange blossom. Florals such as geranium or peony are considered the counterpart to the heavy floral subcategory — fresh florals. Fresh florals can give off softer, daintier, and/or airier olfactive contributions vs that of the bodied, heavy florals. However, there are species of flowers that can fall into either subcategory. This depends on if the extraction result is an absolute or essential oil. For example, rose essential oil would be considered fresh vs that of heavy rose absolute. An absolute, or pure essence that is extracted from nature, is the most concentrated and jarring of all ready-to-formulate material forms. There is another smaller subcategory of florals too — spicy florals — with members of flora such as carnation and white lily.

THE DYNAMIC AROMATICS

The aromatic olfactive family regards notes that provide an herbaceous aroma. This is the most simplified definition but do not be fooled — the aromatic family can be complex. For example, mint, basil, rosemary and anise belong to the aromatic family. However, lavender is also a member of the aromatic family due to its camphoraceous and soapy nature. Aromatic notes tend to provide a cooling sensation when brought to the attention of a nose. Think of piercing menthol and cooling camphor. These notes can be extracted by numerous methods, such as supercritical CO₂ extraction — an environmentally sound method utilizing pressure and temperature parameters with the solvent (carbon dioxide) amidst the liquid and gaseous states in order to draw out the desired extraction. Lavendar is the most notable aromatic note in my opinion, due to its relevancy on the market and its inclusion in formulations for over hundreds of years. France is the chief supplier of lavender — I am yearning to visit fields in Provence! When understanding aromatic notes and its eponymous fragrance family, it is key to note that aromatic notes are prominent in fougère fragrances. Fougère fragrances would not have blossomed into their own type of fragrance category without the paving of aromatic notes. A fougère fragrance is formulated with certain nuances and concentrations. Think of the fresh particularity of shaving foam. Ingredients that have been found in past and present fougère creations include lavender, vetiver, coumarin, geranium and oakmoss, to name a few. The first fougère fragrance, Fougère Royale, originated back in 1882 by the owner of Houbigant Parfum, Paul Parquet. Thus, this is when the fougère olfactive family category was born. Many men’s and unisex fragrances in today’s market reflect the style of a fougère, such as Terre d'Hermès by Hermès, Guerlain’s Jicky, and, I am sure you have heard of it — Versace’s Eros. There are fougères that I do adore, but I have learned that men’s fragrances are very repetitive — many luxury designers’ fragrances practically have the same formula structures, producing monotonous creations throughout each houses’ product offerings (this rings true for women’s scents too). It has been a question for some time when the fougère style will be dominated by a new recipe dictating a fresh approach to men’s fragrances.

CITRUS vs FRUITS

Before we get into more natural materials, here is rule #1 when it comes to these two categories. Rule #1: Citruses are NOT considered fruits when speaking in the language of fragrance. I repeat, citruses are not fruits! You need to unwire your mind as yes, I know, lemon is a citrus fruit in everyday terminology. Not here. The citrus fragrance family regards lemon, lime, bergamot, orange, grapefruit, mandarin, yuzu, etc. These notes are typically fresh, energizing, and gushy. The cold expression method is used in order to acquire essential oils from citrus. Bergamot is a classic note that is popularly sourced from Calabria, Italy. Think of a bergamot as the offspring of an orange and lemon. Pure bergamot absolute provides a potent aroma of the fruit peel. Bergamot is a vital citrus note to become familiar with as this note is key to the formulation of an eau de cologne — a formulation style centered around concentrations of bergamot, neroli, and wood. The fruit olfactive family can be broken down into many subcategories, but as a basic definition, the fruit category comprises of all fruits — aside from what? (This is where you say, “citrus”.) The fruit family however does include the herb Davana, and the flower osmanthus in the category due to their olfactive nuances. Aside from these two notes and blackcurrant bud, the majority of all other fruit notes cannot be extracted naturally. Thus, practically all fruit notes are synthetic. An accord — blend of 2+ ingredients or formulations — can be used to create an aroma replicating a desired fruit note to then become a part of a larger formulation. Peach, melon, and banana are all examples of fruit notes that can be created synthetically by means of an accord structure.

INTO THE WOODS

The wood olfactive family is more complex than you would think when initially hearing its name. The family is broken down into different natural material subcategories — smoky, dry, resinous and moss. Smoky notes include my favorite wood note, vetiver, while dry notes comprise of notorious sandalwood and cedar wood. Resinous notes include fir balsam and myrrh, while mossy notes include oak moss (these are just some popular notes that come to mind for each category — far from all). Natural wood notes are typically extracted by distillation. Vetiver is important, as it is a backbone to the creation of a fougère. Vetiver comes from roots, and it takes over 200 pounds of these roots to develop less than 40 ounces of vetiver absolute. Native to India, this dry hay, earthy note is additionally sourced from Haiti. Sandalwood is a note you have most likely heard of, as it is a popular choice in both women’s and men’s fragrance alike. It is beloved for its dry yet gentle, milky touch and creamy woodiness. Sandalwood is often sourced from Australia and India. Depending on the species of sandalwood, the ingredient can offer different aroma nuances, such as leaning more salty or creamy. The resinous category withdraws different dry materials by means of extraction inclusive of an eruptive solvent. Frankincense and myrrh are the two resins that immediately come to mind in this category. Frankincense, popularly sourced from Africa and India, offers an earthy, balsamic-like and slightly sweet aroma. Myrrh, also commonly found in Africa, provides notes of fresh and warm spice with a smoky richness. It reminds me of molasses. These resinous materials originate from the gum (sap)of trees. Oak moss is an important member of the moss family as it is a founding constituent to both fougère and chypre fragrance formulas. Patchouli — another member of the moss category — paired with oak moss indicates the building point of a chypre styled fragrance. Patchouli comes from dry leaves and smells of mushroom with a damp and musky appeal. Many associate patchouli’s aroma to hippies from the 60’s as patchouli oil grew in popularity due to its natural and one-with-the-earth aroma. Patchouli is sourced commonly in Asia, from countries such as Malaysia.

There are many natural notes that belong to other olfactive families, such as both birch tar oil and the flower species, labdanum, belonging to the leather category. Strident cinnamon, clove, pink peppercorn, and lemony cardamom are representatives of the spice family. It is beneficial to understand the scent profiles and names of the common, normal natural notes shared to practice familiarity of various materials and olfactive families.

MAKE IT MAKE SCENTS:

Look in your fragrance collection and see if any introductory notes mentioned are a part of the formulas you enjoy — maybe there is a common ingredient (or two, or three!) that your nose gravitates towards.