Cosmic Perfumery: The Future is here!

Hello, Fragrant Friend 👋,

Did you know? Humans can smell fear — when scared, our body odour changes due to chemicals like adrenaline, which others subconsciously detect.

🗓️ Contents of this Issue

1. Note Worthy: Mood AI, Scentertainment, Roses on the Moon
2. Ask Me Anything: Market appreciation
3. Scent MythBusters: Fragrances are a mix of ingredients + alcohol
4. Quiz: Scent without the flower
5. Molecule Spotlight: Synthetic Musks

Note-Worthy 🔎🌸

Startups like Airzai (with Firmenich) are exploring AI-powered smart diffusers that customise scents to enhance mood. D.S. & Durga took fragrance storytelling further with a documentary series — Episode 1 features IDLES’ Joe Talbot creating Gateau Blackout. And Interstellar Lab and Astrolab, with SpaceX, plan to grow roses on the moon by 2027 — potentially paving the way for cosmic-inspired fragrance ingredients.

Ask Me Anything 🗣️ 👃

Are there fragrances creators love but hold back? Riyal Noor: rain notes — “not everyone enjoys smelling like wet soil.” Marie-Pierre: keeps perfumes that didn’t fully translate the concept. Chester: lets people smell creations without context. Claudia: “No true artist creates with the public in mind.” Sy: “It’s about expressing my own universe.”

Ultimate confirmation of a great job? Marie-Pierre: when the work sparks dialogue and someone feels the story without reading the description. Sy: letting the work speak for itself. Claudia: “When there’s nothing left to add.”

Scent MythBusters 🎭️

“Perfume is simply a mixture of fragrant compounds and alcohol.”
Myth of the week

TL;DR

A fragrance isn’t just a blend of ingredients — it’s about how they interact, creating a complex, evolving experience. Fragrance is often said to be 50% art and 50% science.

The roles ingredients play

Blenders (e.g. lavender) harmonise the whole; bridges (e.g. sandalwood) connect specific notes for smooth transitions. Enhancers (Iso E Super) amplify; modifiers (citrus esters) refine. Fixatives (benzoin, musk) slow evaporation and anchor the scent so top, middle and base reveal gracefully.

Molecule Spotlight: Synthetic Musks

Synthetic musks revolutionised perfumery as humane, sustainable alternatives to animal-derived musk. The first, Musk Baur, was discovered by Albert Baur in 1888. Four main types: nitro musks (now largely phased out), polycyclic (Galaxolide, Tonalid, Cashmeran), macrocyclic (Ambrettolide, Habanolide, Exaltolide — biodegradable, natural-like) and alicyclic (Helvetolide, Serenolide, Romandolide). They enhance longevity, add warmth and depth as “olfactory glue,” and work across all fragrance families.