Perfumes: Synthetic vs Natural Perfume Notes Vanilla Jasmine Aldehydes Violet Dior Chanel Fragrances

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Here I continue my perfume science series. This video is all about synthetic perfume notes as opposed to naturally sourced perfume notes and is a reaction to a conversation that I was having with Tim, aka The Smelly Sweed: / @smellysweed6213
Tim also made a video around this subject (and a few others!): • Synthetic notes|| Pant...
As a scientist, I find adversity to lab made notes surprising, but I am really interested to hear what other people think!
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro: What prompted this video?
I attempt to answer the following questions:
1:46 What is a synthetic perfume note?
2:16 Is designing synthetic perfume notes hard?
3:07 How are synthetic notes designed and made? (inc. Headspace Technology)
4:51 Are synthetic notes new?
5:30 Examples of synthetic notes.
7:23 How frequently are they used in perfumes today?
8:26 Are they better than natural notes? What are the advantages?
including 9:22 An example of a troublesome natural note to extract: rose
12:07 Questions for you!
NB. I mention mass spec, more accurately I should have said gas chromatography mass spectrometry, if you are interested and don't know what it is, you can look this up on Wikipedia if you are curious. I didn't have time to talk about it in the video, sorry!
#Perfume #PerfumeNotes #ScentNotes #Fragrance #Synthetic #Natural #FragCom #DiorEauSauvage #ChanelNo5 #PheromoneReceptors #VersaceCrystalNoir
Perfumes mentioned:
Calvin Klein Escape
Chanel No5
Dior Eau Sauvage
Escentric Molecules Molecule 02
Guerlain Insolence
Guerlain Shalimar
Lancôme La Nuit Trésor
Lancôme La Vie Est Belle
Mugler Angel
Versace Crystal Noir

[@peachpathfinder]

I'm so happy to be finding smartie pants like you talking about fragrance! This channel is my new happy place! Sending you fragrant love from Berkeley, CA. 🌱🌸🌿

[@dr.claire.perfume]

🤣 thank you. I assure you that I just read about stuff and make videos. Love back from the UK 😊

[@peachpathfinder]

I went "clean" for many years -decades- and it was only the so-called 100% clean and natural fragrances that made me super sick and nauseous. So now I am back to regular fragrances and haven't had a headache since! I would like to see more videos dispelling the myths of the safety of natural oils and more videos highlighting what synthetic molecules in particular are not good, such as lily of the valley, and what to avoid. There are too many videos blanket stating all fragrances are bad to push an agenda for plant-based, which can be totally deleterious to the environment and also harmful and definitely not sustainable! People are so misinformed. I also had stopped using all parabens since at least the mid to late '90s and then came to my own informed conclusion that I would rather use parabens than many of the replacements. I have developed an allergy to phenoxyethanol. But now because people have been misinformed about parabens, they have demanded the mfrs to stop using the more effective and pretty innocuous parabens! Ugh. People- also remember that the dosage determines the poison.

[@dr.claire.perfume]

Yes dosage is definitely key. I think clean beauty is extremely confusing as a concept. I really have no clue what it actually means 😂 also as you say, without preservatives, there is so much more waste as stuff goes off quicker. Quite a few LOTV fragrance molecules have been banned now. I talk a little about that in my why are fragrances reformulated video. Thanks for watching ❤️

[@michysays]

Why is Lily of the valley bad?

[@HappinessSparkles]

Thanks Clare ! This was brilliant !!

[@dr.claire.perfume]

Thanks for watching Frances 😊💕

[@Joss-Fragrance-Mixology]

Love this topic and your science spin on fragrances!!!🥰🥰🥰

[@dr.claire.perfume]

Thanks Joss! 💕

[@50Scents_uk]

Wow, fascinating and very educational, thanks Claire, looking forward to seeing more videos like this 👍👍👍

[@dr.claire.perfume]

I just get curious and answer my own questions with the information that I find. I hope that other people are interested too! I know I'm a bit off beat and slightly obsessive when I want to find something out...

[@CatchUpWithKay]

Love these videos! So interesting. 😊 It always amazes me when people assume that natural is better. Nature can be pretty horrifying! Thanks for sharing this! Xxx

[@dr.claire.perfume]

Indeed! My mum's favourite saying is nature in the raw is seldom mild. It's very true. 🙃

[@RandomScents]

This is so interesting! Informative as always 🥰 Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us

[@dr.claire.perfume]

Thanks for watching 😘

[@GerdaPratoEspejo]

This is fascinating, Claire! Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us 👏🥰🙋‍♀️

[@dr.claire.perfume]

I always worry that it will only be me that is curious about these things! Nice to hear that you are also interested 🥰 thank you so much for watching 😊

[@ChantelTiffany]

This was so interesting to watch! I love it when you share your knowledge. Amazing video as always ❤️

[@dr.claire.perfume]

Thanks! I try to do different things and I figure if I am curious enough to read about it, maybe other people are asking the same questions. 🥰

[@HappinessSparkles]

Excellent topic !! I can always rely on you to give great scientific advice

[@dr.claire.perfume]

Blame Tim! He got me thinking, he's good at that!

