Perfume and personality

Abstract

Concerning the ‘character and nature of the accord’, Winter (1933) stated:

‘The perfect harmony of the basic odor notes with respect to their total effect, which is determined by the context, must exist in all parts of the perfume and between all essential parts. It must therefore be achieved in the complex perfume (the mixture of the odor materials without the carrier), but also between the perfume and the carrier which determines the form of the final product (alcoholic perfume, soap, powder, etc.) to such an extent that a harmonic effect in the whole is achieved.

Thus, briefly stated, Winter emphasizes that the odor accord (the complex of perfumery materials) must give a harmonic total effect in conjunction with the carrier of the odor (alcohol, soap, powder, etc.). From this there follows the necessity, when developing an alcoholic perfume or a cosmetic product, to create first a perfect ‘primary’ accord and then, between this and the carrier, a ‘secondary’ accord if a ‘harmonic effect in the whole’ is to be achieved. Winter defines these accords in the following way:

‘the primary or basic accord is the one which we may aim to achieve to perfection when blending the pure individual perfume materials in the form of artificial flower oils or essential oils. The secondary accord refers only to finished fragranced products such as alcoholic perfumes, toilet soaps, powders, brillantines, skin creams, etc.’