A smelling trip into the past: the influence of synthetic materials on the history of perfumery

Contemporary perfumery has its roots in the work of the past, and many of the perfumes from this time have long since disappeared. What follows is a short account of some of the most famous perfumes from the past which have been inspired by the novel synthetic materials of the time. These important creations include, ‘Fougère Royale’ by Houbigant (1884) containing coumarin ( 1 ), ‘Jicky’ by Guerlain (1889) containing vanillin ( 2 ) and linalool ( 3 ), ‘Vera Violetta’ by Roger & Gallet (1892) containing α‐ and β‐ionone ( 4 and 5 , resp.), ‘Trèfle Incarnat’ by Piver (1898) containing isoamyl salicylate ( 6 ), ‘La Rose Jacqueminot’ of Coty (1904) containing Rhodinol ( 7 ), ‘Après l'Ondée’ by Guerlain (1906) containing para‐anisaldehyde ( 8 ), ‘Quelques Fleurs’ by Houbigant (1912) containing hydroxycitronellal ( 9 ), ‘N°5’ by Chanel (1921) containing the aldehydes C‐10 ( 10 ), C‐110 ( 11 ), and C‐12 ( 12 ), ‘Nuit De Noël’ by Caron (1922) containing 6‐isobutylquinoline ( 14 ), and ‘Femme’ by Rochas (1944) containing the so‐called ‘aldehyde C‐14’ ( 15 , γ‐undecalactone). The Osmotheque, the International Conservatory of Perfumes, was launched in 1990 and is regarded as a primary source of knowledge for the history of perfumery. Its vocation is to compile an amazing collection of 1700 perfumes (400 of them almost forgotten fragrances) – jewels of perfumery.