[@annabuchenhorst]

Great content and channel!!! I’m going to Grasse this summer and am wondering if brands like Fragonard and Molinard have more naturals in them. I really liked Molinards perfumes with simple names like Figue etc. It’s probably synthetic as well, but there it’s a great feeling to be around with all the flowers 🌸 and the 🌹-festival and also Yasmine. And to be able to smell the flowers out there ❤️

[@dr.claire.perfume]

Thank you ❤️ oh wow! I am super jealous 🤣 I hope you have a great time! I would absolutely love to visit those two, they have some amazing and fab value fragrances. I hope you come back with something you love. Thanks for watching 🥰

[@valhasviews]

Always interesting to watch your videos especially these ones that has alot more research done😁👌

[@dr.claire.perfume]

Thanks Val! ❤️

[@CeeChroniclesTalkingScents]

Your science series are most intriguing. I didn’t synthetic notes go back to centuries ago. Well explained Claire.

[@dr.claire.perfume]

Thanks! 💕

[@CharlotteRossx]

I thoroughly enjoyed this video, Claire! Especially appreciated all the reasons given for using synthetics. The labor (ethics) concern of extracting and sourcing natural ingredients and the cost etc are the most compelling reasons for me. I didn’t know that about sensitivities and synthetic ingredients being safer alternatives for some! Neat, and bonus reason to embrace synthetics. Such a great video; thank you, Claire! ♥️

[@dr.claire.perfume]

Thanks for watching! I think this is a very perfume nerd kind of video 😂 I am very open to synthetics, I find it fascinating regarding marketing that some brands make a song and dance about it, e.g. vegan brand floral street who don't even use rose in a perfume call neon rose!!! Yet other more mainstream brands hide it and show adverts with flowers and natural scenery.

[@thefragrantician]

Wow your knowledge is amazing I love this 😀

[@dr.claire.perfume]

Haha! 😘 I just read and make a video. Tim definitely prompted this one!

[@PaolaBianka]

First of all, i just want to say how much i appreciate this series Claire....

[@dr.claire.perfume]

Hedione! I bet Dior have been milking that research! 🤣 I am also coming around to aldehydes! Maybe it's an age and experience thing? My mum always wore rive gauche or no 5 so yep! Aldehydes! The possibilities are the main upside for me too but there are so many other potential benefits. I know IFRA regulations have annoyed people who love classics but I would rather I didn't hunt things to extinction or use potentially dangerous concentrations of chemicals to smell good. 💕

[@aniscents3497]

Okay, I’m listening ! 📝

[@dr.claire.perfume]

😂

[@vickilouise7764]

This was so interesting! A perfume is not a perfume without jasmine - I love this scent! I’m also a fan of anything rose but sometimes synthetic rose can smell quite unpleasant.

[@dr.claire.perfume]

Yes, rose is a difficult note to hit right I think! Especially fresh green stem roses, those are particularly tricky. What's your jasmine perfume of choice? There's a lot to choose from!!!

[@vickilouise7764]

@@dr.claire.perfume yes there’s a lot! But probably Alien, I only discovered it last year but it’s beautiful.

[@dr.claire.perfume]

@@vickilouise7764 yes, that's a good one! 💜

[@natalieh7037]

Claire, I love watching your videos on the science behind creating perfumes! So very informative! Lately I've come across articles and videos fearmongering about toxins in perfumes. As a scientist and perfume collector, what is your opinion on this? Also, for those who worry about this topic, do you think it is "safer" to apply perfume to clothes than directly on the skin?

[@dr.claire.perfume]

As a scientist, I can't imagine that there is anything in modern formulations that hasn't been tested extensively. Also we see IFRA banning particular ingredients as soon as any new suggestion of any problem occurs, e.g. any report of allergy. From our experience of other cosmetics though, we all see that some compounds are perhaps not the ideal, yet are certified as safe for use. It's a bit of personal decision really. Personally I don't have any problem with putting perfume on skin, a few of my fragrances are really oily and I've ruined a few garments with perfume stains, so that puts me off spraying in clothing most of the time. Having said that, I am also not a clean beauty advocate, so again I guess it's what angle you come at this. The important thing from this video is that naturals are not necessarily healthier or less toxic and are often more allergenic. I don't think I know enough to make a hard and fast judgement for all fragrance generally as to whether it will be deemed "safe" in the long term to use on skin (just look at what happened with talcum powder...), but personally I have few worries about it.

