Tag: Synthetics

Aroma Profile: PADMA

Maxine Hyndman

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Musings on making scents with … PADMA was a tough one to research. There’s not a ton of information on it and finding this image of the chemical structure was like searching for a needle in a haystack! If I’ve got the image wrong let me know. Maybe it’s because it’s the fall and I’m in serious is a hibernation mode, retreating, slowing down, or whatever, but I have stopped doing my evaluations at the desk and decided to do them on the sofa in my studio. I downloaded a clock for my computer, put it on the desktop and for the first hour only focus on smelling and listening to music softly in the background and just being with the scent. I used to do it at the desk and in between evaluations surf the Net but that was waaaay too much sensory input and damn-near drove me over the edge, made me all jittery. Gotta say I am loving this new approach, lot less pressure. I should probably mention it’s about 22°C in here with the fire going so the strips are probably evaporating faster than usual.

Common name(s): PADMA

Chemical name: phenyl actaldehyde dimethyl acetal

CAS #: 101-48-4

Supplier: Pell Wall Perfumes (at the time I couldn’t find it anywhere else, now Plush Folly in the UK sells it.)

Note: Top-Heart

Family: Green/Floral

Diffusion: 6.5

Dilution:10

Blends well with: violet, leaf, champa, rose, plum, hyacinth, green, gardenia, lavandin, benzyl acetate, propionate and salicylate, citronellOL and citronellAL, clove bud oil, coriander, alpha and gamma damascone, galbanum resin, geraniol, linalool, nerolidol, peony alcohol, tonka bean abs., etc. (TGSC)

Interesting bits: used in apricot, cherry and honey flavouring so stands to reason, (imho) that if I’m trying to achieve this through scent then I could use it trying to round off an apricot, cherry or honey aspect of my formula. Non?

Their nose: “Strong-smelling, sweet, earthy, mushroomy, phenylethyl alcohol-like, rosy, foliage, honey, waxy, powdery, floral, hyacinth-like odour. Interesting and more natural-smelling in proper dilution than one could expect. Nice green, floral, cologne, with hedione and hexyl cinnamal.” (Perfumechemicals.com)

“green, medium, green foliage, floral, rosy, earthy, mushroom, dry, green, floral, fruity, citrus peel, rose.” (TGSC)

“pleasantly floral-rosy, green and somewhat mushroomy” (Symrise)

My nose: the opening of PADMA is pungent, Indian, oriental, spicy, green and fresh too. Dry, and somewhat brittle. After 15min there’s something old clothes closet about this to me…rose, floral, not the fullness of rose, just an aspect — yes floral and sweet. 30min now and it’s a much more voluptuous, open, floral, it’s like I can sense her petals, but I also get something plummy and fruity in there too. At 45min still it’s wonderfully floral, still reminiscent of India, sharp, green, pungent but becoming more tamed, spreading out more and thereby losing some intensity, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. At the 1hr mark the scent is still prevalent on the strip, albeit much softer now, floral, flouncy, somewhat thinner and airy. 2hrs later yet, it’s still floral, hugging onto the breeze, lightly now, it’s like a warm summer sip of cool lemonade, dimming now, drier, of course, and more brittle. 3hrs into the heart note and PADMA is sweet, sweet pea sort of, still quite vibrant, just a bit more vague, now I get feminine. 7hrs now I get baby powder! Like a fresh clean diaper. Soft, talc-y, slightly floral but still quite present even now. 12hrs later, wow, this is still green, sharp, linear, dry but more of the fresh cut grass, type of dry. It’s early morning now and I did the initial evaluation in the afternoon something I’ve never done before, so I have to factor in my change in consciousness, too. I realize everything is important when learning to smell.

Hope you enjoyed PADMA and are having a wonderful day!

MC

 

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Aroma Profile: HydroxycitronellOL

Maxine Hyndman2 Comments

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Musings on making scents with HydroxycitronellOL… this is one of those synthetics that you just have to do a lot of your own research to discover what it’s all about. I could barely find anything at all on the net about HydroxycitronellOL. The product description on the Hermitage Oils UK site made me curious enough to purchase a small amount because I would really like to create a rose accord that thrills me so I was on the hunt. But that’s not enough with the synthetics, it’s important to throw the net a lot wider when experimenting with these tools.

