Perfume industry fights to protect secrets

Provence & Côte d'Azur: Perfume industry fights to protect secrets

Grasse perfumers unite in Brussels

Grasse perfumers have travelled to Brussels to join a fight to protect their fragrance secrets. They say their trade is being threatened by weakening EU Trade Secret laws, while health authorities argue the perfume industry should be held to the same scrutiny as other cosmetics.

Grasse has a long and respected tradition 

of perfumery. 

Photo: Fragonard

For the first time ever, a full fragrance formula was shared with attendees of the European Parliament exhibition in Brussels last week. ‘A Sense of Europe’ was created by famous contemporary French perfumer Christophe Laudamiel and released to encourage parliament to ‘contemplate a full fragrance formula’.
According to the International Fragrance Association (IFRA), “formulae have traditionally been a closely guarded secret and are an important piece of intellectual property for the fragrance industry.”
Fragrance formula can not be patented and the industry relies heavily on Trade Secrets, which prevents them from being forced to disclose the individual ingredients that comprise their fragrance.
Now, European laws are increasingly requiring manufacturers to be more transparent about their products, to protect consumers and the environment. And it is not the same standard for each European country. France, for example, has little protection while Germany has strong Trade Secret laws.
“Incentives to innovate, particularly within the European Union, have been weakened not only by piracy in Asia and other rapidly developing economies, but also by inconsistent Trade Secret protection offered by EU Member States’ legislation in this area,” says the IFRA.
Around eight per cent of the world's perfume sales are made in Grasse - the perfume capital of Europe. With growth of 20 per cent and an export rate of 70 per cent, the sector is one of the flagships of the French economy. Nevertheless, the industry is concerned.
“Europe happens to be one of the most recognised cradles of creative perfumery and ingredient expertise world-wide. Its heritage deserves to be protected and its innovative know-how further unleashed,” argued the IFRA to the European Parliament.
On the other hand, say critics, Trade Secrets laws also allow companies to include hazardous substances in their fragrance products without either the regulators or the consuming public knowing. According to an article published in the Journal of Intellectual Property Law, various chemicals that have been tested and proven to be extremely hazardous to human health have been found in some perfume and other fragranced products. As a result of Trade Secrets law, consumers are left with trial and error to determine whether ingredients in the perfume formula will cause an adverse health reaction.
The perfume industry maintains however that keeping its ingredients secret is essential to protecting their trade.
“The European Union has an extraordinary concentration of industries for which trade secrets are essential to compete successfully. The fragrance industry is one and we would like to see an appropriate place for trade secrets within the European Union’s intellectual property regime.”
Critics argue that the threat is over-exaggerated: “It is highly unlikely that this knowledge (of individual ingredients) would be worth very much in an industry in which competitors constantly try to distinguish their products from others in the marketplace rather than make them smell alike. Fragrance manufacturers probably either already know the ingredients contained in competitors' fragrance formulas or would have little trouble reverse engineering a competitor's product to determine its ingredients. This is evidenced by the plethora of knock-off perfumes which smell similar, if not identical, to the original brand of perfume,” wrote the authors of the article.
Speaking at the exhibition in Brussels, Grasse perfume manufacturers said they are not opposed to regulation, however they are fearful of revealing too much. "We must find a balance in consumer information,” argued Eric Angelini, Product Safety Director for Grasse company Mane.
Around 65 per cent of the country's perfume companies are located in Grasse, employing more than 3,500 people. 

Cassandra Tanti

Choosing Fragrance - Influences Behind the Purchase

By: Elena Knezhevich, Jodi Battershell, Ida Meister

At the recent Elements Showcase, on Tuesday, January 31st, W Magazine presented their panel discussion, this time scrutinizing how consumers choose fragrance. This was a rather potentially heated topic, as scentlovers can well imagine.

