Fragrance 101: What Is A Fragrance (Part 1)

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FRAGRANCE AS AN ART

I would always compare fragrance to a painting or a sculpture - an art. Whilst paintings and sculptures are described based on what you see and feel - colours, strokes, angles that evoke certain emotions, a fragrance is something that you feel and remember based on what your nose smells.

Image from kalundinha.com

In my earlier entry regarding the olfactive sense, fragrance evokes certain memories and emotions linked to that memory. And this is where fragrance becomes an art, similar to paintings, sculptures and architectures. The only caveat is that you have to see and be with it for you to smell it, as opposed to visual arts, wherein a simple Google search will give you an image to cherish.

FRAGRANCE AS A SCIENCE

Fragrance is also a science. It involves a lot of chemistry and physics, and recently, also involves biotechnology and botany. A fragrance consists of different organic volatile ingredients. And these ingredients need to evaporate in order for you to smell it. These ingredients (more on these in a separate post) when mixed together must create a harmonious balance for that hedonically pleasant scent. Without the understanding of science, it will be difficult to create a stable mixture that will smell good and will perform according to specifications.

Image from rbnainfo.com

Therefore, a fragrance is a harmonious combination of different ingredients that results in a hedonically pleasant smell evoking different emotions and memories. It is both art and science.


What's Next in Fragrance 101...
In the next Fragrance 101 post, different ingredients used in fragrance design will be discussed.


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Fragrance 101 is a series of posts that will introduce the readers and fragrance fans into the magical world of fragrances. The author will impart his knowledge on what a fragrance is, how to understand fragrance descriptions and the different fragrance families used in describing the fragrances in this blog.