This post is part one of Jordan River’s Valentine’s Day series. Follow him through time and across three perfume blogs to read the full story.
Whoosh, this is Jordan River zoomin’ in from New Zealand to Poland on a Valentine’s Day quest. It’s 2024. It no longer matters that the IFRA has banned rose as a perfume note. The world wide rose harvest has been decimated by the extinction of bees. Graft not Grasse roses are still available but they have been breed to be beautiful but scentless. Senseless to the nose. There are some pollinators left, but has anyone seen a butterfly or a hummingbird lately? Moths still fly the night seeking evening blooming flowers but it is a rose I need to complete the perfume for my one untrue love. You know the kind. If only they knew that
A thousand half-loves must be forsaken to take one whole heart home.
– Rumi
Jordan: Hi Lucas, can you whip up a rose molecule please for the perfume that I am making for my one untrue love? May we go to your lab?
Lucas: Sure I will make a rose accord for you. Synthetic you say? Are you sure? I kept some crystallized rose water for special occasions. No? Then fully synthetic it will be. Follow me. Well lets take some alpha-damascenon and geraniol to start with. I will mix these two gently stirring clockwise. Now I will pour 3,23 ml of rozerol, a molecule designed in this very laboratory. It will add some red sharpness to the scent. A drop of eugenol and then pheranyl ethoryl formatile, one gram. Wanna help me? Shake this vial intensively. PEF is a nasty chemical. It lights up when stirred. Mind if I add some of my signature iriliol accord? It will give a sheer iris vibe to this creation. No? Too late, I just poured few drops in! It’s almost ready. Muscone and macrocyclic exaltone to fix the accord and finally some Liquid25 to stabilize the composition and make it long-lasting.
Remember those old times when I was using Grasse roses in perfumery? Those were some excellent times. Now we’re stuck with synthetics I realized that they are ecological way to create fragrances but still, even if smaller quantities are more intensive that naturals used to be – the chemicals don’t capture the soul of the flower. Now, off you go. I’m working on Molecule 42 now.
Jordan: Big Thanks Lucas. I am glad you didn’t say nie moj cyrk, nie moje malpy! Next your rose accord will be blended with The Quantum Unicorn Accord. I can see a webway open, I’m off where the web flows. I can see an Opera House, let’s take a quantum link to Sydney.
Chemist in the Bottle 
I can’t wait for these magical new compounds to arrive – though I hope never under such dire circumstances,
Just you make sure that rozerol and iriliol are nice and stable and Earth friendly my dear boy.
Now where do I look for parts one and three – is this like hunting bees into 2024?
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
No one knows if they’ll ever be developed. But sure someone who creates them shall take their stability and environment-friendly side into consideration.
This is part one, another part is a link at the bottom. It shall be working now.
Thanks, Lucas! I am getting worried about the future of perfume, and feel that I have been very lucky to have lived in the times when beautiful perfumes were made. I have horrid visions in which our descendants will have no sense of smell, as by then all fragrances will have been banned, and even flavours will have disappeared as food will be in capsules!
x
You should thank Jordan, he wrote the post 😉
The world is changing but let’s hope the good times of perfumery are not over yet!
That’s a horrid vision but it’s probable that world would look like that in few hundret years
[…] Part 1 – Futuristic Lover – the making of a neo-perfume […]
🙂
It sounds like perfume ingredients may need to hoarded! The idea of purely synthetic perfumes scare me scentless, pun intended.
Hope those times will never come, or at least not as long as we live.
(calculating)If I get some high quality perfumes now and store them properly in my wine storage cabinet in 11 years they might still be fine – nomatter what IFRA does during these upcoming years… Hmm…
You’re absolutely right. I believe it’s worth having a treasure chest of your loved perfumes for times when they all turn into synthetic crap.
Very funny, Lucas! You made me laugh . . . until I realized that the future will be too soon!
Glad you liked the Guest Post by Jordan. I’ve only written the part about mixing an artificial rose note.
Jordan’s guest post was lovely, as was your synthetic rose creation!
Thank you! Glad you liked our Valentine’s Perfume Fiction
I did! Keep it coming!
I’m not really a fan of guest posts. They might appear from time to time but definitely that won’t be often
I think I have my first guest post coming up. It’s all kind of new blog territory, isn’t it?
Yes it is! And this very post required more time and attention from me than a post that I would write
I can see that.
haha
Meaning I will be publishing a guest poster like you.
Understood.
Guess what!? I will be getting some Rima XI soon.
You will adore it! Well, I mean, everyone is different, but I adore it so I assume you will too, my discerning friend 🙂
The first time I sprayed it I said, “Oh WOW!” It was that nice.
Actually I will get Tardes and D600 as well, so I will try three Carner Barcelona scents.
Can’t wait to try them. I expect at least one love
I love them all. Tardes is my favorite, but Rima might soon knock it off its pedestal. Or at least force it to share. D600 has amazing development. Did you order Cuirs too? I love it but it just doesn’t stay on my skin for some weird reason.
No, no Cuirs for me. I’m getting the samples from a swap (yaay for not paying for samples!) and the girl I’m swapping with only had these three.
If I fall for it I will buy it. It’s high time I bought my first bottle in 2013 (backup of Prada Amber Pour Homme doesn’t count, does it?)
Nope. Back-ups don’t count.
And don’t ask how many bottles have been acquired in 2013. It’s only February and oh, gosh . . . the year has been off to a fragrant and expensive start!
I haven’t bought anything new yet. But I will soon, have one good occasion next week
Whoo hoo! All for that 🙂 Can’t wait to hear what the lucky bottle is!
I wonder what it will be too! I had one bottle in mind since January but if I fall for Carner, the other one can wait a while longer
Fingers crossed!
Thanks. The winner bottle will be purchased soon
Can’t wait to hear all about it!
I bet it will be slightly delayed from the special occasion day (I don’t know when those Carners will arrive) so there’s more likely I put an order on first days of March.
[…] Reading Valentines Day Series Part 1 – Chemist in the Bottle – Futuristic Lover – The Making of a Neo-Perfume Part 2 – What Men Should Smell Like – The Story of the Noble Rose Part 3 – The […]