Opening query: What determines how you buy fragrance?
     What do consumers desire?
  Pamela felt very strongly that there were three primary categories of buyer: the Fragrance Junkie, the Gift-Giver, and the Prestige Purchase. Fragrance Junkies are the well-initiated, passionate perfumistas who are always searching for the next wonderful scent to sniff. Gift-Givers are those who wish to please by buying a celeb scent that might be "safe." Prestige Purchases are driven by the names which carry clout and cachet.
Sarah has been "in the business" well over 20 years [she and I met in Boston, on Newbury Street—a long, long time ago]. She is sought out and feels that the Internet has educated many consumers; they know a great deal more about genre, notes, etc. than ever before. She adds that the niche area is growing, especially in on-line sites, as well as brick-and-mortar; there was a 12 % increase last year for bespoke (custom-created) perfumes alone.
MJ cagily [and sagely] observed that merely reading notes in perfumes and blogger reviews didn’t prepare her at all for the reality of the scents described! She wisely advises the more caveat emptor approach: sample before you purchase. She felt that a great deal of the mystique of perfume is lost in the listing of notes.
Eddy and Paul (who won the FiFi for Odin Amanu) feel that every part of the scent experience is significant; those who sell should be knowledgeable about the jus, the packaging, the bottles, but in the final analysis, the customer should be allowed to experience each step without intrusion.
Olivia mused upon the delights of artistic collaboration, and how many ways it might be achieved. Her Attache Moi ("Tie-me-up!") parfum began while drawing inspiration from extraordinary bracelets, and also as a nod to Bon Marché. Some of the partners involved included Serge Mansau [he designed the bottle!] and perfumers Christine Nagel and Benoist Lapouza. (clique aqui para ler o artigo completo)

Men's Fragrance: A Renaissance of Leather

 By Clayton Ilolahia

 

Leather notes in perfumery have existed for more than a century. Numerous threads exist in online perfume forums discussing the beauty of this perfume note. More often than not the perfumes that gain the majority of praise were not recently launched. Many of them are almost a hundred years old. I was interested to read the announcement of fragrance trend predictions by Bell Flavours and Fragrances. The scent of leather rates in their top 10 perfume trends for 2012. This sparked my curiosity. If leather notes have featured consistently in perfume over the past century, how has this note evolved? This trend has been on the horizon with a number of 2010-2011 fragrances containing either Leather or Cuir (French for leather) in their titles. Cuir Fetiche, Cuir Noir, Leather Oud, Mahon Leather, Cuir Styrax and others simply called Cuir have all found their way onto perfumery shelves in the short span of two years.

One of perfume’s most popular leather scents is Chanel Cuir de Russie, released to the world in the 1920s. Like all of the early Chanels, perfumer, Ernest Beaux was the author of this creation. Designed for modern women who lived through les annees folles, Paris in the 1920s, Cuir de Russie is a stunning example of the supple leathery tones a perfumer can impart on a fragrance. Chanel released an eau de toilette version in 2007 as part of Les Exclusifs de Chanel and although it displays all of the feminine floral Chanel signatures, inside lies a masculine base of lightly smoked woods and resins that is perfect for I like to think adventurous males (myself included). A buttery castoreum note paired with musk offers a point of difference in comparison to other leather perfumes that can often feel cold and austere, much like the Russian landscape that inspired their creation. It is said that Cuir de Russie was born from Coco’s encounter with the Grand Duke Dimitri, an exiled cousin of Tsar Nicholas II . He was one of many Russian bourgeoisies who fled Russia to escape execution following the revolution in 1917. Cuir de Russie, with its characteristic birch tar accord recalls the stories of master tanners who utilized the natural birch tree tannins to make quality leathers for the Russian Tsars. (clique aqui para ler o artigo completo)

On Making Sense out of Scents

On Making Sense out of Scents
by Elena Vosnaki

Top notes of honey flower and solar musk. Heart notes of Osmanthus and Amberlyn. Base notes of tactile woods and vetiver.  Does this random perfume notes list, replete with sensuous innuendo, make absolutely no sense to you? It might be unicorn tears and rainbow ends for all you know! Likewise, in front of an aromatic stanza, we're often at a loss to accurately describe what we smell to another.

