creating scentsmaking ofmarketing and branding

on petals and names

Rose essential oil and the rose absolute from Bulgary, Jasmine absolute from Egypt, Comoran Ylang essential oil, Tuberose absolute from India: These are the natural flowers extracts in the scent that had the running title “aldehydic rose” in the excel file where I store all formulas. Some of them are higher concentrated than others. Tuberose is at 1% not a main note, but supportive.

Yet, with all the petals inside, the fragrance is not a typical floral. It has a rich aldehydic core that is balanced by a body that is airy, woody, and very rich. The main chord in the base is a chord of soft woods, such as Sandalwood (I am using a S. spicatum from Australia in this scent). There is an orris root line, complementing a dry incense (Boswellia serrata, CO2 extract), an elegant patchouli and vanilla combo and some styrax that adds to the oriental sub-context. I am using the resinoid of liquidamber orientalis that is sweet, balsamic and slightly smoky. A perfect complement to the incense line.

So you see: It is not only about petals. In my nose it is going to be a fragrance that is pretty unisex. An aldehydic woody floral if you so want.

I am thinking about a name since eternities.

Here’s what I think about naming perfumes these days: I do not want any rose in the name. (It repells 75 % of all men.) I do not want it to be too clichés. There are so many cliché names for fragrances out there. Rose d’Isfahan would be sort of cliché, and it would bring in the rose again. I was thinking “petals” , in combinations, but again: so cliché and focusing on the floral aspect too much.

So I came up with No-14 which is not really evocative and sort of Chanel like. Nope.

So I tried to come up with a fantasy name and failed so far.

So I went back and wondered what I wanted when I created it. So there we go: I wanted to create an aldehydic, elegant, rich fragrance that circles the heady perfume of rose petals, I wanted a classic scent, with a rich, luxurious base that I would love to wear myself. A brillant fragrance, radiating floral and yet a classic unisex. You know: Petals in bright sunlight.

Noontide.

Noontide came to my mind when I was playing with sun and midday. At least it is easy memorizable and there is no danger of confusions when people order or try to remember: Was it intense rose, or rose extreme, or rose memories …

One of the bigger obstacles when coming up with names for scents: Most of them have been invented and used at least once. And many of them are protected by brands. Noontide isn’t.

That’s a big plus. Ah well…