Have you ever thought about the person who ideally and materially creates a perfume? The "master perfumer" is also referred to as the "Nose": artist, chemist, alchemist, the one able to tune the notes in an olfactory pyramid that characterize a fragrance. fascinating isn't it?!
The mission of a «Nose» is to translate an olfactory'idea through the 'appropriate use of different raw materials at your disposal. A complex job that, faced with theenormous number of fragrances that unknowingly surround us in everyday life, requires different professionals with skills precise. We illustrate here some of them:
- «Parfumeur créateur»
He is the "creative" master, whatever the category for which he creates, one thing he has in common with all noses: the comparison with the formula
As far as the creators of fine perfumery are concerned, there are three major categories to which it is worth dedicating an in-depth look:
1. «Parfumeur salarié» - hired and paid to develop several projects concerning different fragrance composition companies.
2. «Parfumeur maison» - lworks exclusively for a brand (for example LVMH) of which it becomes l 'essential entity. It participates in the formulation but also in the'procurement of raw materials, in the choice of communication, marketing and market strategy.
3. «Parfumeur indépendant» - also known as a freelance nose, formulates a fragrance for his own independent brand or for that of others.
If the nose works for your independent brand one of the advantages is that you don't have to submit to a brief for the creation of a fragrance but only follow your passion and curiosity. The perfumes developed by this category differ from perfumes created for the masses thanks to a more personal and unique proposal. To survive, the creations of independent noses cannot be totally detached from market trends, so it is important that you always keep up to date by sniffing a lot of the fragrances on the market at that time, which is why it is said that the compositions of independent noses are a meeting point and a compromise between their personal vision of creation and the economic reality in which these perfumes fit.
One of the problems that the independent perfumer must face is the industrial production of the fragrance, unlike the big maisons which produce many kg of concentrate and may have suitable structures for production, a nose independent often produces little concentrate and must find a'company that can support its production. Often the independent nose sends the fragrance formula to a Maison de composition, or to a production center which they have to choose meticulously by evaluating their list of raw materials.
Let's go back to the different professional figures who create a perfume:
- «Parfumeur analyste»
Specialised in the technique of chromatography, he studies the different compositions on the market to analyse the competition and decipher the trends.
- «Parfumeur ingrédients»
He is the expert in raw materials, their procurement and quality control, he allows you to constantly enrich the palette of raw materials with which the nose works.
- «Parfumeur technique»
Sspecialized in the'extension of the fragrance not only to fine perfumery, but also to toiletries. The technician must evaluate the stability and the final yield of the fragrance in matrices other than the alcoholic or aqueous one.
Each of these specializations in the world of perfumery requires different preparation and refinement of skills. I imagined that there was a lot of knowledge and a lot of work behind a perfume?
Dr. Federica D'Incà - COSMAST Master in Cosmetic Science and Technology
"Every woman has the right to be beautiful" - Elizabeth Arden