High Impact aroma chemicals

Many chemicals have very strong smells. Ay full concentration these are
often unpleasant but when diluted to a suitable strength with smell good,
and provide something special to your fragrance. many have already
been mentioned, although I think you will need some chemistry
knowledge to understand the articles fully. I shall give a few more
common ingredients

Dimethyl Sulphide.. This smells like rotten cabbage, yet at the right
dilution is floral. It is found in Geranium oil, and if you wish to make a
tropical fruit salad it is most useful. Lychee comes to mind.

Thiolimonene. Also called Corps 1492. In concentrate smell like

burning rubber; in dilution like Grapefruit. There are other sulphur
containing chemicals that smell of Grapefruit too, including Thiogeraniol
and Thioterpineol.

Buchu Mercaptan . pare Menth-8-thiole. Cat's Pee or, Blackcurrant.

Widely used.

The Pyrazines . Very strong. A wide range of odours from Bell Peppers
to Popcorn. 2-methoxy-3-iso butyl pyrazine is the Bell Pepper one.

Iris Nitrile and Violet Nitrile. Not so common, but very useful. Metallic,
Iris.

Furfuryl Mercaptan. This chemical can be smelled at ridiculously low

concentrations (0.005 parts per billion). At the right strength smells of
coffee creams,

Diacetyl and Acetyl Methyl Carbinol both smell of cream, butter and
dairy products.

There are more but I think that is enough to be getting on with. Please
be aware that if you are going to order these, they are very strong.

Hedione, Benzyl Acetate, Linalol, Phenyl Ethyl Alcohol, Geraniol,

Citronelol, Methyl Ionone, Iso E Super, Aldehyde C14
Jasmin de Grasse Replacer Base

Quantity Ingredient Comments

255 Hercolyn D

150 Benzyl Acetate

140 Isophytol

100 Ethyl Linoleate

95 Benzyl Benzoate

28 Linalool

22 Jasmin Absolute

20 Hedione

18 Cis Jasmone

17 Jasmolactone

15 Indole 100%

12 Methyl Anthranilate

12.5 Phytol Acetate

12 Cis-3-Hexenyl
Benzoate

12 Eugenol

8 Benzyl Alcohol

7.5 Farnesene

1.7 Phytol

1.5 P Cresol

1.2 Ambrox

0.5 Terpineol Alpha

 1.7 Phytol

1.5 P Cresol

1.2 Ambrox

0.5 Terpineol Alpha

0.5 Vanillin

0.4 Geraniol

0.4 Methyl Heptenone

0.3 Cis 3 Hexenol

0.15 Valspice

0.1 Guaiene

0.5 Cis-3-Hexenyl Acetate

2 Skatole 1%

5 Orange Blossom
Absolute 10%

1 Methyl Salicylate

4 Methyl Benzoate

56.65 DEP/IPM/DPG/TEC,
etc

1000

Perfume Formula:
Flowers On The
Avenue
On a recent trip to New York I spent the afternoon with
Christine from PerfumerSupplyHouse. We had a great
time sniffing various samples she had brought with her and
samples I had carried from New Zealand for her. Christine
had with her a small amount of peach leaf absolute which
was amazing! I am fanatical about leaf absolutes of any
kind (mango leaf, rose leaf, violet leaf, etc) so I decided to
make a perfume with a peach note.

Ultimately it ended up being significantly bigger than just

a peachy perfume and the result was a huge bombshell of a
floral aldehyde which ended up very reminiscent of a com-
bination of Bois des Iles and Chanel No 22, both by Ernest
Beaux in his early days at Chanel. This is a costly fra-
grance and absolutely not compatible with IFRA (or EU
regulations potentially) but it is definitely one worth mak-
ing for yourself or to give away to loved ones.

It is very floral and would most likely be preferred by

ladies, but these days anything goes and it is perfectly fine
for a gentleman to wear as well.
 Top Notes

Aldehydes, Neroli, Peach

Heart Notes

Iris, Ylang Ylang, Jasmine

Tuberose, Rose, Orange Blossom

Base Notes

Musk, Ambergris, Amber

Opoponax, Vanilla, Sandalwood
Vetiver, Precious Woods, Peach Leaf

The Formula

As usual I have ordered the formula from largest to least

amount of ingredients and, where possible, I have named
substitutes as some of the items in the formula may be dif-
ficult for some to come by.

