A. There is a topic that has long been a recurring subject of discussion in the perfume industry, not only in Japan but around the world: the argument that “natural fragrance materials are good, and synthetic fragrance materials are bad.”
Let me begin with the conclusion. The idea that synthetic fragrance materials are bad is nothing more than a lie invented by someone, somewhere, to market their own brand. When perfumers discuss this topic, 100% of the time they say, “Both natural and synthetic fragrance materials are necessary.”
“Is this made with 100% natural fragrance materials?”
“This is really good because it uses natural fragrance materials.”
“I do not like products that use synthetic fragrance materials.”
In most cases, remarks like these stem from a lack of knowledge about natural and synthetic fragrance materials. So why are synthetics, as well as naturals, said to be necessary in perfume? Let us explore this through the words of various people.
Many people seem to love the idea of a perfume made entirely from natural fragrance materials, but such a thing absolutely does not exist.
Francis Kurkdjian
A Closer Look at Natural Fragrance Materials
What, in the first place, do we mean by natural fragrance materials?
- Essences extracted from flowers and trees in nature. Depending on the stage or method of extraction, they are called essences, concretes, absolutes, and so on. Examples include rose absolute and orris concrete.
- Materials used after separating out part of an extract obtained from flowers and trees in nature. These are also called isolates. For example, one isolate obtained from jasmine is dihydrojasmonate (Hedione). Whether this is regarded as synthetic or natural varies from country to country.
- Animal-derived fragrance materials such as musk, civet, castoreum, and ambergris, obtained from animal glands, excretions, and so on.
Natural materials obtained from animals do not receive much attention in this debate, so this time let us limit the discussion to plant-derived materials.
Now, are 100% natural fragrance materials the best? In fact, not necessarily. Natural fragrance materials have a particular problem: allergic reactions. Just as a cosmetic is not necessarily good simply because it is organic, a perfume cannot be equated with something good simply because it uses natural fragrance materials.
Allergic Reactions
For example, natural citrus fragrance materials have a property called phototoxicity, and in some cases their constituents change on exposure to light and can cause allergic reactions.
Essential oils (aroma oils or volatile plant oils) are representative natural fragrance materials, but as a rule they cannot be applied directly to the skin. This is because they may be too irritating or cause allergic reactions. In general, the skin reactions caused by essential oils are said to be itching, sensitization, and phototoxicity.*
This shows that natural fragrance materials cannot necessarily be said to be safer than synthetic ones.
Some natural fragrance materials can cause allergies, so their use in the perfumer’s palette has not only been restricted in quantity; some can no longer be used at all.
Pascal Gaurin
Scarcity and High Prices
When extracting natural fragrance materials, we use the term yield. Yield means the percentage of liquid, or essence, that can be recovered from the raw material. As a rule, the lower the yield, the higher the price of the fragrance material. For example, the familiar rose gives rose oil by steam distillation at a yield of 0.02%, so it costs about ¥1.2 million per kilogram. If you have ever been surprised by the price of rose essential oil, this is why.
The price rises even further when the raw material is high in quality or scarce, or when a special extraction method is used. In other words, a perfume made with 100% natural fragrance materials of good quality could not possibly be sold cheaply. Of course, some brands in the higher price ranges make this their selling point, so discernment matters. It is also worth being careful because even if a perfume contains only 0.01% of a material, it can advertise itself with a claim such as “Made with natural rose oil!”
As for scarcity, natural fragrance materials cannot be extracted, or are not extracted, from certain flowers such as lily of the valley and camellia, or from most fruits, because their yields are too low, they are toxic, or for other such reasons. This is the limit of natural fragrance materials.
Other Drawbacks
Natural fragrance materials also have drawbacks: they are prone to deterioration, can readily change a perfume’s color, and may not have outstanding longevity. In addition, the smell of the raw material often differs from that of its extract, and the result frequently differs from the scent you imagined.
Recently, fragrance companies have been working to develop sustainable methods. Nevertheless, as the spent material left after extraction is generally discarded, some argue that natural fragrance materials are bad for the environment, or that the source plants are cultivated excessively.
The Essence of Natural Fragrance Materials
Of course, they have drawbacks, but natural fragrance materials possess scents so wonderful that they can make you forget those drawbacks. In other words, in many cases a natural material is already an impressive and appealing scent on its own. This is because it already consists of many different scent molecules. Rose essence, for example, contains hundreds of kinds of scent. As a result, a natural fragrance material on its own has depth and complexity and evokes a vivid, living impression.
Brands Using 100% Natural Fragrance Materials
Some people, captivated by natural fragrance materials, establish brands using only natural materials, without synthetics, to convey their appeal.
At present, the perfume brands on the Japanese market that use 100% natural fragrance materials are roughly limited to Abel, Heretic Parfum, and 100BON; most brands use synthetic fragrance materials.
