Capturing Scent

Launched in 2006, Le Parfum Coffret is an artistic collaboration between Thierry Mugler Parfum and International Flavors & Fragrances.

What started off as a personal project for perfumer Christophe Laudamiel and Christoph Hornetz to create an olfactory interpretation of Perfume written by Patrick Suskind; blossomed into a commerical project consisting of 15 fragrances each representing a vivid scene from the book.

The 15-piece collection detailed in its entire glory:

~ Baby
Inspiration: “The wet nurse hesitated. She knew very well how babies smell… ‘It smells like caramel, it smells so sweet, so wonderful” - (Part I, Chapter 2). 

Various compositions of 25 different ingredients make up the scent of a sweet-sour milky odour comprising the aroma of heavy whipped cream, meringue, fine custard, brown sugar, caramel and butter. The perfumers worked with a female flavourist and were able to use dessert notes replicating crême fraîche along with headspace analysis of warm milk and the special note of 'Pyrazine', which replicates the warm smells of oven-baked goods and warm butter.

~ Paris 1738
Inspiration: “It was a mixture of human and animal smells, of water and stone and ashes and leather, of soap and fresh-baked bread and eggs boiled in vinegar, of noodles and smoothly polished brass, of sage and ale and tears, of grease and soggy straw and dry straw" - (Part I, Chapter 7).

The use of blackcurrants in fruity blends have a slight urine odour but combined with the absolute of seaweed, reveals an odour of unwashed hair.

~ Atelier Grimal
Inspiration: “He scraped the meat from bestially stinking hides, watered them down, dehaired them, limed, bathed, and fulled them, rubbed them down with pickling dung, chopped wood, stripped bark from birch and yew…” - (Part I, Chapter 6).

We are taken to a tannery with the odours of horses, cows, animalic smoky which were replicated with the essences of mimosas, red fruity notes, a pumpkin potage reflecting the suppleness of finished raw leather.

~ Virgin No. 1
Inspiration: “A girl was sitting at the table cleaning yellow plums… A hundred thousand odours seemed worthless in the presence of this scent. It was pure beauty" - (Part I, Chapter 8 ).

The scent of innocence, born with scent molecules of fresh milk, white rice and yellow plum Schnapps.

~ Boutique Baldini
Inspiration: “And here as well stood the business and residence of the perfumer and glover Giuseppe Baldini… A cloud of the frangipani with which he sprayed himself every morning enveloped him almost visible, removing him to a hazy distance. … However exquisite the quality of individual items—for Baldini bought ware of only highest quality—the blend of odours was almost unbearable…” - (Part I, Chapter 9).

Baldini's perfumery store provides a plethora of scents such as sweet liquor notes mixed with balsamic and beeswax, coffee, anis (liquorice) along with a strong violet water overtone. Vinegar and yellow daffodils have components that are reminiscent of pomades. Angelica seeds reproduce the mustiness of a house near the waters of the Seine.

~ Amor & Psyche
Inspiration: “The perfume was disgustingly good. That miserable Pélissier was unfortunately a virtuoso. An absolute classic—full and harmonious… It was fresh, but not frenetic. It was floral, without being unctuous” - (Part I, Chapter 12).
 
An extraordinary perfume with the exact luminosity of citrus essences with a profound natural quality that would be pure in that period.

~ Nuit Napolitaine
Inspiration: “’If you’ll let me, Maitre, I will make it better. Give me a minute and I will make a proper perfume out of it!’ … He [Baldini] saw himself as a young man walking through the evening gardens of Naples; he saw himself lying in the arms of a woman with dark curly hair and saw the silhouette of a bouquet of roses on the window-sill as the night wind passed by…” - (Part I, Chapter 15).

Based on 'Amour & Psyche' the reproduction is rounder and luminescent with Gentian and ginger essences replacing the orange blossoms a bergamot overlaying fresh clementines from Italy. Rosemary, garden mint lends a spicy quality and floral aromas fill out the formula.

~ Ermite
Inspiration: “Near his watering spot he discovered a natural tunnel leading back into the mountains by many twists and turns, until after a hundred feet or so it came to an end in a rock slide" - (Part II, Chapter 25).