Common name(s): HydroxycitronellOL

Chemical name: 3,7-dimethyloctane-1,7-diol

CAS #: 107-74-4

Supplier: Hermitage Oils UK

Note: Heart

Family: Floral

Diffusion: 3

Dilution:10%

Blends well with: bergamot mint, bois de rose, ethyl linalool, farnesol, ho wood, leerall, mughet ethanol, petitgrain, ylang ylang, linalool, etc.

Interesting bits: Very mild (weak) clean-sweet, floral odour of considerable tenacity. The floral type is Rose-Peony, typically less green, less Lily or Muguet than the aldehyde. This alcohol, now often manufactured as an intermediate in the production of Hydroxycitronellal, is used in perfume compositions originally with the intention of stabilizing Hydroxycitronellal and prolonging the odour life of that aldehyde in composition. However, there are other uses for this alcohol, not always obvious from a brief glimpse at the odour, which is, truly, not immediately impressive. It has an excellent fixative effect upon many types of delicate floral fragrance, and as a blender/modifier for other types. (Steffen Arctander)

Their nose: Odour type is floral with a low odour strength has a mild, clean, floral note and is very long lasting and closer to rose than muguet, with aspects of lily and peony. (Hermitage Oils)

mild clean floral lily green peony (TGSC)

hydroxycitronellol-and-rose-absolute-3-300x90

My nose: HydroxycitronellOL opens barely noticeable, quiet, slightly floral with a faint berry quality to it. At 15min it’s still floral, there seems to be hardly any movement, soft. 30min on this is plummy, jammy and juicy and oh, there’s the rosiness! Sort of sweet, too. 45min brings on a definite soft, floral note like linen sheets, becoming more present now and a bit metallic in quality tucked away somewhere. 1hr now and it’s clean, floral and fresh. 2hrs later there’s a much softer, more yielding, feminine, and pliable side to HydroxycitronellOL that reminds me of a mother. 3hrs now and it seems to be fading ever so quickly, I can barely get a good sniff. But there’s definitely still some of the floral soft quality hanging around. 7hrs, it’s base notes time, and our subject is a clean, clear and wispy floral note; wonderfully comforting now, inviting and intimate. The 12hr mark sees this one finally fading, getting quite thin , but I still have a good grasp, a good sense of the quality. Finally at 24hrs HydroxycitronellOL is gone. I can’t discern a thing other than a faint metallic smell that is thin.

HydroxycitronellOL & Rose Absolute, from Marocco: in the beginning the rose note is clean, the rough edges are all smoothed out, whimsical, titillating, I find it makes the rose much more “readable”, you’re clear about what you’re smelling – like it’s giving the rose a sense and structure. After 1hr the rose is much more subtle and compelling, it feels more grounded, more refined. At 2hrs the combination seems to have made the rose a lot more transparent, simplified it a bit and therefore making it much more approachable. It’s still quite present on the strip. After 5hrs there’s a wonderful crumpled, worn effect that reminds me of our roses when they are dying on the branches, there is still life held in their soft folds, they still want to give you something. It’s now soft and warm and yes, HydroxycitronellOL I think helps rose be more generous toward the end, very satisfying and earthy. After 10hrs the rose is there still on the strip, integral and totally identifiable.

Above, my colour interpretation of HydroxycitronellOL and Rose absolute. I used Prussian Blue together with Carmine.

Have a great Wednesday!

MC

Aroma Profile: Ethyl Linalool

Maxine Hyndman

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Common name(s): Ethyl Linalool

Chemical name: (6E)-3,7-dimethylnona-1,6-dien-3-ol

CAS #: 10339-55-6

Supplier: Perfumer’s Apprentice

Note: Top

Family: Floral

Diffusion: 6+

Dilution: 10%

Blends well with: Amyris, iso amyl salicylate, benzyl alcohol, bergamot, green cognac, decanol, galbanum, geraniol, heliotropin, immortelle, labdanum, leerall, litsea cubeba, nutmeg, santall, tonka bean absolute, raspberry ketone, ylang ylang, violet leaf absolute, patchouli, oakmoss, etc. (TGSC)

Their nose: Floral, oily, slight woody, green, soft odor, has a floral, fresh, bergamot character and is sweeter and less agrestic than Linalool. As with Linalool, it is used in a wide variety of notes for floral bouquets (Perfumer’s Apprentice)

Fresh, bois de rose, herbal, wet, green, lavender, bergamot (TGSC)

