Perfume Ingredient: Salicylates ~Smell, Role and Function

Savouring Vanille Galante by Hermès now that the weather is getting cooler again, I am struck by its "solar" effect, a warming, "open", bright effect that is rendered through the use of salicylates: benzyl salicylate, cis 3 hexenyl salicylate, and iso amyl salicylate. To the perfume student these molecules present fascinating facets on the path of creation because salicylates encompass complimentary aspects and aid diffusion, making fragrances open up and "expand" in a sunny, exhilarating way. Gardenia, tiaré, and frangipani accords are usually built on salicylates and their summery vibe warms our heart even in winter. In this article we're going to occupy ourselves with the ones which are most often used in fine fragrances.

Benzyl Salicylate (benzyl ortho hydroxy benzoate) is an almost colourless liquid that has a mild balsamic, sweetly floral note possessing excellent blending capabilities. Often used ~like foundation is for make-up~ as a base for heavy florals such as ylang, gardenia, jasmine, lily etc. It is also used in functional products such as soap, shampoo and fabric softener. Along with Methyl Salicylate, salicylates “turn the most banal floral composition into a real perfume, with majestic weight and sweep” divulges Luca Turin. However some people are anosmic to it, including some perfumers. Guy Robert could not smell benzyl salicylate at all, but could instantly recognize its presence in perfume: “I recognize it as if it were a friend seen from behind in a crowd, by the cut of his shoulders”. Indeed in the words of nose Bernand Chant “it produces a diffusing, blooming effect very pleasing to the public”. Many orchid fragrances are built on salicylates, while the mysterious emerald glow of the vintage Je Reviens is also due to them. Coupled with eugenol and isoeugenol, the effect becomes almost carnation-like with its clove tint. The magic of benzyl salicylate can be best experienced in the archetypal floral bouquet of L’air du Temps featuring an overdose of the ingredient. Its progeny included Wind Song, Norell, Estée, Charlie, even Angel! However the recent restrictions on the use of benzyl salicylates have taken their toll on many floral fragrances, L’air du Temps included, which simply do not smell as they used to.

Methyl salicylate (salicylic acid methyl ester or oil of wintergreen ~because it is present in lots of evergreens such as birch and also rhododendrons~ and commonly featured in arthritis and muscle body rubs but also in Life Savers) has a green glow with camporeous aspects. Naturally occuring in tuberose, jasmine and hyacinth absolutes, as well as ylang ylang and neroli oil, it provides that characteristic eucalyptus-mint nuance of Tubéreuse Criminelle and to a lesser degree Carnal Flower. It is also a big ingredient in birch tar, used in Russia in treating leather and therefore associated with Cuir-de-Russie-themed fragrances, modernly interpreted in Dzing! and Bulgari Black. Also present in cassie absolute, so it seems to be the bridge between those and Une Fleur de Cassie; the connection being that acacia bark (the inspiration behind the latter) was also used in treating leather, in France.

Amyl salicylate (pentyl ortho hydroxy benzoate) is a colourless liquid related to coumarin olfactorily, frequently used to round off a composition and fix fine fragrance (floral or non-floral) even though not a constituent of volatile oils. The molecule is also referenced as orchidee, trefle or trefol due to its orchid-like lightly sweet floral and herbaceous-green aroma and its inclusion in L.T. Piver's 1898 mythical Le Trèfle Incarnat. A tiaré accord built on amyl salicilate is used in the Dior Bronze range to impart the lightly powdery floral nuance which serves as a reminder of beloved products of sunbathing (see below). Chances are you've smelled amyl salicylate in your favourite shampoo, deo, hair spray or fabric softener too as it is so prevalent in those products or used it in your anti-rheumatism prescription.