Quantity Ingredient Comments

116 Hedione

102 French Jasmine Abso- A good replica would also be fine

lute

100 Helvetolide Lovely musk with a pear-like top note qual-

ity

82 Ylang Ylang Extra

80 Iralia (Firmenich) Cheaper methyl ionones are fine also

55 Linalool ex Bois de Synthetic would suffice

Rose

43 Cyclosia (Firmenich) Hydroxycitronellal

40 Irrozol (Auram) Iris Base

40 Methyl Cedryl Ketone

30 Tubereuse (Firmenich) Tuberose base

30 Muscenone

25 Iso E Super

18 Rose Wardia (Fir- Rose de Mai base

menich)

16 Opoponax Doux (Au- Opoponax base

ram)

15 Linalyl Acetate

10 Neroli Bigarade Neroli base

10 Tonkin Musk Replacer Tonquitone or Shangralide would work

8 Hedione High Cis

8 Vanillin

8 Vetiverol
10 Neroli Bigarade Neroli base

10 Tonkin Musk Replacer Tonquitone or Shangralide would work

8 Hedione High Cis

8 Vanillin

8 Vetiverol

8 Santalol

15 Benzoin Resin 50%

7 Exaltolide

6 Ambrettolide

5 Fixateur 505 Ambrox at 10% dilution

5 Timbersilk

30 Aldehyde C-10 10%

30 Aldehyde C-11 Unde-

cylenic 10%

30 Aldehyde C-12 MNA

10%

3 Bulgarian Rose Otto Rose oil replacer will work

3 Orange Blossom Ab- Orange Blossom replacer will work

solute

2 Orris Butter

10 Gamma Undecalac-
tone 10%

1 Peach Leaf Absolute Thanks Christine!

1 Carrot Seed Oil

5 Ambergris Tincture
10%

3 Violet Leaf Absolute

10%

1000
 10%

3 Violet Leaf Absolute

10%

1000

The Formula

In days gone by, the finest neroli bases were simply built
around terpeneless petitgrain with some additions to move
it in the direction of the more floral and less-woody neroli
oil. Petitgrain terpeneless is not prohibitively expensive
(and is certainly vastly cheaper than neroli oil) and it is
available from Vigon.

Quantity Ingredient Comments

560 Petitgrain Terpeneless

190 Linalool ex Bois de

Rose

100 Neroli Bigarade Can omit but it really is a valuable addition

80 Nerol

60 D-Limonene

9 Indole 10%

1 Aldehyde C-10

1000
Parma Violet Base

Parma violets have existed since the 16th century when

Count Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza cross-bred two types of
viola strains. Of the two types of parma violet he created,
only one remains and it is that one which gives us the most
beautiful of all violet scents.

The smell of violet comes primarily from chemicals called

ionones which were discovered in the late 19th century by
mistake when scientists were investigating the odoriferous
compounds of orris root in search of violet. They didn’t
find it but their lab assistant did when he washed out their
reaction vessels with sulfuric acid. That, of course, brings
to mind the other famous perfumery mistake (or more like-
ly myth) in which a wrongly dosed (too high) accord of
aldehydes led a lab assistant to accidentally create the now
famous top notes of Chanel Number 5 (a tweaked version
of Ernest Beaux’s Rallet Number 1, in turn a tweaked ver-
sion of his earlier Bouquet de Catherine made in honor of
Catherine the Great of Russia).

What Makes A Good Violet Ac-

cord

Obviously a lot of ionones are necessary to make a good

violet accord but there is a tendency amongst perfumers to
create accords with far too heavy a dose. This may be in
part due to the fact that smelling ionones can cause tempo-
rary anosmia (loss of the sense of smell) but most likely it
is just because the ionones alone have such a distinct violet
smell that it seems to make sense that more is good. On the
contrary, while the ionones must be a large part of the ac-
cord, the real beauty in violets comes not from a heady
dose of ionones but ionones nestled in an accord of other
supporting notes. In fact, real violets contain only about
30% ionones.

Boronia (a beautifully scented Australian shrub) contains

roughly the same amount of ionones which may well be
the reason that it works as such an amazing modifier in vi-
olet accords. Alas the cost of boronia absolute (five figures
per kilo) means it is pretty much never used these days
(much like violet absolute which is now all but extinct due
to price)..

Violet Accord Modifiers

Other materials that form part of a good violet accord (par-

ma or otherwise) are cassie absolute, civet, benzoin, costus
(banned from perfumery nowadays), guaiac, mimosa, rese-
da (impossible to find), and the methyl carbonates (octine
and heptine – allowed in only the tiniest amounts in per-
fumery now).

