We are always having a look at the latest fragrances on the market, whether that is a new washing powder, or a new shampoo or a new designer perfume launch. It helps us to know that we are keeping up to date with all the latest market trends. There is however, something that we have noticed over the past few months – there seems to be a merging of the sexes.

Many of the newer fragrances that are aimed at men seem to have become the new favourites of our female office staff, with many of us naming one of them as our spritz of choice at the minute, in particular Carolina Herrera’s 212 VIP for men and Viktor & Rolfs Spicebomb.

I decided to ask around family and friends and came up with the same results….it seems that spritzing a sneaky squirt of your boyfriend/husbands aftershave is as widespread as borrowing his razor!

Back in the early perfume heyday of the 18th century there was no dividing line between male and female fragrances – in fact the dividing line was one of class and social standing instead. The most powerful men drenched their lapels and handkerchiefs with fragrance – usually a heavy floral blend, whilst the downtrodden masses blended into the background with the unforgettable stench of ‘Eau de Filth’.

The notion of gender in perfumery only came around in the early 20th century, coinciding with the influences of modern advertising methods. Fragrance became intertwined with fashion and so the flapper girls of the 1920′s became the new target demographic. Ms Monroe heaped glamour onto fragrance by the bucket load in the 50′s with her now infamous quote of wearing only Chanel No.5 to bed - it would have had to have been a brave man to wear a floral scent after that revelation!

The first efforts to woo the male back onboard were heavily advertised as a shaving routine add-on. And so the humble aftershave was born and the whole world seemed to smell of either Old Spice, English Leather or Burma Shave.

Eventually more and more colognes (note – NOT perfumes!!) became available embracing notes that were considered to be a masculine domain – spicy, leathery, woodsy and musky.

Fresh and lighter citrus notes have been an attempt to close the gap – think CK1 – and even more recently the addition of woody and musk notes being added to many female targeted scents have closed it even further.

Ancient men and women knew the power of aromatics, smearing them all over their bodies without any regard for whether spikenard or myrrh were considered to be feminine or masculine. Its a matter of what works well on your skin – so the next time you are looking for a new bottle of perfume – why not check out some of the newly launched male intentions – i’m off to top up my spicebomb!!

We have a large range of fragrance submissions here at Carvansons that are designed to be the creme de la creme of the current trending scents – if you have any new products that need a fragrance then please contact either myself or Helen, and we will be more than happy to send some samples for you to have a look at – all of which comply with current IFRA regulations.

Growing from the mud at the bottom of ponds, streams and marshes, the exquisite lotus flower rises above the water unfurling its delicate petals towards the sun.

It possesses an amazing ability to flourish in a variety of environments ranging from clear ponds to muddy marshes.  With its exceptionally hardy seed pods that can remain quiescent during cold, dry seasons, it is no wonder that the lotus symbolises immortality and resurrection. Seeds of the Indian lotus can germinate some 200 years after they are shed!

In Buddhism the lotus represents purity and divine birth.  Buddhist say this is how people should rise above everything which is dukkha. A flower may be very beautiful and have a wonderful scent, but it soon withers and dies. This shows that nothing in life is perfect. (Dukkha is loosely translated into English as suffering)

In fact the lotus flower has symbolised spiritual enlightenment across many religions over the years, with many deities being pictured sat on a lotus flower, rising from within it, or holding a lotus blossom.

Alabaster vessels found in Tutankhamuns tomb when it was opened in 1922 contained lotus oil that had still retained its scent after 3,000 years. Cleopatra was said to have bathed in a lotus bath every day. At the time lotus, cinnamon and marjoram were among the most commonly used top notes in perfumery.

The lotus flower contains many euphoric chemicals that can produce a powerful hypnotic effect. Many historians believe that the Egyptians used it to induce an ecstatic state and create hallucinations. It was used as a sedative and also as an aphrodisiac.

You need to plan to pay a premium for true exotic oils such as lotus. If the price seems to good to be true, then it usually will be. The true oil is very rare and only available in very small quantities. It takes around 100 flowers to make 1 gram of oil. Only 1000 to 3000 grams of the true white lotus oil has ever been exported as far as we know, and you can expect to pay over £200 for approx. 5mls.

It has a beautiful delicate fragrance and is effective in improving skin conditions, mild fungal infections, fever and cholera.

And finally, it is the most famous flower associated with good Feng Shui, used to create an environment of harmony, peace and good energy, inspiring contentment and new opportunities…..maybe we should be hosing the streets of London tonight not with water but with lotus oil!!

I thought we would have a little chemistry lesson this week – my only problem was trying to choose a subject that wasnt too boring for the average layman (myself included).

And so I decided on a brilliant little chemical called Iso E Super. You’ll probably already know the smell as it’s hidden (sometimes not very well) in many of the fine fragrances that you can buy today. Its been around for a number of years now, and was created by International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (IFF) It is a brilliant addition to the world of perfumery. In previous years it has always had a supporting role in fragrances, but more recently it has been thrust into a leading role.

