Category: Floral

Name: beta-Ionone
Alternative Names:  b-Ionone, β-Ionone, 4-(2,6,6-trimethylcyclohexen-1-yl)but-3-en-2-one
Aroma Description (Perfumer’s Notes): Floral-violet, woody, sweet, fruity-raspberry, green (description from Pell Wall)  (Arcadi Boix Camps states it resembles Cedarwood and has a Raspberry-like undertone.)
Archetypal Fragrances: Roger & Gallet Vera Violetta (the first perfume to use isolated b-Ionone and a-Ionone)
Raw Material Family: Floral, Fruit, Wood
Note:  Middle
Type: Molecules
Where From: Givaudan, Pell Wall 

In “An Introduction to Perfumery” Tony Curtis & David Williams use the following classification.

• Principle fragrance note(s):  Woody, Fruit, Violet
• Secondary fragrance note(s): Woody
• Background note(s): n/a
• Odour characteristics: Fruit, Green

Commentary:

Roman Kaiser, the inventor of the HeadSpace technology, discovered that 16% of 1250 aromatic plants he studied contained beta-ionone[*]. Beta-Ionone is a significant contributor to the aroma of roses, despite its relatively low concentration [*]. It is also a key part of the aroma of violets. Modern methods have established that the aroma of violets forms 35.7% of α-ionone, 21.1% of beta-ionone and 18.2% of dihydro-beta-ionone. We see that three quarters are from ionone.

This graph indicates that three-quarters of the smell of aroma is determined from ionones[*]. As such, you can find ionones and their closest derivatives in almost every modern perfume [*]. Tony Curtis & David Williams maintain that its fragrance application is within “Violet and woody fragrances” they add it “blends well with fruity notes”.

Jean Claude Elena, the retired French perfumer and writer, states in his book Diary of a Nose, suggests with frambinone and fructone beta-Ionone produces the smell of raspberries.  Moreover that “adding cis-3-hexenol gives a sour, green quality, while geraniol will give a taste of lipstick.” As such, beta-Ionone is widely used within the fragrance of lipstick [*]

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Basenotes Violets  

Wikipedia – Violet odorata

Name: Hedione^®
Alternative Names: Methyl dihydrojasmonate
Aroma Description (Perfumer’s Notes): Fresh, floral-jasmine, sweet, clean, citrus, fruity
Archetypal Fragrances:

Eau Sauvage by Dior (1966) at about 3%
Coriandre by Jean Couturier (1973) at about 20%
Acqua di Gio for Men by Giorgio Armani
CKOne by Calvin Klein 

Raw Material Family: Floral
Note: Middle
Type: Molecules
Where From: Firmenich

Within “An Introduction to Perfumery” Tony Curtis & David Williams use the following classification. Principle fragrance note(s):  

• Principle fragrance note(s): Floral, Jasmine
• Secondary fragrance note(s): n/a
• Background note(s): Lemon
• Odour characteristics: Soft, Fresh, Warm

Emotional Rewards Prioritised: The aroma of Hedione^® commonly creates the following emotions: [visualizer id=”796″]The graph above shows what emotions Hedione^® often creates and the relative level of importance.

Commentary:

Hedione^® was discovered in 1959 in Firmenich’s laboratories and its first perfumery use was in Dior’s Eau Sauvage in 1966. From an interview with Christophe Laudamiel in “What Men Should Smell Like” He said of Hedione “(it) is much more remarkable in that it actually reached the market, because it’s very round and very low key as a smell… Hedione is a monument now but it was courageous of Firmenich to put money behind it to develop it in the 1950’s – 60’s.”[*]

Tony Curtis & David Williams writing in “An Introduction to Perfumery” describe Hedione® applications as being

1. extremely versatile in floral fragrances for its radiance and diffusive power.
2. For original fragrance effects in Chypre, Oriental perfume types, modern Eaux de Cologne and Lilly Valley.

Within “Speciality Chemicals” magazine John and Diane Leffingwell of Leffingwell & Associates state that Methyl dihydrojasmonate (Hedione^®) is closely related to methyl jasmonate, which occurs in jasmine oil. [*]

Elena Vosnaki states on her “Perfume Shrine” blog “Hedoine is not just used in composition in substitution for jasmine absolute, but also for its own fresh-citrusy and green tonality.” She adds, how Perfumer Lyn Harris calls it “transparent jasmine” and attributes to it the capacity to give fizz to citrus notes much “like champagne”.

Likewise, according to Victoria Frolava Hedione combines remarkably well with various perfumery materials. With its effect on jasmine, notes can be compared to a sunray hitting a flower. [*]

Plus she adds how it is used to accent many compositions as, like Iso E Super, it is highly diffusive, but also has tenacity. (With Tenacity being defined by the Fragrance Foundation as “The ability of a perfume to last, or a fragrance note to retain its characteristic odour.” )

Plus, Victoria Frolava adds Hedione^® evaporates and remains in the air, which is an important quality, making it so popular as a perfume material. Or as Octavian Sever puts it “With Hedione the perfumes started to dance and diffuse.” It adds an even a more complex dimension – air.” [*]

Arcadi Boix Camps states that Hedione^® is “without a doubt has most influenced modern perfumery and has allowed the great artists to develop their ideas with inspiration.” In a similar vein, according to Chris Bartlett, Hedione^® is now the most widely used aroma chemical in all of perfumery [*]. He observes that enhancing effects of Hedione^® and ISO E Super are complimentary and they are very widely used together. He recalls experimenting with a formula for a complex perfume and making one version with Hedione^® and one with a similar amount of ISO E Super instead, everything else identical. He said the Hedione^® version is brighter and smoother. Whereas, the ISO E Super version came out fuller, thicker and more textured. He used around 2% in each case and neither ingredient was obvious to smell, but the effect on the blend as a whole was very clear. See more on Basenotes.

Finally, Hedione^® is combined in equal parts with

• Galaxolide
• Iso E Super
• Methyl Ionone

To create the famous female fragrance Grojsman (“hug me”) accord [*].

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Firmenich’s Data sheet on Hedione^®
Perfume Shine
1000 Fragrances
Perfumer Flavorist
Fragrantica

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