The Formula

This is my personal parma violet accord which spares no

expense in its creation. It is a truly beautiful accord base,
in part, on a GCMS of the headspace of living parma vio-
lets. It has a luscious green foundation with rich florals
(ionones, jasmine, ylang ylang) and highlights from rare
natural ingredients. This accord is one of the most expen-
sive I use but it is well worth it.

Quantity Ingredient Comments

250 Methyl Ionone Firmenich’s Iralia is the finest

100 Bergamot

100 Alpha Ionone Natural is available

80 Benzyl Acetate

50 Beta Ionone

40 Benzyl Iso Eugenol Soft spice

20 Orris Butter A base would work if cost is a problem

20 Ylang Ylang Extra

20 Violet Leaf Absolute Undiluted

18 Jasmine Absolute A good Jasmin absolute replacer will work

14 Dimethyl Hydro- Grassy/Hay note

quinone

10 Methyl Heptine Car- Undecavertol or Violettyne MIP can re-

bonate place this

10 Cassie Absolute
 quinone

10 Methyl Heptine Car- Undecavertol or Violettyne MIP can re-

bonate place this

10 Cassie Absolute

5 Dihydro Ionone Beta

1 Aldehyde C-9

1 Aldehyde C-10

1 Muscone Laevo Fixative

5 Aldehyde C-8 10%

5 Cis 3 Hexenyl Acetate Spiciness

10%

1000

http://frater.com/blog/2015/07/12/parma-violet-base/

asmin 231 by
Firmenich

I just got my order of Jasmin 231 today and I thought I

would tell you all about it as it is virtually never written or
spoken about online despite the fact that it is was once a
very important Jasmine base. NOTE: formula is now in-
cluded at the bottom of this post.

This is pretty much the only information on it online: “In

1933, the Ruzicka [pictured] team [of Firmenich – then
Chuit, Naef & Cie] developed a production of Jasmone,
molecule that was first discovered in nature. Maurice
Chevron creates “Jasmin 231,” a base of benzyl acetate
and some other components that didn’t exist in the real jas-
mine. This jasmine base with narcissus nuances became
very popular. “Jasmin 231ʺ″ was used in Canoe by Dana
and Joy by Jean Patou, unforgettable Cabochard de Gres
and in Charlie by Revlon.” [Source]

Maurice Chevron was the director of Firmenich from

1920. He started work in the perfume business at age 14
and worked for the last 32 years of his life at Firmenich.
He spoke many languages and was truly a master
perfumer.

I didn’t know what the base was going to be like but be-
cause of my interest in vintage bases I bought a kg
anyway. It arrived today and all I can say is wow! This is a
really special base that everyone here needs to try.

On opening the bottle you are hit by a definitely jasmine

note of benzyl acetate – then the fun begins. It is absolute-
ly loaded with cresylic notes (the narcissus nuance – pic-
tured). It is so potent that my guess is that it’s a blend of
phenyl cresyl acetate and phenyl cresyl phenyl acetate
(rather than just the latter on its own). The benzyl acetate
is fairly strong but I suspect there is also quite a bit of hy-
droxycitronellal and a few other chemicals that modify the
BA and make it less dominant. Most likely there is linalool
etc.

It has incredible longevity – hours on the skin – I applied it

around 10am this morning just by dipping my finger into
the bottle cap and the scent is still noticeable on my hand
at 8:30pm. Most of what’s left is animal and cresols.

In addition to the cresylic notes and BA it has a HUGE

amount of indole (the fecal note found in white flowers
and poop) and an equally huge amount of civet (pictured)
which is a glandular secretion from the civet cat from
Ethiopia – it smells very fecal and urinous but very floral
in small doses. They become very apparent within the first
10 minutes of the dry down and they remain as the domi-
nant notes thereafter. It is almost like the benzyl acetate is
a top note modifier of cresols, indole, and civet. Once it
fades you have a wild animal on your hands.

This is so beautifully put together that you can’t stop sniff-

ing. I have gone back to the bottle numerous times today
just to have another smell. It is truly amazing.
It was in the original joy – probably at around 25% if we
are to believe Louis Appell who uses it in his formula. I
have a vintage bottle of joy and those incredibly strong
cresylic notes are definitely in there. They work wonders
with the large quantities of natural rose and jasmine by
opening them up and letting them blossom (an approach I
definitely recommend to anyone wanting a vintage method
of adding space to a fragrance that is too heavy). It was – I
believe – also used as the jasmine base of First for Van
Cleef and Arpels by Jean Claude Ellena before he re-
nounced traditional perfumery for his minimalist approach.

Vigon stocks this base and provide samples. The base it-
self is $583 a kilo – fairly pricey but not insanely so.