So, what on earth is Iso E Super, and why has it suddenly been thrust into the limelight? Well, its official description is as follows ‘a smooth woody amber with unique aspects, giving it a velvet like sensation. It is used to impart fullness and subtle strength to existing fragrances. It is a superb floralizer found in the majority of new fine fragrances, and is also a useful addition to soaps and fabric softeners’.

Almost transparent in colour it has a vague sweet cedarwood-like scent imparting a male, woodsy, musky type aroma.

It is known as the invisible fragrance, and has also been likened to a modern day Love Potion No.9! The reason for this is that it has been known to mimic the action of human pheromones. Although not a pheromone itself, it has the effect of other people noticing you or your fragrance but not quite being able to put their finger on the reason why. This is because ordinary fragrances are designed to project themselves over a wide radius, whilst Iso E Super is designed to cling to the skin, swapping itself between opulence and simplicity, sometimes being quite noticable, sometimes undetectable.

On this note, you might like to research the fragrance Molecule 01, which is currently being sold at very high prices around the world. This fine fragrance is literally just Iso E Super bottled. The theory behind using this chemical on its own as a fragrance was that it would create an appealing effect to those smelling it on the wearer without it being perceived as a ‘perfume’. It really is the ultimate skin scent much like natural ambergris, it creates its own magic, weaving its invisible scent. It has a staying power on the skin for 6-8 hours.

We had a little experiment between ourselves here in the office last weekend, and all had some type of a result. Nichola was asked in her local shop what fragrance she was wearing and how nice it was, I was accosted by my daughter as i walked through the door to be asked ‘What is that wonderful smell?’, and poor Helen had to share a seat with a stranger on the bus all the way home even though there were plenty of seats elsewhere!

It certainly does seem to have an effect on other people and to be honest I have even worn it a few times instead of perfume on a night out…if you get the chance you must try it….it really does have striking results, and let me know how you get on……

As I mentioned in a previous blog post – January always finds both Luke and myself in Manila to host a fragrance seminar alongside our agents for the Philippines, Proessences, Inc.

The event is held in one of the Edsa Shangri-La conference rooms, and is always well attended by both new and existing customers, R&D staff and company directors. As well as the topic that I touched on for the main fragrance trends over the coming 12 months, we also did some research into one of the most widely used flowers in perfumery – Jasmine.

It is sometimes quite difficult to come up with a topic that will engage people on all levels and language barriers, but this little flower, also known as the Sampaguita,  just happens to be the national flower for the Philippines so therefore, a perfect choice.

It seems that this ancient shrub has been highly prized since antiquity. The origin of all Jasmine is said to be Kashmir, a disputed area between Iran and India.

In perfumery we tend to use just 2 main types of Jasmine – Jasminum Sambac and Jasminum Grandiflorum. As anyone in the fragrance industry knows, the price of Jasmine is extremely expensive with 1 kg of oil costing anything between £1300 and £2000 per kg depending on the success of that seasons harvest. the reason for this is the lengthy process required to actually obtain 1kg of this precious oil.

An agile flower gatherer can pick 3-5 kilograms of flowers in a morning session. 1kg of flowers equates to 8,000 to 10,000 flower heads. In order to create 1kg of essence, an estimated 7 million flowers are required!

The best method for the extraction of the oil from the blossom is a process called enfleurage. This can be done in two ways. Cold enfleurage – whereby a large glass frame is smeared with animal fat onto which a single layer of flower heads are placed. Their scent is allowed to diffuse into the fat over a period of 2-3 days. Ths process is repeated until the desired degree of saturation is reached. For hot enfleurage, the fats are heated and the flower heads stirred in. Spent flowers are repeatedly strained off and replaced with new ones until the fat is saturated with fragrance.

In both instances, this fragrance saturated fat is now known as the ‘enfleurage pomade’. This pomade is now soaked with ethyl alcohol which draws the fragant molecules out from the fat and into the alcohol. The alcohol is now separated from the fat and allowed to evaporate, leaving behind the essential oil.

The spent fat isn’t wasted – it is usually used to make soaps since it is still relatively fragrant.

Today, synthetic Jasmine is easily produced and is often preferred due to the high cost involved in the enfleurage production, with Hedione being the most usual substitution. It’s aroma is of the fresh, greener part of the Jasmine – however, in high end products some actual absolute is also added to remove some of the residual harshness.

Jasmine is a middle note in perfumery meaning that it evolves in the heart stages of development on the skin. Heart notes impart warmth and fullness to fragrance blends and embody the passion of a fragrance.

In conclusion, despite all the economic challenges, the use of the Jasmine flower in perfume production remains one of the most essential elements in the structure of some of the worlds greatest perfumes.

We have a collection of stand alone Jasmine fragrances suitable for a wide variety of products, and also some gentler blends including Green tea & Jasmine, Freesia & Jasmine, Jasmine & Sandalwood and Jasmine & Peach Blossom.

If you would like any samples or any further information, then please do not hesitate to get in touch – we’d love to hear from you.