I am not introducing brands here that make perfume as an extension of aromatherapy. A 100% natural fragrance can easily become aromatherapy. However, the brands above create perfumes according to their own philosophies, and I introduce them because I consider their work to be perfume rather than aromatherapy.
Working exclusively with natural materials is incredibly difficult. They are very expensive, difficult to extract, may smell different from one production batch to the next, and cannot appeal to a broad customer base. That is exactly why I love natural fragrance materials.
Douglas Little (founder and perfumer of Heretic Parfum)
What Are Synthetic Fragrance Materials?
What, then, are synthetic fragrance materials? They can be broadly divided into two types.
1. Fragrance materials made from chemically created synthetic substances
2. Isolates separated from natural fragrance materials (whether these are considered natural or synthetic depends on the circumstances)
Compared with natural fragrance materials, synthetic fragrance materials cause fewer allergic reactions, and many are relatively inexpensive, but they lack the richness of scent found in naturals. Recently, sustainable synthetic fragrance materials have also appeared: materials made using residues that would otherwise be discarded during extraction.
Incidentally, a brand called AETHEL pays tribute to synthetic fragrance materials by making its perfumes with 100% synthetics.
The Art of Perfume
Ultimately, it is a matter of balance. Whether natural or synthetic fragrance materials are used, balance is necessary.
The perfume said to have elevated perfumery into an art by using synthetic fragrance materials for the first time in perfume history is Guerlain’s Jicky (1889, Aimé Guerlain). Since then, the development of modern perfumery has gone hand in hand with synthetic materials, and synthetics invariably play an important role behind perfumes regarded as masterpieces. In other words, combining natural and synthetic fragrance materials turns 1 + 1 into something infinite.
As fragrance materials, naturals are certainly good ingredients. But not for reasons rooted in a faith in nature, such as “because they are safe” or “because they seem good for the body.” In fact, natural materials also have dangerous aspects in terms of safety.
Satori Osawa
I also feel that many people who reject synthetic fragrance materials do not know that naturals are “collections of chemical constituents.”
The virtue of natural fragrance materials is that even a tiny addition gives a scent depth, breadth, and character.
Conversely, we need to use them with an awareness that too much can make a scent heavy and muddy.
Without being fixated on whether something is natural or chemical, “combining the materials needed for expression with neither excess nor deficiency” leads to a beautiful fragrance: that is what I would modestly suggest.
Quotes on Natural and Synthetic Fragrance Materials from Perfumers and Industry Professionals
Synthetic fragrance materials are the skeleton, and natural fragrance materials are the flesh.
René Laruelle
Natural and synthetic fragrance materials are two sides of the same coin. They depend on and enhance one another. Their relationship is very much like yin and yang.
Gérald Ghislain
There are also two types of synthetic fragrance materials.
Frédéric Malle
1. New materials that offer new paths and colors
2. Synthetic materials that serve as components for creating natural scents
Using a new scent is like adding a new color to the rainbow. White musk and Cashmeran are good examples. For me, not using synthetic materials that can show new paths in perfumery and provide new colors is unthinkable.
One could also say that using synthetic fragrance materials is the only way to reproduce a natural scent perfectly, though that may be a controversial thing to say.
When extracting scent from flowers and plants, you cannot extract it exactly as it exists in nature. When you want to reproduce the scent of a flower blooming in nature, or of a fruit, you use synthetics to fill in the parts of the overall picture that extraction cannot capture, as though completing a puzzle. Synthetic materials also serve as puzzle pieces.
Natural fragrance materials are complex. Their olfactory outlines are clearly defined, making it harder to express creative ideas through them. Yet naturals have strengths that are uniquely their own, and I make use of those strengths: they can captivate, envelop, and give direction, and they can provide a starting point for the shape of the scent I want to express.
Jean-Claude Ellena
Synthetic materials are more interesting. There are exceptions, but their olfactory outlines are less clearly defined. This means they can be used more flexibly. Synthetics are well suited to creating illusions, making intricate effects, and producing abstract impressions. For example, there is a compound called phenylethyl alcohol, which is sometimes used to harmonize several floral notes.
I want an artificial perfume, made by human hands, like a dress. I am a couturière. I do not want rose or lily of the valley. I want a constructed perfume.
Coco Chanel
Vanillin is an interesting fragrance material because, since its discovery at the beginning of the nineteenth century, we have reached a point where nobody tries to use natural vanilla anymore. What we need to understand is that the memory of our first childhood cake was associated with synthetic vanilla. Great perfumes are created by human beings, not by nature.
Mathilde Laurent
Creating perfume without synthetic fragrance materials is like painting without blue or red. Of course you could do it, but why would you need to?
Chandler Burr
Reference Website
*https://ifaroma.org/ja_JP/home/news/ingestion-and-neat-application-essential-oils-guidelines