The only downside is that the indole and civet are clearly
synthetic or, at the very least, are supported by synthetics.
Consequently I am going to spend some time tomorrow
seeing if I can create my own version of this base using the
largely natural ingredients that I am sure would have been
used to begin with. I will rely on synthetics as necessary
but outside of the PCA and PCPA I suspect most of it can
be recreated with natural extractions. If I manage to make
a fairly decent reconstruction I’ll post the formula here.

This is the link to the product on vigon for those interested

in buying some or getting a sample.

My perfumery interests lie especially in vintage fragrances

and reconstructions or creations of fragrances using old
school methods and ingredients (which is not to say I
won’t use synthetics – they definitely have a very impor-
tant place in perfumery – vintage included) so this base is
going to be of great use in my current work.

The Formula

I have spent the last three days working on this accord to

see if I can get a duplicate formula and I think I have come
pretty close! So, if you want to make your own version of
Jasmine 231 this formula below should help.

Quantity Ingredient Comments

300 Benzyl Acetate Basic jasmine chemical

200 Lyral Like hydroxycitronellal but more tenacious

Quantity Ingredient Comments

300 Benzyl Acetate Basic jasmine chemical

200 Lyral Like hydroxycitronellal but more tenacious

100 Phenyl Ethyl Alcohol Important rose chemical

100 Cinnamic Alcohol Soft sweet cinnamon odor

100 Benzyl Salicylate UV protecting and oily/balsamic

50 Amyl Cinnamic Alde- Oily jasmine note

hyde

50 Ylang Ylang Naturalness and floralcy

40 Geranyl Acetate Adds lift and brightness

18 Dipropylene Glycol Dilutent – can use IPM

10 Neroli For floralcy – could use petitgrain

10 Civet Synthetic Animalic

10 Heliotropin Contributes anise note in dry down

5 Methyl Anthranilate Orange flower odor

5 Para Cresyl Phenyl Narcissus/urine note – lasts through dry

Acetate down

4 Para Cresyl Acetate Mostly urine/hay – supports PCPA

3 Pimento Leaf Allspice – very noticeable in 231

 5 Para Cresyl Phenyl Narcissus/urine note – lasts through dry

Acetate down

4 Para Cresyl Acetate Mostly urine/hay – supports PCPA

3 Pimento Leaf Allspice – very noticeable in 231

1000

The most important part of the accord above (in terms of

creating Jasmine 231) is the para cresyl phenyl acetate,
para cresyl acetate, and pimento. If you were to remove
those you would still have a pretty nice standard jasmine
accord, but it is the cresylic notes that add the very intense
narcissus flavor that made Jasmine 231 so famous and
popular. The pimento lends a subtle richness and rounding
off of the cresylic notes in the opening moments of the ac-
cord.

I also want to note that aside from the cresyls and lyral,
natural versions of all of the rest of the ingredients are
available. If you create this with all the naturals available it
is 77.22% natural. If you substitute hydroxycitronellal for
lyral you can get a mostly natural version of that. That
would take the natural total to 97.2%. Having said that, I
did spend a lot of time experimenting with hydroxyc-
itronellal in this accord and I do think lyral is better due to
its tenacity.

This formula is most likely not IFRA compliant due to the

high amount of lyral and maybe even the cinnamic
alcohol. Obviously that doesn’t concern me but I figured I
ought to mention it.

Odour PROFILES / Fingerprints of single

materials
Even a single aroma chemical rarely exhibits a single facet in
it's odour. For example, most would agree that Phenyl Ethyl
Alcohol displays primarily a rose character but many find it has
a green note, others comment on it's phenolic or chemical
aspects. If relative proportions are allocated to each facet that
the student observes then classification falls into place quite
easily.
(e.g., PEA might be classified as R, Rose 70% G, Green 30%.).

Relative IMPACT - a measure of 'strength'

The expression 'impact' has been used in preference to
'strength'. Relative impact is determined by using a
Micropipette to apply a fixed amount of Linalool onto a
smelling strip. The test material is added until the odour impact
is judged as the same. Linalool Synthetic was chosen as the
control reference material as it is readily available, being one of
the most abundantly used raw materials in perfumes and
flavours and because the quality from the major suppliers does
not vary greatly (Givaudan, BBA. Linalool from natural sources
is not suitable). In terms of its impact it falls about midway in
the range of materials used by the perfumer.

