The process of creating perfume uses a large number of different ingredients. The most expensive and expensive aromas consist of natural oils obtained from special types of flowers. If you come across very cheap perfumes that seem to contain one of the rare ingredients, they are probably made of synthetic scents created in laboratories to simulate real ingredients. These scents can have a pleasant smell, but quickly evaporate from the skin and do not have a depth of the aroma.
With regard to the cost of perfume, the rarity of ingredients is given here. The less the ingredient, the higher its cost. Ingredients can be obtained from a variety of sources, including flowers, trees, as well as animals or whales.
"The deficit makes things expensive, and this also applies to these materials. Many flowers that are harvested in a certain period of the year are needed to produce one kilogram of essential oil. Therefore, all this road raw materials are mainly due to their sources," says chemist-cosmetologist Jinger King.
Jasmine and its synthetic version are used in more than 80% of women's perfumes. The process of obtaining jasmine oil is very time consuming and requires a large number of flowers that bloom only at night, complicating the collection process. The flowers should be carefully trimmed and processed immediately into oil. The high price of jasmine oil is due to the large number of flowers needed for production and limited regions where they are grown. For example, 1/8 of the jasmine oil costs about $ 100, while 1/2 of lavender oil ounces costs $ 13.
The Bulgarian Rose is also one of the expensive ingredients, which is added to many perfumes. Growing roses requires even more time and money, since the production of a pound of oil requires 10,000 pounds of rose petals. This process is known as steam distillation and requires a considerable amount of time and petals to produce a small amount of essential oil. Thus, the price of 1/8 of the oz of concentrated essential oil of the Bulgarian rose can reach $ 237.
All of these factors make perfumes with these rare ingredients are extremely valuable, as well as vulnerable to frauds, which can dilute the oil with other components.
Iris essential oil is obtained from iris plant rhizomes, including Iris Germanica and Iris Pallida, - says Petrillo. These rhizomes take several years to mature before they can be processed. The extraction process involves drying rhizomes for several years and grinding them into powder. James Craven, Les Senteurs, Archivist, defines Iris as one of the three most expensive perfume ingredients in the world. Why? Because the creation of such material is a huge headache. You will need one ton of bulbs (roots) of irises aged two to five years to produce 2 kilograms of essential oil.
Aroma: powder, violet, slightly wood.
It goes well with: a violet that creates a soft and romantic powder aroma; rose - an early flower mixture with powdered and slightly sweet tint; sandalwood - for cream and deep warm aroma; Cedar-for wood-earthy aroma.
UDD is obtained from a wild tropical tree, called a alown tree, UDOM, a paradise tree and an agricultural tree. Wood should be infected with mold called Phialophora parasitica, which forces the wood to secrete UD, a dark, extremely fragrant resin. Apparently, only 2 percent of agar trees produce UD, which makes it incredibly valuable and therefore expensive.
Due to its rarity, high demand and complexity of gathering, UDA oil is one of the most expensive oils in the world. At some point, its value was estimated 1.5 times higher than the cost of gold, and sometimes called "liquid gold". UD was popular in the Middle East for centuries, and now in the West it has been experiencing a boom: more and more brands are creating scents based on wood and smoke oil. But they all have their price. Gucci oud aroma from Gucci will cost you $ 137. The Tom Ford's Tobacco Oud Favorite costs $ 340. Aroma: wood, smoky. It goes well with: floral and woody aromas.
The perfume industry uses synthetic musk today as a substitute for its natural counterpart due to ethical and environmental restrictions. The natural musk, which is obtained from the pods of the Kabarga, which is at risk in Nepal, has become a unethical option because of the need for killing animals. Synthetic musk, although less effective in terms of aroma, has become popular because of its availability and lack of moral warnings.
In the early 20th century, natural musk was widely used in perfumery, but with the spread of ethical standards and restrictions on hunting and trade, its use became incompatible with modern values. The problem of poaching is ongoing when those who are illegally killing Kabarg for the sake of natural musk, bypassing the legislation.
Perfumery also popular rare ingredients, such as sperm whale. This perfume secret is one of the three dearest ingredients because of the rarity of opening the finished amber and the high cost of production. The secret of Ambra is that the sperm whales, which are cut down almost before extinction, rarely make this treasure find.
Another rare and expensive ingredient is saffron, known for its warm, spicy and earthy notes. To pull out the saffron is very laborious because of the small number of threads given by each flower. Its high price is related to the cost of collecting and growing.
Tuberose, with a clear floral, sweet aroma, also falls into the category of rare ingredients because of the difficulty in growing and high costs of maintaining optimal conditions for growth.
The general tendency of using synthetic alternatives and rare ingredients in the world of perfumery indicates a desire to adapt to changes in ethics and care for nature.