[@natalieh7037]

@@dr.claire.perfume Thank you for taking the time to respond to my comment in detail! I agree with your thoughts on this. I did stop using aluminum deodorant and haven't used products with talc in them for years. Aluminum free deodorant has worked well for me, and there are many good cosmetics products that are mineral based. But when it comes to perfumes, I love them too much to stop using them.

[@dr.claire.perfume]

I think that's it, at the moment, there is no evidence to suggest that you shouldn't use it despite extensive testing, so I will continue to use it because I enjoy it. 👍

[@aniscents3497]

I don’t mind synthetic notes in my perfumes (I think all of them are synthetic 😅). The ones I’m struggling with is Mancera/Montale, there’s something about them that stops me from enjoying some of them 👎🏾

[@dr.claire.perfume]

I've not tried any mancera or Montale, I have heard a few people say that though. I wonder what it is?! I also really love some perfumes that are designed not to smell natural, for example ones with really piercing jasmine like Alien. I think as you say, most perfume is synthetic and very little is entirely natural!

[@pinkfabulous248]

Great video, interesting subject! 🌸🌸 I guess it’s all synthetic nowadays. I was deluding myself thinking expensive perfumes are more natural 😂

[@dr.claire.perfume]

I think Dior and Chanel do have rose fields in Grasse, but I might be wrong! 🥰

[@natalinastella5144]

Very interesting and informative! I feel like I don’t always like synthetic smelling perfumes. But not every synthetic smelling fragrance is a dislike for me. They are mostly a mix probably, but for instance certain rose smells especially can smell wrong to my nose when synthetic. Like I thought Dolce Rosa Excelsa smelled very synthetic. I think it might be the aquatic note of lotus that I usually dislike. I have Provocative Woman by Arden and it’s a really gorgeous scent, and I love it, but have to be in the mood for it to tolerate that single synthetic note it has.

[@dr.claire.perfume]

I think that's it, there's a very great difference between synthetic smelling and synthetic perfume. Synthetic perfume is synthetic but not necessarily noticeably so. There are also perfumes that aim to smell synthetic, e.g Gucci Rush. I think rose is a difficult one. It can be love or extreme dislike if it smells synthetic. Thanks so much for watching 😘

[@natalinastella5144]

@@dr.claire.perfume that’s so true! Right that’s the difference. Good observation! You have a great channel! 💖🦋 I also wanted to mention Yves Rocher, a cosmetics company that states they try to use all natural ingredients. They also make perfume. I love their face cream especially.

[@dr.claire.perfume]

@@natalinastella5144 oh yes! I've seen them when I've been in mainland Europe on holiday! The shops look very enticing! Thanks for answering my question! 😘

[@HappinessSparkles]

Wow it’s just fascinating to know synthetic notes goes back to the 1800 !!

[@dr.claire.perfume]

I was a bit shocked it was as early as the 1850s too!

[@PerfumeswithPat]

Hello Claire here watching

[@dr.claire.perfume]

Hey Pat! Thank you ❤️

[@daisysscents2167]

I may not understand all the scientific termenologies but I'm learning..😁

[@dr.claire.perfume]

Thanks so much for watching! I wasn't sure anyone would be interested in this but me 😂 I find it fascinating that most perfume notes are / can be man made. I secretly always wanted to be a chemist, not a biologist I think! 🥰

[@margoess]

Love the perfume science series! It is so funny how often you get synthetic = bad, natural = good, in the perfume world and elsewhere. I used to work at a design studio that did some work with custom engagement rings, and I was always a little surprised at how much resistance there was to lab-created gems. They're so much cheaper (not to mention ethically sourced)... but I guess there's some intangible value for something "created by God" with unpredictable imperfections. Or that it's more "special" when something created naturally happens to be "perfect" vs. just creating something to be perfect under controlled settings. Who knows!

[@dr.claire.perfume]

I have mixed feelings about lab grown gems, but only because I am predicting that diamonds will decline in value significantly because of them and I have a real one! 😂 I do wonder how much energy is consumed by making them though, but I'm sure it's better for the environment and people than mining. I didn't want to deal with new jewellery and the aggro of trying to check its ethics, so I just went for vintage so I wasn't contributing to anyone's dirty dealings. My engagement ring is from the 50s. Secondhand is much more affordable. You can get the same quality of stones for less than half the price in the UK and it's obviously better environmentally too.