Ylang ylang (cananga odorata), a very frequent floral essence in perfumery and a constituent in Vanille Galante which prompted these syllogisms in the first place, naturally encompasses salicylates and eugenol (a spicy ingredient); the former in the form of benzyl salicylate is the basic ingredient in the Ambre Solaire suntan lotion, with its white flowers tinge, which is synonymous with summer vacations to many Europeans (The ingredient first entered the composition for its sunscreening properties and later overstayed thanks to the fond reactions of users to its smell). Even the humble aspirin is a product of salicylates. The magic of salicylates is that they creep up on you from the most unlikely places!

Ref: E. Gildemeister, The Volatile Oils

Pic via edwan.blogspot.com, Ambre Solaire ad via mtblog.self.com

Enrique Iglesias for Azzaro Homme: new face, new campaign

Azzaro pour Homme, the fougere classic from 1978 is gaining a new spin, that of the seducteur (a womaniser), in the face of Enrique Iglesias (full name Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler).

The son of Spanish legend Julio Iglesias is a singing star in his own right: Recognised at numerous awards (including Grammys, American Music Awards and the 2008 NRJ Music Award for Best International Masculine Artist) the top-selling Spanish-speaking singer worldwide according to data as of this minute, Enrique is successful, handsome and the "exotic" yet approachable type that would have consumers sit up and take notice. Enrique Inglesias's own track record is impressive with liaisons with Sofia Vergara, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Shannon Elizabeth, Samantha Torres, and the ex Miss Universe Alicia Machado.

The press release is quite clear-cut into what they are aiming at: "It takes a certain kind of man to personify the distinctive style of this iconic fragrance: the eternal charmer, a man who loves and respects women. The proverbial "tall, dark and handsome"… good looks, unmistakable, innate sensuality, a magnetic personality and energy… "

Enrique is all that and we're elated he isn't lending his pretty mug for a celebrity scent now. His previous take on celebrity endorsement included a stint for Tommy Hilfiger's True Star (Refresh your memory with this). Under the auspices of Michel Mallard, Artistic Director of the new Azzaro pour Homme campaign, and with Steven Klein behind the lens at the Pier 59 Studios in NYC, the fragrance which was previously positioned as the professional type of the 80s overachiever is coming into a new image.

The new campaign for Azzaro pour Homme is set to roll this coming October and looks like it will entice a younger wave of wannabe "Latin lovers" into trying this woody classic. Good job, Azzaro team!

Cacharel Scarlett: fragrance review

It is with a sense of disillusionment that I encountered Scarlett by Cacharel while perusing the aisles of Sephora in search of a gift. The brand has something of νόστος, of L'Éternel Retour for me: Anais Anais with its funeral parlour lillies (no offence inferred) always attracted me with its subtle autumnal romanticism which so contrasted with our innocence of the times; Loulou has been a sweet memory of long-ago, a shadowed Lolitesque reprise of L'Heure Bleue behind the parapet of a circus (and it still has devoted fans); Cacharel pour Homme was rampant in school, even though it probably didn't merit quite such a popularity; Eden and Eau d'Eden had the merit of being completely individual in their own little way (a wet wools fruity-oriental and a watermelon ozonic that didn't hiss at you, respectively); Noa is a pretty white musk with a powdery little whiff that can be an office-friendly scent that's not completely trite thanks to a hint of coffee; and Gloria was ~before its unexplained discontinuation~ a pipe-tobacco dream on the lips of a modern young coquette posing at some night-club wearing a pailleté top and licking Amaretto off her lips.
Then they started producing über-sweet fruity stuff that was mediocre at best: Amor Amor, Promesse and Liberté seemed like efforts to tune in the craziness of everybody else issuing fruity florals with intense sweetness on a bed of cleaned-up patchouli, no doubt hot on the heels of Coco Mademoiselle's commercial success: efforts with results hard to deferentiate between and ultimately forgettable. Along with a pleiad of flankers that didn't shine any too brightly in the galaxy...

