AT HOME IN THE WORLD OF FRAGRANCES – THE WORK OF A PERFUMER

Womensnet interviews Frank Rittler, Senior Perfumer at the Henkel Fragrance Center.

Mr. Rittler, what requirements does one need to become a perfumer? Is there special training?

A classical education, such as outlined by the Chamber of Commerce and Trade, does not exist. Perfumery schools are also rare. Education is usually provided by the perfume industry, which trains its own fragrance experts.

There are only around 600 creative perfumers worldwide who can be called fragrance designers. One can see by the number of creative perfumers just how rare suitable “professional noses” are.

The most important requirements are, next to an excellent capacity to smell, scent memory and creativity, an ability to have fun on the job and strong perseverance. Often there are 100 scents which are developed in a project, from which, in my experience, about 99 will be discarded. With this low success rate one definitely needs a healthy amount of self-confidence…

What do you mean by an “excellent capacity to smell?” What is a perfumer able to smell that other people cannot?

A “nose” must first meet the basic physical requirement. That is, it cannot suffer from anosmia (smell blindness). People with this common condition cannot perceive distinct smells and are therefore ill-suited for the profession.

An exemplary scent memory is also needed, because over 2000 different smell substances are at the perfumer’s disposal for his or her creation. These must all be stored in his or her brain, and able to be called upon at any time.

An ability to smell analytically is also important. A perfumer deconstructs a perfume in his or her nose into all of its components: in so doing, the perfumer recognizes ingredients which might disturb a harmonious sense of smell, quantities which need to be increased or decreased or ingredients which need to be added or removed to optimize the creation.

How do you develop a perfume?

Like a painter, who has a picture in his mind of what to paint, the perfumer also first creates a perfume in his or her mind. Then the formula is written down. Such a formula consists of 40 to 120 different components. They are mixed together in the laboratory and then incorporated into the product to be perfumed (e.g. shampoo, lotion, alcohol, fabric softener or cleaner).

The fragrance is then evaluated and revised until the perfumer is satisfied with his or her new creation. This can take up to several months.

Is there a danger of falling into a routine and always creating similar fragrances?

Actually, no. The world of fragrances and the needs of the customer are too varied for that to be the case. Also, this is what distinguishes a “creative nose:” to always have new ideas, to pick up trends, impressions and influences in one’s environment and transform them into new, fantastic fragrances.

Have the working methods of the perfumer changed much over time?

The fundamental procedures have not changed all that much. However, today’s perfumer gets help from the computer: essences can be mixed much more constantly, precisely and, above all, more quickly by computer.

Particularly the factor of time has become more important in production, because we must react much faster to the needs of today’s consumer. Due to this, the life cycles of products and thereby those of fragrances are becoming increasingly shorter.

Are ingredients for fragrances really so valuable? Which ingredients are particularly rare and, therefore, expensive?

The price per kilogram of the purest iris oil is around 25,000 €. The extraction of this oil is extremely costly, and the yielded amount is very small. Other natural products are significantly less expensive and therefore used in much larger quantities, such as oils from citrus, lavender, mint, cedar and many others.

Nature itself only meets the current need of around 20% of fragrance essences, so we therefore need artificially created substances. On top of this, chemically produced ingredients ensure a constant level of quality that many natural essences cannot provide.

On the other hand, natural essences can produce a fragrance that cannot be artificially imitated, such as rose oil, which consists of over 600 scented substances. This fragrance can, therefore, only be “interpreted.”

Do you have any tips for our readers about applying perfume?

In order to get the most out of your perfume, you should store it in the refrigerator. This protects it from sunlight. Excessive heat and sunlight hasten the oxidation process, which causes the perfume’s characteristics to become altered.

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