Head Spaces or nature print

Fragrances are created from natural or synthetic raw materials. Natural raw materials can be extracted in several ways. Headspace is one of them (for flower only). This technique aims to reconstitute the natural flower scent, which could not be obtained in the form of an essential oil.

Extraction processes in perfumery

Here are the different extraction processes for the raw materials used in perfumery: 

 

Raw materials on the perfumer's organ

There are a total of 1000 natural and 3000 synthetic raw materials available. Among this wide range, the perfumer usually selects 1,000 for the perfume organ (a piece of furniture that allows a professional to store and classify his vials of essential oils), among those they prefer or which will be technically indispensable for the creation of his fragrances. New materials are discovered and marketed every year, while others disappear, often due to increasingly strict legislation.

 

 

What is a Headspace?

The Headspace is a recent discovery in perfumery (even if we talk a little less about it today, as the current trend is towards natural and organic techniques). The principle of this technique is to absorb the flower’s scent without cutting it, in order to analyse and reproduce its different constituents. 


How does Headspace work?

First of all, the botanists harvest the flowers by enclosing them in a large glass bell (the size of the head) with a pump. In this way, the flower is not damaged or cut. Then the gas is released into the container and accumulates in layers in a wick made of a confidential material a tiny closed tube.

Within 24 hours, this process absorbs and analyses all the molecules emitted by the flower that is still planted. These molecules will then be identified by a gas chromatograph and mass spectrometer, which will dissect the flower’s scent, and unrolled in order to identify the components (there can be up to 80 different molecules).

The technical perfumer will then select the most interesting components and recreate the top note of the flower. In a sense, he is going to reproduce fleeting notes that the factory would have lost if it had been cut or treated. This process can also be done directly in the laboratory. The flower is then placed in a warm glass ball without any air. The molecules then fall into a "trap"; at low temperatures they condense and are analyzed.

Some Head Spaces are even more compact, and consist simply of a stem which is placed in front of the material to be analysed.

 

What are the advantages of Head Space?

  • The possibility to reproduce the scent of a live flower

This technique allows you to reproduce the scent of a live flower, as it can be inhaled outdoors or in the garden. Indeed, as soon as the flower is cut, it begins to lose some of its scent. Similarly, the flower will be devoid of many molecules of odour once it is treated, especially if its scent is extracted by distillation or extraction with volatile solvents. With these technologies, the flowers are actually exposed to certain temperatures, or their perfume is depleted by slightly fragrant gases. Therefore, the fragrances produced by these different treatments are very different from those of a fresh, live flower (the most successful and neutral fragrance will undoubtedly be obtained by treatment with C02, or sofact).

  • Discovery of new raw materials

Initiated by major perfume industry groups (Givaudan | Flavours and fragrances that engage your senses; International Flavors & Fragrances), the Head Space allows the discovery and registration of new raw materials. For example, this treatment makes it possible to reproduce the scents of rare flowers that cannot be cultivated on a large scale.

  • The possibility of analysing original atmospheres

In addition, Head Spaces can analyse not only fragrances, but also more sophisticated and original atmospheres, such as a florist shop, or civette (tobacco shop), the beach in Rio, the Amazon forest, banknotes, truffles, etc.

Head Spaces will be particularly interesting to highlight the naturalness and freshness of the perfume as the top note. 

 

The Jungle Essence extraction process 

The "Jungle Essence" is a process for searching for rare scents, created and patented by the Grasse-based company Mane. This technology offers an environmentally friendly solution by reproducing scent extracts of exceptional quality and purity, preserving the olfactory appeal of the original raw materials.

This process makes it possible to establish samples of scents that can then be recreated in a more industrial manner.

Products are inserted in a kind of tube (it can be any material, such as sweets, fruit, rare raw materials). The tube is then closed, a gas or a liquid is injected into it, and will capture the smell of the products. It is difficult to know how this process works in detail, as this technique is very confidential. 

If the captured scent is found interesting, it will then be reproduced in the laboratory on a larger scale.

 

Conclusion 

Headspaces can under no circumstances replace natural products. If they mesmerise in flight, the reproduced scents lose their charm after a few minutes. However, a Head Space product can be useful for accompanying or sublimating a natural scent. For example, the top note of the rose is given by the essence, followed by a heart note provided by the absolute. This makes it possible to obtain a nearly perfect reproduction of a live rose, from the flight to the base notes.

 

Sylvaine Delacourte fragrances

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