Let's study some raw materials and create an olfactive diary | EPI 003 Podcast All Roads Lead to Aroma
The 'Todos os caminhos vão dar ao aroma' podcast is sponsored by Jarilo. In this podcast, Mariana, Jarilo's founder, explores the world of perfumery and tries to discover how perfume is made.
This article is the transcript of EPI 003. We will study some raw materials and create an olfactory diary.
[Start of transcript]
↳Today I'm going to study some raw materials, I'm going to do the exercise I mentioned in the previous episode.
↳So, I have here in front of me 5 ingredients, 5 natural raw materials whose bottles I chose randomly, in a deliberately distracted way, which are now arranged on the table, with the labels facing away from me. So I don't know what material I'm going to be smelling. I also have with me paper strips, sheets of paper, a pen and my file where I have the notes from previous studies.
↳I'm going to smell each ingredient, describe the smell, write everything down on a sheet of paper and try to identify what the material is.
↳First, I'm going to light a candle to create a focused atmosphere. I like to use candles when I need concentration. This is a candle from my brand Jarilo and it's the Scion candle, an unscented - neutral candle, so it doesn't interfere with the study of raw materials.
↳I'm going to start here with a bottle that, despite having the label facing away from me, I know what it is because it's the only ingredient I have that has this color, but I'm going to do the study as if I didn't know, that is, I'm going to try to describe this smell without being influenced by the knowledge I already have.
↳ I'm going to improve the paper strip here in the bottle, I'm going to fold the tip of the strip upwards, so when I place the strip on the table, the tip that is wet with raw material doesn't touch the table and I avoid contamination.
↳I'm smelling it, it has a sweet, warm smell, a very familiar smell, this is something that is very present in our food. A round smell, it's appetizing, it smells a bit like spice, it's a heavy smell, it's a bit smoky, also woody, it smells like cakes. Now I'm going to write these descriptions and compare them with the notes I have in my file. Comparing the notes here, I can see that I had never described this ingredient as a spice and I think it makes perfect sense, I'm going to add this description.
↳This raw material is vanilla, it is a raw material widely used both in perfumery and in the food industry, very familiar, very easy to identify, it has a golden color, the one I have here is diluted at 10% and let's move on to the next ingredient.
↳I'm going to dip the paper strip here again, I don't know what this one is because this is a transparent liquid, I can no longer identify it by color like the other one, like vanilla.
↳I folded the paper strip again as I did before and now I'm smelling it. This is a floral smell, it smells like flowers, it smells tropical, it's a yellow, fresh, slightly green smell. This could be either jasmine or ylang-ylang essential oil. I have difficulty differentiating between the two but I think this is ylang-ylang, it has more of a live flower smell, jasmine to me has more of a dead flower smell and this reminds me more of live flowers. It's ylang-ylang, I'm looking at the label now. This is diluted at 1%, it smells like flower petals, that little smell of petals. It's a heavy smell, it's dense despite being fresh and green, it's quite heavy.
↳Now I'm curious to mix vanilla and ylang-ylang, I've never done it before and now I want to know if they go well together. When I do an episode about accords, I'll try it to see how it turns out.
↳I forgot to say at the beginning, for each raw material I use a paper strip. Sometimes I keep them afterwards in a clothes drawer to give them a scent.
↳I'm going to move on to the third ingredient, I'm going to do exactly the same thing: open the bottle, dip the tip of the paper strip, fold the paper strip and smell it.
↳It's a very soft smell, it's almost... it reminds me of talcum powder, very delicate, it also smells like petals but in a more subtle way than ylang-ylang, it's floral, I also feel a little vegetal, it smells a little like honey in a very soft way, it has a very delicate and subtle rose smell. This is rose absolute in a 1% dilution.
↳Looking at my previous study notes here, I can see that I've described this scent as warm before, but today I'm not perceiving it that way. In fact, today I'm even feeling a freshness. For me, it's very interesting how perception evolves as we train and get to know a raw material.
↳Now let's move on to the fourth ingredient. Immediately, it's a fresh smell, almost like eau de cologne, very clear, soft, it's floral and as soft and delicate as the previous one, but much more open, it smells a little like leaves, it's transparent.
↳This ingredient is Neroli Oil or orange blossom essential oil, also in a 1% dilution. I really like this smell and it's also a very familiar smell. This is one of those raw materials that, for me, can be used as a perfume, all by itself.
↳ Let's study the last ingredient. This is a very familiar ingredient that is part of our landscape, it is very easy to recognize and is also in many cleaning products. It's an herbaceous, rustic, aromatic smell. This smells like lavender, this is lavandin essential oil and what I have here is in a 10% dilution.
↳This is one of the smells I have the most difficulty describing because I've smelled it so many times in so many perfumes, in so many cleaning products, in so many laundry detergents, it's in the street, it's planted everywhere, even if it's not lavandin, lavender has a very similar smell, I really have a lot of difficulty describing this smell because it smells like lavender.
↳even here in my previous study notes I only have four words: lavender, herbaceous, rustic, and aromatic. It's funny how having smelled something so many times and associating it with so many different things prevents me from describing this smell.
↳I want to end by emphasizing how important it is, for those who want to learn more about perfumery, to have a kind of olfactory diary. A place where you write down the raw materials you are studying and how you describe them. In my case, I have a file where the raw materials are divided by volatility, top, heart, and base notes, but everyone does as they see fit.
↳ I'm going to suggest that you do this exercise at home with ingredients you have at your disposal.
↳In the next episode, I'll talk about how I set up my mini perfume lab at home and where to buy raw materials.
↳Thank you for listening to this episode of the podcast "Todos os caminhos vão dar ao aroma". If you liked it, don't forget to subscribe, share with friends, leave a comment or send an email to todososcaminhosvaodaraoaroma@gmail.com.
↳I would love to know what experiments you are doing, send me an email telling me all about it.
See you next time
[End of transcript]
Listen to the Podcast here
Offer:
COMPLETE GUIDE: HOW TO ENHANCE THE AROMATIC DIFFUSION OF YOUR CANDLES will teach/reveal to the reader all the secrets to ensure that your candles release the maximum aroma.
Click here to receive your guide