Apparently, dear reader, you're not alone; the confounded crowd includes tons of perfume lovers who struggle through perfume descriptions on a regular basis. It's hard to make sense out of scents...

The Situation: Introduction to Confusion

Consider flipping through a fashion magazine for a minute: Sandwiched between glossy pages of advertising with models in ecstatic surrender to the sheer beauty of any given potion of seduction, you will find editorial guides that teach you that fragrances are classified in olfactory "families" and that they develop like music "chords" into top notes, heart notes and base notes, built into a "fragrance pyramid": maximum volatility* ingredients first; medium-diffusion materials following them after the intial impression vanishes; tenacious, clinging for dear life materials last. That should make it easier, right? Well, not exactly.

The thing is most contemporary fragrances are not built as neatly and the bulk of fragrance descriptors are written with a marketing consideration to begin with. It's not a plot to mislead, but the industry is still shrouded in mystery, offering a rough blueprint rather than an analytical Google map into the largely uncharted terrain of fragrance composition. So how does one go about it? (clique aqui para ler o artigo completo)
 

The Elements Showcase January 2012

12/30/11 17:34:01

By: Elena Knezhevich

 The Elements is the first successful American niche brands exhibition which will open its doors for the third time in New York on January 30th. Along with presentation of new products and perfume/cosmetic brands The Elements now hosts the Indie FiFi Awards event. This new category was added this year to the annual FiFi Awards event "to represent the industry's recognition of the talent and creativity in the independent perfume realm, as well as the growing importance of Indie scents in the marketplace" (more here).

2012 FiFi IINDIE AWARD NOMINEES:
A Dozen Roses Collection by 360 Degrees Inc.
Atelier Cologne Vanille Insensee Cologne Absolue by Atelier Cologne
Blu Oltremare by Bois 1920 (Perfume Holding Corp.)
Burning Barbershop by D.S. & Durga
Carner Barcelona Cuirs by MiN New York
Come L’Amore by Bois 1920 (Perfume Holding Corp.)
Debonair Eau Dandy by Smell Bent
Dimanche by Strange Invisible Perfumes
Divine Gardens for Denver Art Museum by DSH Perfumes
Eau Pear Tingle by Opus Oils
Eva Luna Eau de Parfum by Providence Perfume Co.
40notes Perfume Limited Ed. Signature Perfume Collection by 40notes Perfume
Frapin 1697 by MiN New York 
Geisha Amber Rouge by Aroma M Perfumes
Hope by Tallulah Jane
JOUANY Marrakech by World Scents
JOUANY Saint Barthelemy by World Scents
Miller Harris La Fumée by Miller Harris
Mountain High by Smell Bent 
Nectar of Love by April Aromatics
November in the Temperate Deciduous Forest by For Strange Women
Odin New York 06 Amanu by Foundry NYC
Orcas by Ayala Moriel Parfums
Pandora by DSH Perfumes
Painting Picture Frame by Eclectic Collections
Perfect Coconut Milk by Sarah Horowitz Parfums
Petite Mort by Marc Atlan
Rose Bohème Eau de Parfum by Providence Perfume Co.
Royal Lotus by Anya’s Garden Perfumes
Secret Garden by Aftelier Perfumes
Siberian Snow by D.S. & Durga
Signed, Sealed & Delivered by Eclectic Collections
Soivohle Leather Krem by Liz Zorn Perfumes LLC
Sombre Negra by Yosh Olfactory Sense
Staghorn Sumac by D.S. & Durga with Joya
Untitled no. 9 for Luckyscent by DSH Perfumes
(clique aqui para ler o artigo completo)

Scented Choices

The marketing killed the perfume. The perfume kills the marketing.

Prepare yourself for a revolution and a new order with 2012 when everything will be re arranged as it should be. Consumer, scent, creator is the new paradigm. During several years, the number of launches increased with a dramatic speed. Everybody was complaining, even myself. Wouldn't be more correct to complain today about lacking the financial resources than complaining about a world which is changing?