Scarlett goes even lower, reminding me of a deodorant mist or a shampoo more than a perfume and it really pains me to say so. Composed by such experienced and talented perfumers such as Honorine Blanc, Olivier Cresp and Alberto Morillas, it's probably a testament to the rush of companies to issue new things at a breakneck speed giving them about a week to come up with something. Or alludes to the desire to adress a pre-nubile audience raised on Japanese-style erasers and soapy non-perfumey "perfume" on their mothers: If you're brought up on Amazing Grace, anything more smelly than a bar of soap just might trip you into sensory overload. "Soapy" isn't necessarily bad, if done right: Great aldehydics of yore as well as modern musky florals prove it can be pleasant and even refined. The wrong kind however can tilt the scales into floor cleaner, deodorant cream and the laundry cupboard.

Scarlett starts on fresh pears that hint at the lightly gourmand and innocent opening of Petit Chérie by Annick Goutal and continues on girly transparent (and completely artificial, detergent-style) flowers, while vaguely being reminiscent of Juicy Couture overall only less polished. It completely belies both its wonderful flacon ~designed by Christophe Pillet~ and its fiesty name that would allude to passion and sensuality (this is neither O'Hara, nor Johansson). And just because someone had it phrased so very wittingly I am borrowing their words for once and quoting: "If Scarlett had worn this, she could have stopped the war all by herself. The yankees would have suffocated on their approach to Atlanta, and Rhett Butler would have donned a bonnet and crinoline and danced with Ashley Wilkes rather than endure our whiffy heroine".

But its invitation is so short-lived that a testing spree shouldn't leave you with too much to wash off, so do give it a try when you approach a department store and see if you think differently. I thought it wouldn't work too great on blood stains anyway...

Eau de Celebrity: Waning, waning...?

In the last 10 years everyone who is recognised a bit more widely than their schoolmates, their own mother and possibly their hamster seems to have issued a fragrance bearing their name in gilt lettes on bottles produced by Parlux and Coty (mainly). The phenomenon nicknamed "celebrity fragrances" had accumulated epic proportions in the last couple of years when even reality game players had their own eponymous scent on the market (no disrespect to poor late Jane Goody), adding to a massive churn-out in the class of the hudnreds. Thankfully (to many, ourselves included) it seems that, despite Beyonce, Kim Kardashian and Peter Andre all having a scent in the works, the trend is on its waning phase.

"[...] it has recently been revealed by retailers that these products don't have the longevity of classic fragrances and that customers actually don't want to smell like someone off Big Brother after all. Jason Zemmel, founder of online discount store halfpriceperfumes, said: “It’s a fickle market with celebrity scandals and poor album sales having a direct effect on sales of celebrity scents. It used to be the biggest stars that brought out a scent but we now have all manner of C-listers churning out fragrances whenever they have something to promote.”

Adding that:

“Whilst some, like the Britney Spears range sells well, we’ve found many have shunned the scents of lesser known celebs. We’re now seeing resurgence for classic scents such as Christian Dior, Elizabeth Arden and Chanel, that have been around for years,” said Zemmel.

Parlux is on record for losing $4.3m last year and a reported $2.5m loss in the second quarter of this year. Whether the economic recession is having any relation to the buying patterns of consumers who would rather spend their money on something they really perceive as necessary (or as prestigious, when they do spend over budget)is not accounted for. It does seem that overexposure to specific names has created satiation and boredom and that only strong names are surviving, such as the Jennifer Lopez empire of scents or the Beckham duo.
Shall we all heave a collective sigh of "oh good!" and forget about the overexposed faces that greet us with their candid shots on the front pages of Hello magazine? Here's to hoping! Or at least that from the collective stink only the nice fumes (no matter how few) will surface victorious and sustain their life on the shelves.

Read the full article on Body Confidential.

Victoria Beckham pic courtesy of American Elle magazine.

The winner of the draw....

.....for the complete set of Essentially Me fragrance samples is Flora/Donna.
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