While in Nice...

Photo by Guerlita Alphonse

Perfumes anyone?

By: Stephanie Alvarez:

I personally have never thought about how perfume is made before our trip to the factory. When we visited the Fragonard Perfume Factory I learned a lot of interesting facts about the perfume making process. I saw a map that shows what regions in the world they get different scents from. The factory has employees that have the sole job of smelling the different fragrances. These employees have to have a restrictive diet and limited work hours in order to keep their sense of smell at the highest of standards. The factory makes many fragrance products, including perfumes, lotions, soaps, etc. All of their products are handmade. During our tour we saw an employee painting a soap bar in the shape of a duck. At the end of our tour we were able to sample some of their perfumes. We got the tip to test the perfumes on our bodies instead of the test strips because the scent of the perfume can change when it comes into contact with your skin. I also learned that smelling coffee beans can cleanse your smelling palate. Before our trip to this perfume factory I would just get whatever perfume I thought smelled best without thinking about how much effort went into having this specific scent created. This trip to the Fragonard Perfume Factory opened my eyes to industry that I would have never given a second thought about before this trip.

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CHOOSING A PERFUME: FRENCH STYLE

By Eric Vazquez

1. Go to Macy’s
2. Smell the little piece of white cardboard that the salesperson hands you
3. Whichever one you like, you buy.

Right??? WRONG!!!! I’ll tell you how I know.

On the side of a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean Sea in the French Riviera, sits the Parfumerie Fragonard in Eze, France. Yes, yes, the view is breathtaking, but I’m glad I saved some of those breaths to truly take this place in, with my eyes closed occasionally.

Probably more of a laboratory than anything, this Fragonard location was built in 1968 and doubles as a working factory and tourist attraction.

Every year the Fragonard Company celebrates a different flower and designs perfumes, soaps, and cosmetics highlighting their choice. 2018 belongs to the verbena herb, a perennial flower that grows around Europe.

Fragonard makes it their business to seek out the best scent producing plant life, and imports from all over the world for its production line. This travel abroad trip for instance, will have landed us in Spain, France, and Italy before its conclusion, and all three nations are represented at Fragonard. Spanish oranges, Italian lemons, and native French violets are used as ingredients here at the factory. Even cedar wood, pine and magnolia, from the U.S.A. are imported here.

Now, can we tell the difference between a Spanish orange and a Florida orange? Well, actually most of us can’t tell the difference between oranges, lavender, vanilla, etc., in its purest state when the scent is faint or mixed with other scents. That’s a fact. My whole group proved it.

“Would you like to play a game?” Cristele, our tour guide asked. At 10 workstations, each with eight squares containing painted images of flowers and herbs, sat eight jars numbered 1-8. The rules are, you open the lid of a jar, each of which contains one scent, and you try to match it with the corresponding picture. I got 3 out of 8 correct. And the rest of my group didn’t do much better. Anyway, it was proof of how underdeveloped our sense of smell is. It’s simply no longer a sense that we rely on for daily survival.

There is one person however who makes a living on his or her sense of smell. The perfume industry calls this person ‘The Nose’.

Fragonard has three perfume schools in France where students wanting to be perfume makers, and critics, must attend. One in Paris, one in Versailles, and a third in Grasse. www.grasse-perfumery.com.

The schooling is extensive and some of the chosen few who will be called ‘The Nose’ study for 10 years or more. ‘The Nose’ works for only three hours per day, and cannot smoke, drink alcohol, or eat spicy food within two weeks of working a shift. Most ‘Noses’ pass up those indulgences all together. ‘The Nose’ can recognize over 2,500 scents and can pick them out individually in a fragrance. Some fragrances contain 20-50 individual scents, so this job is not an easy one, and Fragonard employs these few experts at top dollar.

Since so much work is put into one bottle of perfume, let’s do this the right way. A good bottle of perfume will keep its scent for 6 years or more, hence you may keep it longer than you keep your car. Why be careless?

The piece of white cardboard at Macy’s? Toss it. Whatever scent you think you smell after the clerk sprays it, WILL CHANGE!

White cardboard is nothing like human skin. Our skin has pH and everyone’s varies. The pH level on your skin is going to change the scent of the fragrance once it’s applied.

Proper application is also important. “Remember,1,2,3,4.” Cristele said. Four spots only, when spraying or dabbing. One behind each ear and one on each wrist.

Fragonard taught me a lot about complicated, behind the scenes process of smelling delicious. Most importantly, Cristele prompted me to realize what natural scents I already know I like, then look for them as main ingredients in colognes. I hope this helps someone out there to smell better. Happy Hunting.

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