Today, as I expressed in the Top 8 of 2011, I am extremely happy there are so many new brands, ideas, perfumes. I complain only that I cannot get them in time. In fact, I'm rather happy I was playing in a garden three decades ago because life and perfume was not fun at all in those days. With such a small number of launches, with so much trouble if you want to smell a perfume in a traditional perfumery, that was probably the hell, even in Paris. I do not like to get bored and smell the same small selection when even nature is changing. Because there so many brands and so many perfumes today, some will probably disappear in 5 years. But this is the best thing, honorable death is better than decay. Do you realize the pain of Edmond Roudnitska? He learned his art with the masterpieces of Coty and Houbigant but saw them mutilated starting with the mid 50's both in terms of scent and design. Those horrible versions of Emeraude, Chypre, Aimant in plastic bottles are still available on eBay with their cheap essence, like those hideous drugstore versions of Dana classic perfumes or the Schiaparelli in the 70's.(clique aqui para ler o artigo completo)

Perfumistas investem em aromas doces

Vinte anos atrás, quando um grupo de perfumistas, reunidos em uma sala, sentiu pela primeira vez o perfume Angel, da Thierry Mugler, conhecido por ter uma essência doce, a maioria deles torceu o nariz com asco.
"Eles diziam: 'O que é isso? Isso não é um perfume. Isso é um sabor. É horrível", lembrou Pierre Aulas, atual diretor artístico olfativo da Thierry Mugler, que trabalhava para outra empresa na época, mas estava na sala. "Eles ficaram todos dizendo, 'Ah, eu tenho certeza de que ele vai estar no mercado em seis meses".
Hoje em dia, o Angel, uma forte dose de patchouli com uma base doce que remete a uma imagem de Janis Joplin segurando um pirulito, é o quinto perfume mais vendido nos Estados Unidos, de acordo com a empresa de pesquisa de mercado NPD Group. Sua base doce _ uma mistura de baunilha, caramelo e praliné que o fez se destacar entre os aromas florais e secos dos anos 1980 e início dos anos 90, e que, indiscutivelmente, criou a categoria "gourmand" entre os perfumes _ é copiada por tantos criadores de perfumes que você poderia até ser perdoado por confundir uma loja de perfumes com uma confeitaria, pelo menos se estivesse com os olhos fechados. (clique aqui para ler o artigo completo)

Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh - 3 Fragrances Fit for Royalty

By Mark David Boberick

Gold Man & Gold Woman

Amouage

Gold. The first, and finest gift of the Magi – and one of the most luxurious products of Mother Earth. Reserved for royalty in ancient times and still a symbol of wealth and power, today, Gold is the ultimate. Gold is King.

Oliban

Keiko Mecheri

From the Latin name for Frankincense, Olibanum – Keiko Mecheri’s spicy incense fragrance is a knock-out on multiple levels. The star is of course, the second gift of the Magi, frankincense. This aromatic resin from the Boswellia tree has been used for fragrant purposes for more than 5000 years. Frankincense comes from the southeast portion of the Arabian Peninsula, presently occupied by the Sultanate of Oman

La Myrrhe

Serge Lutens

The third gift of the Magi is the mysterious myrrh. Excised from the trunk of a small, thorny tree that grows in the arid and rocky North African soil, Myrrh was a staple in ancient ritual and healing for thousands of years. At times throughout ancient history, when its sources became even more scarce than normal, its value surpassed that of gold. The sweet, pungent smell of myrrh has no equal. (clique aqui para ler o artigo completo)

LOTUS – The Divine Seat

By: Chandra Shekhar Gupta

The lotus is a flower of antiquity and has long been associated with the history, culture, religion, ancient literature and arts and crafts of India.  Due to all of these characteristics, the lotus was selected as the national flower of India. It has been described in various mythological legends, epics, scriptures, Sanskrit literature and historical records.

