The powdery note used in perfumes comes from a flower that plant lovers and perfumers have known very well for centuries: the Iris.
Although, the exploitation of the iris for the creation of powdery fragrances is a matter of patience and multiple transformations that last on average six years. Indeed, the rhizome of iris is collected after four years of plantation, then will be stored during 3 years in bags of jute. Finally, the rhizomes will be kneaded, crushed and distilled several times before obtaining the precious essence: Iris absolute.
What do they bring to perfume?
The powdery note is one of the best elements to add roundness and long lastingness to a perfume with too responsive or too vivid base notes. In most of our current perfumes, we can observe the extraordinary quality of the powdery note among the diversity of olfactory nuances that the creators offer us.
Did you know that? To obtain 100 grams of iris absolute, 40 tons of rhizomes are needed?
That's how precious the raw material of our powdery perfumes is. One of the most expensive in the world!
Many brands use perfumes with powdery facets.
As early as 1906, despite the rarity and preciousness of the product, Guerlain used Iris as the signature of his first powdered perfume "Après l'Ondée". The great perfumer will create thereafter perfumes which will have almost systematically a base of powdery notes, such as "L'Heure Bleue" or "L'instant". For decades the fragrances of the house Guerlain will be immediately associated with the Iris and its powdery note ... until the arrival of the competition in 1970.
Today, many brands use perfumes with powdery facets.
What are the different powdery notes?
In the family of powdery notes, we find the vegetal powdery notes: the retro style based on violet and rose, such as the famous "Flower" by Kenzo; the green powdery notes, still based on iris but with scents of wet or fresh plants, such as "N°19" by Chanel; the aldehydic powdery notes, mossy, such as "Arpège" by Lanvin; or the floral powdery notes similar to "L'Air du Temps" by Nina Ricci.
Then the powdery notes become dry and chalky to create perfumes with a good smell of "clean" such as "Hiris" by Hermès, or they turn into cold powdery notes mixed with incense.
Sometimes the powdery becomes heady and wants to be heavy and thick or conversely transparent as a cloud in powdery fragrances soft and silky.
Finally of course, the powdery note appears in our favorite oriental perfumes, mixed with vanilla, almond or acidulous notes to reinforce the length of the delicacy...
And you, will you be able to identify the powdery note of your olfactory signature created by DAENA?