Eurofragance Produces its First Captive

The Spanish multinational Eurofragance has chosen to introduce its very first captive: L'Âme du Bois at Beautyworld Middle East in Dubai, one of the world's leading beauty trade shows. This new perfumery ingredient is significant for Eurofragance in three respects. It fills an interesting gap in the woody notes olfactive family, by providing a high impact composition that harmonizes with other ingredients in the fragrance formula and highlights their individual characteristics. Secondly, L'Âme du Bois is made from wood waste that has been naturally upcycled into a precious raw material. And finally, this new ingredient has a genderless olfactive profile that makes it of particular interest for today's consumers of high-end fragrance experiences.

Out of the Woods Comes New News

Wood notes have always held an important place in the Perfumer's palette, who will often count on this broad olfactive family to create the heart or base of his or her fragrance. Always eager to address a challenge, Eurofragance took on the task of creating their first captive; an innovative raw material that would bring some new news to this family of ingredients. Felipe San Juan Tejada, R&D Scientist at Eurofragance, who led the joint team of Perfumers and R&D Experts for three years on this project, had this to say about the result of their work: "We honored nature by creating a new olfactive expression for wood that provides the building blocks for future fragrance creations. We feel that in the near term L'Âme du Bois should be reserved for the design of prestige fragrances and for all premium product categories, be it fine fragrance, home or personal care."

From Sawdust to Premium Perfume, or the Art of Upcycling

It is a challenge for any fragrance house to create an interesting and desirable captive, but Eurofragance set the bar even higher by deciding that their future wood-based ingredient had to respect their strict sustainability philosophy. So, how does one produce a natural extract from wood without deforesting or negatively impacting the environment? The answer came from upcycling discarded sawdust from a particular tree.

The objective of the team was to remove, via natural purification methods, the superfluous, parasitic, molecules from the wood compound, but keep those of perfumistic interest. This time-consuming purification step was repeated over and over, over several months. In the end, they were able to uncover an ingredient with the best olfactory profile, while retaining the soul of the wood. In French, soul (or essence) translates into "âme." Hence, Eurofragance named their captive: L'Âme du Bois, the soul of wood.

A Woody Note Befit for Our Times

Historically, natural woody notes were often perceived as being more masculine. Eurofragance being well aware that times are changing, was interested in creating an ingredient that could appeal to women and men alike, and also resonate for those seeking more unisex scents. L'Âme du Bois perfectly fits the bill. Henry van den Heuvel, Global Creative Director and Senior Perfumer at Eurofragance, who was actively involved in the design of the innovative ingredient, offered his assessment: "L'Âme du Bois is avant-garde in terms of its conception, but, above all, for what it brings to fragrance creation. It redefines woody notes in a manner befitting our time. L'Âme du Bois is inclusive and all-embracing of other accords and olfactive notes. For Perfumers, L'Âme du Bois is a true breakthrough."

Each year, during the Beautyworld Middle East trade fair, Eurofragance presents a new Nomad Saga Experience, an exclusive collection of fragrances created with distinctive raw materials. This year, all the mesmerizing scents are crafted with L'Âme du Bois. In weeks to come, Eurofragance plans to present their worldwide customers who can't make it to Dubai, their latest fragrance creations built around their new ingredient.