Botanical Name - Nelumbo nucifera
Synonyms - Nelumbium nelumbo
                     Nelumbium speciosum
Family - Nympheaceae or Nelumbonaceae

Waterlily (Nymphaea spp.) is another aquatic flower which resembles the lotus and people sometimes confuse the two.
The family Nympheaceae has two important genera having aquatic species with beautiful and attractive flowers i.e. water lily and lotus.  The former belongs to the genera Nymphea and the latter is from Nelumbo. Moreover, the genus Nelumbo has only two species, N. nucifera (Indian lotus) and N. lutea (American lotus or yellow lotus). (clique aqui para ler o artigo completo)

Perfume, Vocabulary and Dictionary

People usually repeat the same mistake when they blame a certain lack of vocabulary for perfumes and the difficulty to communicate them. I cannot blame the English language just because of my basic understanding of a foreign language which allows me very little freedom, unlike a native writer who masters all the subtleties. In our daily existence we do not need to understand or verbalize a scent as we rarely analyze pictures except their most obvious content. The highly formalized vocabulary of art is extremely recent compared to the history of Art. The recognition of the perfume as an art form starts with the Word and the scent has all the attributes of a language.

If you show to anybody about 100 raw materials asking to describe a scent with those "words" contained in a bottle, he will immediately select several bottles which represent the description or definition of the unknown scent and eventually will verbalize some aspects which cannot be found within the given range. It's exactly what Jean Baptiste Grenouille did in the movie Le Parfum when he selected the "words" to make the beautiful "phrase" of the perfume, without knowing or understanding the label of the bottle. On a similar level, you cannot reproduce a fragrance by nose if you have never smelled they key ingredients or if you have a very limited range of "bottles". (clique aqui para ler o artigo completo)

Jean-Francois Laporte Passed Away

By: Elena Knezhevich

Very sad news came to us. One of the greatest perfumers of our time, Jean-Francois Laporte, has passed away. Jean-Francois Laporte always stood for perfumery as an art.  He was among first who offered an alternative to mass perfumery by founding L'Artisan Parfumeur in 1976. He made it famous, then left to meet new challenges while trying to revive the art of perfumery. In 1988, Jean-Francois Laporte founded the house of Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier, inspired by the great French perfumers of the 17th and 18th century. Now the house is owned by Jean-Paul Millet Lage, who had been taught by Jean Laporte. After leaving his second successful project, Jean Laporte continued his way futher to the roots of perfumery, he founded Le Jardin du Parfumeur in Burgundy (according to Denyse Beaulieu).

Guidied by his passion of reviving the true perfume art, Jean Laporte couldn't abide the compromises between art and comercial perfume-making.  He narrowed the meaning of niche perfumery until he came to its very sources—a blooming garden. Jean Laporte, as a true artist, made his way without advertizing his every step.  His talent didn't need the attention of the masses, but being so bright, he always enjoyed it. Thanks to him, we now enjoy great L'Artisan Parfumeur creations, the most celebrated of them being  Mure et Musc, an iconic fruity fragrance. But the most important thing is that he gave us the opportunity to try something different. Rest in Peace!

Jean-Paul Millet Lage:

"With the team of Maître Parfumeur et Gantier, I am sad to announce the death of Jean François Laporte, creator of our brand in 1988. 
He created a wonderful fragrance, original, unique and representative of the quality of expertise of the French perfumery world. Precursor to the world of niche perfumes, he opened this beautiful path of artistic perfumery also named  perfumery of autors. For many years, he had retired from business but Maître Parfumeur et Gantier continues to follow his teaching, as in our creations, I am guided by the high standard he taught me.
I offer his family our sincere condolences and the assurance of our feelings deeply saddened.

"

 

Perfumes as Time Machine

By: Hieronimuss

The first ever attempt to time-travel and gain an understanding of history through the creation of fragrances was a complete success, thanks to the vision and courage of Melissa Ceria, the director of Art de Vivre Programs at The French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) in New York City. She named the three events Series le Parfum, and as the first presenter on Nov. 3, she chose perfumer Christophe Laudamiel, the director of Osmothèque for the US, founder of the Academy of Perfumery & Aromatics in New York, and co-founder of  Dreamair, a NYC company that introduces “new means of communication via scent.”

