The evidence register · Materials & Origins

Materials & Origins: the evidence

The claims Materials & Origins makes, as it makes them today: 52 sourced, 17 labelled for what they are, 18 unsourced.

The whole register · the page itself

Rosa damascena

Jasminum grandiflorum

Aquilaria malaccensis

Lavandula angustifolia

The molecules behind nature’s masterworks

Mysore Sandalwood

Calabrian Bergamot

  • sourced Raw bergamot contains bergapten, a furanocoumarin that can make skin sensitive to sunlight — which is why perfumery generally uses bergapten-free (FCF) grades. · Navarra M, Mannucci C, Delbò M, Calapai G

Madagascar Vanilla

  • unsourced Vanillin is the dominant aromatic compound, but natural vanilla contains hundreds of compounds that give it depth synthetic vanillin cannot match.

Florentine Iris

  • house interpretation The powdery elegance of orris root — among the costliest natural materials in perfumery.

Omani Frankincense

The Precious Materials

Perfumery 101

  • perfumery convention Every fragrance unfolds in three stages: Top notes hit first (citrus, herbs) and fade first.
  • perfumery convention Base notes linger longest (woods, musks) — often for many hours.
  • perfumery convention Parfum carries the most perfume oil and lasts longest. Eau de Parfum balances strength and longevity. Eau de Toilette is lighter. Cologne is freshest but fades fastest. The exact strengths vary from house to house.
  • house interpretation Synthetics are lab-created molecules — consistent from batch to batch. Safety depends on the material, not on where it came from.
  • perfumery convention Can range from a couple of hours (light citrus) to a full day or more (heavy ambers).
  • unsourced A foundation of the classic eau de cologne since the early eighteenth century.
  • unsourced The roots of this tropical grass are steam-distilled once the plant is well established.
  • house interpretation Hand-picked in India. Its scent was thought so heady that, the story goes, Victorian girls were warned away from it.
  • perfumery convention A foundation of the classic amber accord.
  • sourced Among the costliest natural materials in perfumery. Iris roots (orris) are dried for several years, during which irones develop. Then distilled to produce a concrete, which yields butter. · Crișan I

Where fragrance grows

  • house interpretation Many of perfumery’s great materials come from a handful of storied regions — each with its own soil, climate and centuries of expertise.
  • sourced Mysore stands for Indian sandalwood: in Karnataka, natural populations remain at Chamundi Hills and Bannerghatta. · Kirdat K, Tiwarekar B, Swetha P, Padma S, Thorat V, Manjula KN, Kavya N, Sundararaj R, Yadav A
  • sourced Florence stands for Tuscan orris: the iris is the city’s emblem, and the growing areas on record today are Chianti and Pratomagno. · Crișan I
  • sourced Sarawak, on Malaysian Borneo, is the page’s point for oud: Aquilaria malaccensis is the primary source of premium agarwood in Southeast Asia. · Baig A, Akram A, Lin MK

The Ingredient World Map

Raw Material Adulteration

  • house interpretation What’s sold as “sandalwood oil” is often: Australian S. spicatum (different species, different smell), synthetic santalol blends, or Indian sandalwood heavily diluted with synthetics. Buyer beware.
  • unsourced Pure Lavandula angustifolia from Provence costs far more than lavandin (a hybrid).
  • house interpretation GC-MS analysis is how it is caught; a “100% pure” label on its own proves little.
  • unsourced A perfumer designing with “jasmine absolute” that’s actually partly synthetic indole and benzyl acetate creates a different fragrance than one using genuine Grasse jasmine.
  • unsourced Difficult at low levels of adulteration
  • house interpretation Large buyers commonly test the materials they receive — but smaller perfumers often cannot afford it.

from the house’s claims register and the records, checked against the pages’ own words when the site was built