What Gives Cologne its Scent?

Colognes are less costly but just as potent.

Aromas have a positive effect on the mind and body. The bouquet in colognes occurs by making colognes with actual flora and fauna or with synthesized ingredients. Either method in manufacturing will result in a distinct scent in a product that lasts for many years.

Ingredients

Fragrant flora and fauna is collected.

Initial ingredients brought to the perfume factory consist of flowers, spices, wood, balsams and leaves. They are prepared for removal of their oils, which contain the highest concentration of scent.

Process

Extracting the oils from these natural ingredients is administered by steam distillation, solvent extraction, enfleurage or expression processes.

Formula Determined

Developed oils are given to the scent master, who blends them to come up with a signature fragrance. Repeat testing, evaluation and modifications ensure that the correct scent has been achieved before attempting the final mixing.

Mixing

Mixing the final solution with alcohols dilutes the ingredients. The ratio of alcohol used determines when a perfume becomes cologne, with colognes containing 3 percent to 5 percent oil diluted in 80 percent to 90 percent alcohol, with water making up the 10 percent balance.

Contemporary Method

Lab chemists can recreate scents through synthesized ingredients.

In laboratories, perfume chemists create new scents or recreate the familiar ones with a less arduous and faster process. Aromatic chemicals become synthesized ingredients and are fast becoming the preferred method in developing cologne scents.

References

• International Flavors and Fragrances
• Fragonard Grasse: Perfume-making Techniques
• American Society of Perfumers

Resources

• Basenotes: Fragrance Brands
• The New Yorker: Perfume and Politics