The goal was to make a mineral fragrance – the kind that creates goosebumps of pleasure. It is the scent of Grenouille's temporary grave set against the scent of moss in a very dark, woody-green rain forest. Laboratory abstract molecules were blended with moss to replicate cold stones while mushroom and patchouli essences lend a subterranean feel.

~ Salon Rouge
Inspiration: “His heart was a purple castle. … It had a thousand private rooms and a thousand underground chambers and a thousand elegant salons, among them one with a purple sofa where Grenouille… would recover from the labours of the day” - (Part II, Chapter 27). 

Grenouille dreams of a red salon where the Davana oil is used to replicate an after dinner wine such as Port. His imaginary castle smells of pervasive burning candles that include a molecule Karnanal (hot tar) and Aldron (body warmth) combined with Tuberose absolute.

~ Human Existence
Inspiration: “There was a basic perfumatory theme to the odour of humanity, a rather simple one, by the way: a sweaty-oily, sour-cheesy, quite richly repulsive basic theme that clung to all humans equally…” - (Part II, Chapter 31).

A selection of natural malt absolute containing the sweatiness of cheese was set against notes of civet and cumin. They were then rounded off by 'Skatol', another synthesised fecal note which could replicate the animalic mustiness of essential oils. These notes can also be found in natural chocolate. They make the perfumes feel alive.

~ Absolu Jasmin
Inspiration: “Jasmine season began at the end of July, August was for tuberoses. The perfume of these two flowers was both so exquisite and so fragile that not only did the blossoms have to be picked before sunrise, but they also demanded the most gentle and special handling” - (Part III, Chapter 37).
 
The notes of a true perfumer are melded of florals, fruits, animalic and green opulence. Perfumers currently work with 25 different jasmine nuances. Vera Strübi of Thierry Mugler Parfums, wanted the noblest of florals, the Jasminum Grandiflora to denote the most fragile yet hardy of oils from Provence.

~ Sea
Inspiration: “…the endless smell of the sea—which really was no smell, but a breath, an exhalation of breath, the end of all smells—dissolving with pleasure in that breath” - (Part I, Chapter 7).
 
With only nine ingredients, the fragrance must emulate that of an entire ocean. One of the key ingredients being seaweed along with a cocktail of Maritime aromas such as Calone along with notes of anise, melon, citrus and a new molecule inspired by cyclamen, whips the foamy sea-like aroma into a true marine note.

~ Noblesse
Inspiration: “On top of this disgusting base, which smelled more like a cadaver than a human being, Grenouille spread a layer of fresh, oily scents: peppermint, lavender, turpentine, lime, eucalyptus, which he then simultaneously disguised and tamed with the pleasant bouquet of fine floral oils—geranium, rose, orange blossom and jasmine… the perfume seemed to exhale the robust, vivacious scent of life” - (Part II, Chapter 31).
 
The scents of violet, heliotrope and iris root exuding powdery aromas gives the creation a sense of royalty. Other notes include Atlas cedar, vanilla powder and special aldehydes replicate the wigs and haughtiness of Rose de Mai (from Grasse), which can run €10,000 for one kilo of rose absolute, reflects the luxurious of notes.

~ Orgie
Inspiration: “And then a miracle occurred… The result was that the scheduled execution of one of the most abominable criminals of the age degenerated into the largest orgy the world had seen…” - (Part III, Chapter 49).

Sensuality and voluptuousness with the note of natural chocolate leading the way through animalic musks with Javanol (a new sandalwood). The use of a new molecule, 'Excitol' replicates the odours of sweat or sperm thereby heightening the eroticism, against the scent of woods which represent the scaffold.

~ Aura
Encompassing over 84 ingredients, this refined elixir was designed to harmonise with all of the fragrance families and to promote a warm glow that can be worn alone, or as an enhancer for your favourite fragrance.

Apparently, this exquisite limited edition masterpiece sold for 550 Euros/ US$ 700.

* Most of the information in this post were derived from basenotes and boisdejasmin *