Force of nature

Today's fragrances range from the outrageously artificial to the downright bestial. At one extreme is Escentric Molecules, a niche brand that boasts high concentrations of the aroma chemical Iso E Super. At the other end is Liz Zorn, an independent online perfumer that offers natural fragrances - some of which incorporate a cruelty-free tincture derived from the petrified urine of the hyrax, an animal that looks like a guinea pig and is said to be related to the elephant.

The atmosphere is charged with opinions that are just as varied. For health reasons - both personal and planetary - the conscious consumer is apt to assume that synthetic ingredients are automatically bad and capable of causing all kinds of toxicities.

Chandler Burr, a perfume critic for The New York Times, dismisses the idea that natural is always good as "an archaic piece of dogma ardently subscribed to by those who know nothing about perfume."

Lately, it has become the badge of the fragrance sophisticate to recognize just how much fine fragrance owes to discoveries in chemistry, such as those aromatic miracles called aldehydes that made Chanel No. 5 possible.

And the experts are forever going on about how modern perfumery was born in 1882 with the launch of the first fragrance to incorporate a man-made ingredient. That was coumarin, which was synthesized by Sir William Henry Perkin, the same chemist who invented mauveine, the first aniline dye. Introduced by the Paris firm Houbigant, the fragrance was called Fougère Royale. Ferns having no smell, even the name - royal fern - was a joke on nature.

That wasn't the last time natural ingredients were made fun of. Since then, head-shop essential oils and aromatherapy have also had their share of mockery. But natural fragrances are now being taken seriously again. Brands like Jo Wood, Florascent, Red Flower, Primavera and Lavanila are part of a boom that can only partly be explained by eco-mindedness.

There is also a new level of connoisseurship. Natural fragrances have moved past '60s-style, back-to-the-earth naïveté; today, it's more like back to the terroir. Following the example of the wine industry, fragrance makers have been promoting the importance of particular soils and climates.

L'Artisan Parfumeur has released fragrances based on the 2005 harvests of orange blossoms from orchards in Nabeul, Tunisia, and narcissi sprung from the vol canic soil of the Lozère region in France.



Click here to read more!