The Perfect Perfume

The Perfect Perfume

Reported April 2006

Some are strong ... Others soft ... But as you spray your bottle of perfume, have you ever wondered what the inspiration was behind your favorite fragrance?

It is a delicate science to create the perfect perfume. Researchers span the globe, canvassing Africa, Madagascar and Costa Rica to capture nature's finest scents.

David Apel, a perfumer at Givaudan Fine Fragrance in New York, says, "The jungle or tropical environments are the most interesting for us." Givaudan Fine Fragrance is just one company creating the latest fragrances. Its biologists track down a scent they like and then perfumers capture it with scent-trek headspace technology. Next, the plant is covered with a glass dome and vapor is extracted -- basically capturing the smell.

"The primary purpose of ScentTrek for us is to increase the perfumer's palate," Apel says.

Ellen Molner, a perfumer at Givaudan Fine Fragrance, says, "I have my palette of raw materials that I use, or my tools that I use in my fragrances all stored in my computer." Molner knows thousands of ingredients and uses her experience to come up with formulas for a perfume, which is sent to chemists who mix the ingredients and come up with a product.

"Sometimes I will be asked to tweak all the way up until the time it goes up to the counter," Molner says.

Givaudan makes one out of every three perfumes on the market and has over 108 years of experience.

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