Odour LIFE
Odour life is determined on the smelling strip (thinner
chromatography 'paper' gives more consistent results) to the
point at which the material becomes weak and
uncharacteristic of itself. The results of this type of
examination are very dependent on the amount dipped,
ambient temperature, humidity, air-flow and testers'
differences and experience. Despite this even in poorly
controlled conditions one is able to produce a set of
comparative values that are worthwhile measures of raw
materials relative blotter lives.

Function
Every component in a perfume formula( 'compound') is there
for one or more specific functions within the odour. In the
program you will see that each material has a 4 letter code
under Class.
e.g. Benzyl Acetate might be classed as JfMF
The first two letters indicate it is a Jasmin-fruity note, M
indicates it is a Modifier, F indicates it is a Floralizer.
Basic Material
It may be there to give the basic smell of the fragrance, a rose
smelling material in a Rose perfume, balsam, vanilla and
oakmoss in an Oriental fragrance.
Basics therefore cover the whole spectrum of A-Z and the only
materials with specific floral notes can be generalized as
basics with the letter F for Floralizer
M or T = Modifier
to modify the fragrance, add style, naturalness, freshness,
diffusion. Decoration for the fragrance like a banana note in
jasmin. T is used for specifically top-note modifiers such as the
citrus notes (lemon, limes etc.)
B = Blender
Materials to blend the sometimes disparate basic and
modifying notes, to round or smooth off, to harmonise.
Blenders usually have impact levels of 100 or less.
X = Fixative
In completion to fix the fragrance giving depth, substance and
background. Fixatives usually have longer odour lives.

A- Common Key Reference

Classification
Z Description Materials
Fatty, Waxy, Soapy, Aliphatic Aldehydes,
A ALI-FAT-IC
Clean Alcohols
Cooling,
Berg - Menthol, Camphor,
B Borneol,Mint,Camp
ICEBERG Eucalyptol
hor
Sour, Sharp, Citrus Citral, Orange,
C CITRUS
peel Lemon, Lime
Diacetyl,
Milky, Cream,
D DAIRY Butyrate,Lactone,Vale
Butter, Cheese
rate
Vegetable, Nut, Thiazoles, Pyrazines,
E EDIBLE
Fish, Meat Sulphides
Sour, Sweet fruits,
F FRUIT Allyl caproate, Verdox
Strawberry
G GREEN Cut-grass, Leaves cis-3-Hexenol, Triplal
Cool Herbaceous Lavender, Sage,
H HERB (Cool)
notes (Terpene based?)
Ionones, Methyl
I IRIS Orris, Violet
Ionone
Fruity, Oily,
J JASMIN HCA, Benzyl Acetate
Narcotic, Jasmin
Terpineol, Bornyl
K KONIFER Pine, Pineneedle
Acetate
LIGHT Fresh light floral Linalool, Vertenex,
L
Chemical Floral chemical DMBC
 Ionones, Methyl
I IRIS Orris, Violet
Ionone
Fruity, Oily,
J JASMIN HCA, Benzyl Acetate
Narcotic, Jasmin
Terpineol, Bornyl
K KONIFER Pine, Pineneedle
Acetate
LIGHT Fresh light floral Linalool, Vertenex,
L
Chemical Floral chemical DMBC
Lily of the Valley,
M MUGUET Hydroxy, Lilial, Lyral
Green, Fresh
Heavy Sweet Narcissus, Ylang
N NARCOTIC
Florals, Absolutes Ylang, Tuberose
Aromatic, Deep
O ORCHID Salicylates, Benzoates
floral
Phenol, Medicinal, p-Cresol, Ethyl Phenyl
P PHENOL
Honey Acetate
Queen of the Benzoin, Tolu,
Q Resin, Balsam
ORIENT Terpenes
Rose Otto, Citronellol, PEA,
R ROSE
Absolute, Geranium Rhodinol
Clove, Cinnamon,
S SPICE (Hot) Hot Culinary, Spice
Thyme, (Cyclic?)
T TAR & SMOKE Smoke, Tar, Burnt Cade, Birch Tar
Urine / Faecal / Animal, Faecal, Civet, Castoreum,
U
ANIMAL Leather Ambergris
Sweet Edible, Vanillin, Coumarin,
V VANILLA
Vanilla Heliotropin
Cedar, Santal,
W WOOD Wood, Oily
Vetivert, Patchouli
Sexy, Musk, Musk Ketone,
X X-rated MUSK
Sensual, Sweet Galaxolide
EARTHY Yeast, Fungal,
Y Oakmoss, Calone
MOSSY Moss, Marine
Odourless Solvents, DEP, DPG, IPP,
Z ZOLVENTS
Solubilisers Ethanol, PG