[@margoess]

@@dr.claire.perfume Secondhand is the perfect solution! Love vintage jewelry.

[@dr.claire.perfume]

@@margoess me too! It became quite an obsession at one point, I just like looking mostly though!

[@thefragrantician]

I lovecyour science 😀 just aside I'm so jealous of your curls lol 😆

[@dr.claire.perfume]

The curls seemed to be particularly good the day I filmed this. Honestly it is random. I take what I get! Frizz or curls... It's unpredictable! 🎲

[@momijiyamanishi4548]

Please help me answer the question when people ask is synthetic perfume good for you to wear, good for your health? Or bad for your health?

[@dr.claire.perfume]

To answer that I would have to research every single synthetic perfume ingredient on the market (there must be 1000s) and investigate short term exposure studies and longitudinal studies as well as look at other non human data. That information, along with allergic reaction reports, is what IFRA monitors. They are the body that pull any ingredients found to be troubling. It's important to note that novel chemicals undergo extensive safety testing before being marketed as part of a fragrance. And if you think about what IFRA has had the most fuss about over the last few years, it's oakmoss, which is a natural ingredient, the synthetic replacements or the fractionated versions are actually much safer. Because of the sheer amount of information and chemicals involved, I would just be making it up if I gave you any more of an answer that that, that's why I won't ever make a video on that subject, I am not an expert with years of reading and research behind me on this topic and I don't want to say things that might mislead people. My own opinion is that I don't understand the distinction people make between synthetic chemicals and natural chemicals, they are all chemicals. At least when chemists make a synthetic molecule, they know exactly what it is, but when people add naturals, those are mixes of 100s of different things sometimes, which means it's harder to control, both in how it smells and in the standardisation of the formulation for safety testing. Natural doesn't equal good, nature makes deadly poisons and toxins just as well as synthetic chemistry does. I hope that helps.

[@PerfectionInDetail]

Hi Claire, Thank you for this! Can you check if Louis Vuitton uses pure natural perfume? I checked their story with the perfume master and it seems they harvest their own jasmine, etc. Also, when I use them, it seems to have this essential oil scent like rather than a standard perfume scent. LV also claims to extract the flower by this unique and perhaps patent to them only, further suspecting to be natural. Nonetheless, they don't claim to be natural or not. What do you think?

[@dr.claire.perfume]

I think natural is an incredibly flexible term. My guess would be that they are natural for major notes such as jasmine and rose but are limited with incredients that are hard to / impossible to extract like violet, but they still use them. So I would guess a mix but I will come back to you if I ever find out. I guess one way to check would be the perfume ingredients list on the packaging... I will try to find the information. Thanks for watching ❤️

[@PerfectionInDetail]

@@dr.claire.perfume Thank you Claire for the prompt reply and info :) Much appreciated. Did you have a look? I'm curious as my partner keeps saying they are natural but I also think its a flexible term as you mentioned.

[@momijiyamanishi4548]

As far as things like food additives go they can call them natural when they are not even natural.

[@momijiyamanishi4548]

Again, as far as food additives go, one drop can flavor a swimming pool.

[@momijiyamanishi4548]

What about stuff like sandalwood oil made in india? Is that real sandalwood and the other oils like frankincense?

[@dr.claire.perfume]

I'm afraid I haven't investigated all the sandalwood oil producers in India so I can't tell you. I also don't know about producers of frankincense oils nor how they obtain their stocks. You might want to approach some suppliers and ask them individually about this.

[@brookesosa5032]

Yayayayyay! 🥰

[@dr.claire.perfume]

Hey Brooke! 👋

[@brookesosa5032]

@@dr.claire.perfume I commented before watching this entirely. Going to watch the rest on my next break from work. 💕 Love this topic and looking forward to hearing you speak about it!

[@dr.claire.perfume]

@@brookesosa5032 I was intrigued so started reading and then it spiralled into a video, as it often does 🤣

[@pinkfabulous248]

So glad musk is banned, poor deer 🌸🙀

[@dr.claire.perfume]

Yes I bet it was a shock when they found captive deer were no good for musk. I think IFRA regulations have done a lot of good, even if a lot of people moan about them! 💕

[@HappinessSparkles]

Good morning beautiful

[@dr.claire.perfume]

Wow Frances! You are nearly always first! That's dedication! 🙂

[@HappinessSparkles]

@@dr.claire.perfume I just seem to always be on line when you post a video and I’m so impressed with your knowledge

[@dr.claire.perfume]

@@HappinessSparkles I just get curious and start reading, then I'm down the rabbit hole and wondered whether it's just me that's interested 😂