All these titles mean that Christophe has abundant knowledge in all aspects of perfume creation, industry and history. He doesn’t just stick with the facts—he understands the unknowns, the secrets, the possibilities, and can take any perfume, perfumer or ingredient into many different directions, all equally meaningful. With his youthfulness and passion he could cover easily many events like this, be completely sold out every time, and influence even the most knowledgeable perfume connoisseur. Monsieur Christophe has also an outstanding portfolio including collaborations with Estée Lauder, Thierry Mugler, Elton John’s Black Candle and many more industry leaders. (clique aqui para ler o artigo completo)

Drop the Gender, Find Your Own Story

By Nicola Pozzani

Fragrance has been introduced to me as a science and an art form.

My own vision is that the future of fragrance should be genderless. Perfume is about finding your own story. I have had the greatest luck to study with a great master perfumer who made me aware that perfume is a creative language that can tell a story - a story that anyone can wear, as long as you like it.

While I do understand that all cultures have their own ideas in terms of whatʼs feminine and whatʼs masculine, I think that this can be argued. In the first place, gender can vary according to the experience of a specific culture. A floral scent that is considered feminine in one culture can be worn by men in another. Secondly, letʼs remember that, despite our gender, we all have a feminine and a masculine side and a very unique, personal, experience of life. Essential oils have different properties that we can use to balance our emotions, and why not, our “gender” connotations.

Quite simply, the time is now right to push the boundaries of gender in our field. There has been growing interest in perfume, and people are becoming more and more exposed to it. Consider the booming of (mainly genderless) niche brands, the prolific online perfume debate, or the fact that now there is a department of Olfactory Art at the Museum of Art and Design in New York City. What does all of that mean? It means that people are starting to explore and experience - to become more educated buyers. (Clique aqui para ler o artigo completo)

200 Stairs To Fragrant Heaven - Welcome to Grasse

Grasse is a charming town in the Alpes - Maritimes in France, located about 40 minutes drive from Cannes. It is built on the steep cliffs of the fragrant Provence, so if you decided to pay a visit to the town and walk its narrow streets, you are in for a hike. You can expect 200 stairs and a very steep climb from the Grasse bus and railway station at the foot of the town, to the centre which is located 350 meters above the sea level. A visit to this wonderful town will bring a completely new experience, especially if you're a fan of perfumery and you enjoy lovely fragrances and scents. The city of Grasse is considered the world’s capital of perfumery, known for its industry from 18th century until today and being one of the main centers of perfumery in France. Many world-famous perfumers have been trained in Grasse or at least spent some time there. (clique aqui para ler o artigo completo)

Le manuel du parfumeur - Mission impossible

One cannot teach perfumery without speaking about perfumes, but speaking and writing about perfumes in a professional way is very risky. Learning perfumery means learning how things around us are done and how perfumes are constructed. This is not poetry, but highly precise and technical. But speaking about perfumes and explaining formulae means using trademarks. Shalimar by Guerlain is a masterpiece and a work of art, but it's also a trademark. 99,9 % of perfumes were made for commercial purposes. In other words, a true manual of perfumery, something that do not exist right now despite the fact this art is taught with methods improving every decade, contains the essence and the details of both commercial and historic creations. But who would dare to put his name and what editor would have the courage to publish something like this when every book is revised by their legal department ? The problem is the following - (clique aqui para ler o artigo completo)

TFWA 2011 - Intertrade Europe Booth

As a balance to many mainstream collections, we are presenting the Intertrade Europe booth, which represents popular niche perfume brands, and which introduced 12 niche collections at the TFWA 2011. They offer a rich assortment of fragrances and scented candles. The Intertrade Europe booth was a true small fragrant oasis for all fans of niche collections. Just like a mini niche exhibition, the booth of Intertrade Europe attracted attention with familiar as well as with new fragrances exhibited on dark shelves. I will share a part of fragrant atmosphere from TFWA 2011 with you, thanks to photos I have taken at their booth.(clique aqui para ler o artigo completo)