Distinguishing Similar Ingredients | EPI 008 All Roads Lead to Aroma Podcast
The podcast 'Todos os caminhos vão dar ao aroma' (All roads lead to aroma) 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 008. Distinguishing similar ingredients
[Beginning of transcript]
↳ In today's episode, I will talk about the olfactive exercises I do to distinguish between similar ingredients. That is: ingredients with very similar smells, which are easily confused. For this, first, I will use LEMON ESSENTIAL OIL and BERGAMOT ESSENTIAL OIL, as I still have some difficulty distinguishing between them. Second, I will use YLANG YLANG and JASMINE, which also present some identification difficulty for me.
↳ First, I will address the pair LEMON and BERGAMOT. I will study the two ingredients individually, smelling each one in turn, while comparing the olfactive sensations they offer me today — with the sensations I have previously noted in my OLFACTORY DIARY — in the respective LEMON and BERGAMOT datasheets. Next, I will proceed in the same way with the YLANG YLANG and JASMINE pair.
↳ Let's start. As my OLFACTORY DIARY is in the form of a binder, I have the LEMON datasheet and the BERGAMOT datasheet selected before me. On the LEMON datasheet are written the following words: Lemon; Fresh; Clear; Yellow; Zesty; Crystalline. And on the BERGAMOT datasheet are the following words: Smells like lemon; Citrus; Fresh; Crystalline; Light; Transparent; Clear.
↳ As you can see, I used some repeated, synonymous terms for both ingredients — but, even so, I also used terms that convey differentiated characteristics.
↳ I will now use TWO paper strips, dipping one strip into the LEMON vial and the other into the BERGAMOT vial, and writing the name of its respective ingredient on each strip. I then place the two paper strips on the table with the names facing down, so that I cannot read them while smelling them.
↳ But with the paper strips on the table, I also shuffle them repeatedly: inadvertently, without paying attention to them. The idea is indeed to be able to smell them incognito, to test and train my sense of smell.
↳ I am already smelling the first strip. Now I compare what I am feeling while smelling with the notes in my OLFACTORY DIARY and try to understand which of the two ingredients I am smelling.
↳ Now I am already smelling the second strip and repeating the same process.
↳ I think the first strip I smelled is LEMON and the second is BERGAMOT. I will then check what is written on the strips.
↳ Yes, that's correct: the first strip is LEMON and the second is BERGAMOT.
↳ And continuing with the exercise, I will dip THREE new paper strips: two strips into the LEMON vial and the other into the BERGAMOT vial — or vice-versa. And then, I write the name of its respective ingredient on each strip and shuffle them so that they remain incognito, similar to how I proceeded before.
↳ This activity consists of smelling the three strips with the names hidden and identifying which one is the different strip. I learned this trick from Sarah Mccartney, an English perfumer who teaches perfumery on Patreon — I will leave the link indexed so you can consult it.
↳ Next, I will address the YLANG YLANG and JASMINE pair. Again, I will study the two ingredients individually, smelling each one in turn, while comparing the olfactive sensations they offer me today — with the sensations I have previously noted in my OLFACTORY DIARY — in the respective YLANG YLANG and JASMINE datasheets.
↳ I have the YLANG YLANG datasheet and the JASMINE datasheet selected before me. On the YLANG YLANG datasheet are written the following words: Exotic; Warm flowers; Dense; Heavy; Similar to jasmine; Lively flowers; Petal smell; Green; Fresh. And on the JASMINE datasheet are the following words: Warm flowers; White flowers; Dense flowers; Heavy; Exotic.
↳ Again, I will use TWO paper strips, dipping one strip into the YLANG YLANG vial and the other into the JASMINE vial, and also writing the name of its respective ingredient on each strip, then placing them on the table with the names facing down — and shuffling them so that they remain incognito.
↳ I am already smelling the first strip. Now I compare what I am feeling while smelling with the notes in my OLFACTORY DIARY and try to understand which of the two ingredients I am smelling.
↳ Now I am already smelling the second strip and repeating the same process.
↳ I think the first paper strip I smelled is YLANG YLANG, this is because it has a much more open scent than the second strip. I will then check what is written on the strips.
↳ Yes: the first strip is YLANG YLANG and the second is JASMINE.
↳ And continuing with the exercise, I will again dip THREE paper strips: two strips into the YLANG YLANG vial and the other into the JASMINE vial — or vice-versa. And then, I also write the name of its respective ingredient on each strip and shuffle them so that they remain incognito, all similar to how I proceeded before.
↳ I have already smelled the three strips and — today — they were even easy to identify, as I have been noticing that YLANG YLANG offers a more characteristically open scent to the sense of smell, which I increasingly recognize better.
↳ In the next episode, we will study some more ingredients and continue to create an OLFACTORY DIARY.
↳ Thank you for listening to this episode of the 'Todos os caminhos vão dar ao aroma' podcast. If you enjoyed 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 if you have already started creating your OLFACTORY DIARY. Send me an email telling me all about it.
Until next time
[End of transcript]
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