NATURAL INGREDIENT CALCULATOR – A GUIDE THROUGH THE JUNGLE OF PLANT USAGE IN PERFUMERY
“To have a fragrance smell of vetiver you must use a certain amount of it. The problem we have
today is we all use these beautiful [natural] materials, but we use them in a homeopathic dosage
because the money* that is allowed to us to work on a project is just not enough.”
– Harry Fremont, DSM-Firmenich*, Master Perfumer, in Perfumer & Flavorist, 2010
Perfumery Code of Ethics proudly presents this Natural Ingredient Calculator, created by Master Perfumer Christophe Laudamiel, to be used by consumers, media, content creators, perfumers, and industry professionals.
Here is an excerpt from the press release, published on the Perfumery Code of Ethics website, now integrated in the Academy of Perfumery and Aromatics umbrella site:
PREMISE
Perfumery is an art form.
A perfume creation results from a unique combination of creativity, imagination, materials, know-how, sweat and logistics.
INTENT
This document (Natural Ingredient Calculator) advocates for the fair usage and defends the poetry of natural ingredients as well as the livelihood of farmers and global biodiversity.
It highlights the disparity between the marketing of numerous luxury brands, be they commercial, pseudo-niches and some niche, and the actual content of too many fragrances.
The high prices of many fragrances orchestrated by packaging conglomerates and fixed by department stores is, to the best of our knowledge, little due to their content in natural ingredients and even less to the cost of harvesters.
We believe the public deserves to know how their dollars are utilized and whether farmers, cooperatives and perfumers are being respected. We believe countries should look into applying the Nagoya protocol in more concrete ways in the context of fragrances.
The calculator below estimates the cost for a brand to integrate 0.05% of a specific ingredient into a fragrance oil, and subsequently into the final bottle after adding alcohol. Many precious ingredients are used at 0.05% or less in the fragrance concentrate (the formula). The next line shows what it would cost for a brand to add 1% instead.
The extent of the impossibility demonstrates how much perfumers are squeezed by procurement teams away from fair respect
and most poetry.
Note:
This document (Natural Ingredient Calculator) does not aim to calculate the final cost or price of a creation.
It does not imply that formulas with more natural ingredients hold greater artistic value than a creative formula based on more molecules.
For more details, please visit the PCE website, or download the document here:
Natural-Ingredient-Calculator-04-4
