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⊛ learn · lesson 9

how a perfume is made

from the flower to the bottle

first, get the smell out.

the scent of a flower, a peel or a resin has to be taken out before a perfumer can use it. there are several ways, and each suits different materials.

flower
peel
resin

six ways to do it.

tap one.

concrete, then absolute.

a concrete is usually not the end. it is washed with alcohol, chilled so the wax falls out, and filtered. once the alcohol is taken away, what is left is a fragrant liquid: the absolute.

why so many flowers.

one kilo of rose oil takes tonnes of flowers. sources give different numbers, so we won't pick one, but they all land in the tonnes.

the perfumer's organ.

the bottles a perfumer works from sit together on one stand, called an organ. the music image is old: a perfume book from 1857 already spoke of an octave of smells.

from formula to bottle.

tap each step.

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sources