Fresh floral, herbal, rosewood, petitgrain: this has many similarities with the more widely used linalool, though this one has not yet been found in nature. (Hermitage Oils)

“Floral, only slightly woody-green, soft odor of moderate tenacity. The odor type compared to Linalool indicates that ‘Ethyl Iinalool’ is softer, more waxy, less volatile, less woody-green and overall more floral. It is more Coriander-like, less Bois-de-Rose-like. This alcohol has been suggested for use in perfume compositions as a modifier for Linalool with certain advantages over that material. Ethyl linalool has a somewhat slower rate of evaporation and is easier to work with, needs only normal fixation, and blends with more materials. It introduces softer, more floral-woody, less citrusy notes, according to the composition in which it is used. Along with Ethyl linalyl acetate, it forms a pleasant Bergamot-type background note even in soap perfumes, a combination which is more stable than Bergamot oil itself. The alcohol is also an interesting item in Muguet, Lilac, Lily, Appleblossom, etc. as well as in fantasy creations.” (Steffen Arctander)

My nose: Ethyl linalool opens sharp, a bit lavender, sweet, round, happy, simple scent, summery and light. 15min and I find myself really liking this note! It rises above the other three I’m profiling at the moment. Yes, lavender, woody, twiggy, pristine and clean. The 30min mark displays a sharper lavender impression, bright and sunny and alive, like a really cold glass of water on a hot day – quenching, that’s what it is. 45min later Ethyl linalool is dry, summery, bright, laundry hanging out on the line, candid and luminous. After 1hr this is simply a very joyful scent for me! Gleeful, happy, bouncy, radiant and transparent. 2hrs and now we’re just into the heart note and it’s beginning to fade, it seems more parched now, the lavender glow is still there and it’s just as herbaceous and pleasant. 3hrs now and it’s definitely dry, lavender – weaker, but it is alive on the strip. After 7hrs it’s just about over but makes an impression nonetheless. It’s now very dry, very faint and the lavender effect is still the one that remains. 24hrs later and it’s just a very thin layer, nothing more, but I just can’t call it over…

And there you have it, my impressions about Ethyl Linalool. I can totally see myself using this in a summer floral that I’m inspired to try just as soon as I can get into the lab full-time after teaching in June. Until then, I will remain inspired and allow the scents to pacify my impatience just by being around their aroma. Yes, I am grateful.

Wising you a most beautiful start to this first week of Spring! Yeah!

In-joy,

MC

Aroma Profile: Ethyl Linalyl Acetate

Maxine Hyndman

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Common names: Ethyl Linalyl Acetate

Chemical name: [(6E)-3,7-dimethylnona-1,6-dien-3-yl] acetate

CAS #: 61931-80-4

Supplier: Perfumer’s Apprentice 

Note: Top/Heart

Family: Floral

Diffusion: 5

Dilution: 10%

Blends well with: Ambroxan, iso-amyl salicilate, cardamom, cistus, coriander seed, Fir balsam absolute, cyrpress, bois de rose, angelica root, Frankincense, geraniol, juniper berry, galbanum, patchouli, black pepper (TGSC)

Their nose: floral, bergamot, fruity, tropical, rose (TGSC)

Floral linalyl acetate fruity, softer, more floral, more bergamot and less lavender than Linalyl Acetate. It has an elegant, refreshing effect in floral bouquets. (Perfumer’s Apprentice)

My nose: Ethyl linalyl acetate opens dry, wood, crisp, sweet, soft and beautiful to my nose. Lightly floral, somewhat sharp, too. After 15min it is still dry but more linear, more sharp, it makes me smile and sounds like a high pitched note and it’s calming to me. 30min later it’s becoming a bit heavier, more dry and woody, I find it to be very one dimensional but this makes it reliable somehow. Clean and clear are the two words that come to mind. 45min into the top notes and wow! It’s softer! More powdery and whimsical, it also has a feline quality around the edges. Still dry and bright and a bit sweet. It’s now 1hr and ethyl linalyl acetate is dry, woody and quick. I forgot to mention that very fast paced smell and thin. Yes, definitely a staccato sort of impression. Now, 2hrs and the smell is thinner, crisper, and a bit more blunt, bracing and cooler, it has become more distilled and simplified. 3hrs now and it’s just about disappeared, a very thin, dry layer now remains. At the 7hrs mark it’s completely and definitely gone. 12hrs, can’t smell a thing. 24hrs gone.