Ether Madness 5: Jolique.com

Ethereal Presence

Perfumer's alcohol, or perfumery-grade alcohol, is made from denatured ethyl alcohol—it is the main essential oil dilutant as well as the fragrance carrier. The alcohol is obtained through the distillation of fermented grains, such as rice, wheat, and sorghum, as well as the starches in sugar beets, potatoes, and corn, and the sugar in molasses. It can also be obtained from the fractional distillation of petroleum. Though no longer a common practice, perfumery alcohol was also made from grape spirits (brandy). However, due to their cost, and their tendency to retain a mild grape bouquet which interferes with many perfumes, grape spirits are rarely used. In fact, the most common form of perfumery alcohol in the U.S. comes from petroleum. England, on the other hand, creates its perfumery alcohol from sugar cane and France uses sugar beets. (The House of Creed, which moved its headquarters to France in 1854, distills its own alcohol from rare, white beets.)

Above : A fragrant water lily.

For hundreds, even thousands, of years, perfume was made from natural, ethyl alcohol, meaning you could actually drink a perfume and not get sick. In fact, the chemists that created herbal tinctures for stomach ailments were also the ones who created perfumes and toilet waters. (Attention: This is no longer the case, so don't start drowning your sorrows in a bottle of Shalimar, OK?) In the early 1900's a law was passed in the US which required perfumes to be "denatured," that is, made unfit for consumption. Nowadays, perfumes are denatured with alcohols such as wood (methyl) alcohol, propyl alcohol and other unappetizing substances. The appropriate mix of these denaturants with essential oils is important, however, since too much or too little can cause a perfume's composition to change significantly.

Whew! Who would have thought perfume was so complicated? For more on the scented mystery of perfume, check out The Flora and Fauna of Essential Oils, in which Jolique explores the difference between natural and synthetic essential oils and the plant and animal (or animal-like) sources used in the world's greatest perfumes.

Bibliography:

-Carrns, Ann, "Eau de Plastic Clown? Perfume Company Cuts Deal with PEZ," The Wall Street Journal, 01/07/00.
-Davis, Theresa, with Leigh, Wendy, Fragrance Sense, Fawcett Columbine, New York, 1985.
-DRAGOCO Report, Holzminden, Germany, No.3, 1999.
-Hawn, Carleen, "The Sweet Smell of Excess," Forbes, 10/11/99, Vol. 164, Issue 9, p. 434.
-Morris, Edwin, Fragrance: The Story of Perfume from Cleopatra to Chanel, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1984.
-Newman, Cathy, Perfume: The Art and Science of Scent, National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C. 1998.
-Silverstein, Alvin, Virginia and Robert, Smell, The Subtle Sense, Morrow Junior Books, New York, 1992.
-Snively, John H., A Treatise on the Manufacture of Perfumes and Kindred Toilet Articles, The Druggists Circular, New York, 1890.

Photo Credits:

(1), (2): Snively, John H., A Treatise on the Manufacture of Perfumes and Kindred Toilet Articles, The Druggist Circulars, New York, 1890.