There are many types of fragrance you can create easily with natural materials but to create a perfume that smells like the crashing of waves and the fresh blast of the ocean is a challenge. Many natural perfumers use seaweed absolute but this is quite pungent and can tend to smell dirty rather than the clean blast you get with synthetic materials.
Marine and Ozonic fragrances were really popular in the 1990’s and really set the standard for what an “ozone” fragrance should smell like with New West for Her, Escape, L’eau D’Issey and Cool water. They all featured the material Calone which has a sweet ozone, marine melon scent, this was often combined with other aromachemicals such as Melonal and Helional in varying amounts to give different effects. Calone is one of those love it or hate it materials that many people find quite cloying. Even at a 1% dilution you can smell it a mile off.
You could also put transparent watery florals into this category although they are less marine and more rain water. Think water droplets on a petal or leaf or in a rainforest. As I mentioned in the previous post on Floral Fragrances it is a challenge to get the lightness and transparency you need with just naturals – aromchemicals such as Hedione add radiance, sparkle and lift along with musk notes to fix the fragrance.
If you fancy trying your hand at making this type of fragrance then come along to my Artisan Perfumery Weekend where we will be combining beautiful natural materials with high quality synthetics to create the perfect wearable fragrance. If you can’t make it to London then you can also study at home with my online perfumery course
