Make It Make Scents...
The Science of Smell, and an interview with Andrea Maack
We recently had a conversation with Andrea Maack, an Icelandic visual artist and entrepreneur. In addition to her visual art, Andrea has launched a successful line of unisex luxury perfumes that offer unique and evocative scents. If perfume seems “off base” for Unbiased Science, think again!
Unbiased Science: Andrea, you’re a visual artist, so can you tell us what drew you into perfume?
Andrea Maack: In the beginning, the idea was never to create a brand, it was born slowly and organically through my exhibitions. The idea of working with scent came about through a series of exhibitions. I always envisioned only making one fragrance, titled SMART (Smell Art), but after that show, I was hooked on this process and started working on scented installations full time. The brand came about when I was invited to host the opening show of a design gallery in downtown Reykjavík, and I decided to do an art installation in the form of an “Andrea Maack perfume shop.” Wallpaper Magazine did a write-up on the show, and after that I was contacted by retailers from all over the world that wanted to stock the brand, which only existed through this one exhibition. And the rest is history.
Chemistry is the science behind perfumes. Perfume originated more than 4,000 years ago, via the Mesopotamians and their use of incense. Originally, herbs and spices provided aromas to perfumes. Flowers came later.
A Persian philosopher and physician by the name of Avicenna introduced the process of extracting oils from flowers by distillation, which is the method of separating the components of a liquid through evaporation and condensation.
Unbiased Science: Can you talk a little about the science that goes into creating perfumes?
Andrea Maack: It’s a very complicated process; there are anywhere from 4 to 10 olfactory “families” that fragrances fall under, and the Fragrance Wheel divides fragrances into four families, each with its own subcategories: floral, fresh, woody, and amber.
Fragrance is a well-composed arrangement of different notes that work together to create a harmony. Visually, imagine the notes arranged on three levels of a pyramid, with top notes, middle/heart notes, and base notes. Each “level” brings something different to the harmony, and so every note must be carefully selected, working in accord with the others to create the perfect blend.
I think most people have this image of the perfumer, in a rustic studio, mixing potions, but in reality, it's very high tech, sci-fi. The lab is super futuristic, and there is a robot that does all the mixing and testing. You basically work on a computer trying to weave together a scent that’s actually something wearable.
US: Can you talk about top notes, heart notes, and base notes? What are they exactly? Why are they important to the overall scent? How are they created in the fragrance?
AM:
TOP NOTES
These are the notes that are evident as soon as the fragrance leaves the bottle. These notes are often light, herbal, citrus, sweet, or even bitter. While the top notes are important to how you experience the fragrance, they usually only last 5 to 15 minutes, so don’t get too attached to them.
MIDDLE/HEART NOTES
These notes make up most of the fragrance so are usually full-bodied fruits and florals. Middle notes start to develop after about 10 to 15 minutes (after the top notes have begun to evaporate) and last on the skin for 2 to 4 hours.
BASE NOTES
Acting as the foundation of the fragrance, the base notes are typically more rich and heavy. It is their job to help the perfume linger longer by slowing the evaporation, allowing the scent to remain for up to 6 hours. Because a key component to base notes is their lasting quality, there are fewer base notes (than top and middle/heart notes) for perfumers to work with. You will often see base notes of sandalwood, vanilla, musk, oak moss, and patchouli.
In the beginning, perfumes were used for religious ceremonies and not actually used by people. However, the Egyptians changed this when they began wearing cones of wax on their heads, combined with herbs and flowers. As the wax would melt, it would release the herbal scents. (There’s since been some doubt cast on this theory, but not all researchers agree.) People soon began bathing in perfumes and slathering their skin in fragrance. As an added benefit, perfumes could mask body odor, as hygiene was somewhat scarce.
US: What is your favorite smell? And what is your favorite Andrea Maack perfume?
AM: Personally, I have always been super attracted to anything that smells like the sea, and I'm still working on a scent based on that memory and feeling. I actually had one of my favorite perfumers, who created Pavilion for me, come to Iceland last December. I took him around The Reykjanes Peninsula where I live, which is full of geysers, hot springs and crazy nordic black beaches, so he's working on something inspired by that now. I can't say which one is favorite, but I have a sweet spot for SMART, as it was the first one I created and is still in the collection. It's a fighter like me; this business is a roller coaster so as many brands have come and gone, I'm just grateful we have made it over 10 years now and SMART is still going strong.
Our sense of smell has the unique ability to bring back the past. Perhaps the smell of gardenias reminds you of the perfume your grandmother wore. Or the sickly sweet scent of cotton candy transports you back to your first kiss. Why is this? Scientists call it olfactory bonding, and believe it’s linked to the way in which our brain is wired to scents. Other sensory information, such as those associated with hearing and touching, are sent through the thalamus before reaching the cerebrum. However, smell messages travel directly to the area of the brain that determines emotion, creativity, and memory.
US: How do you translate your art into smell?
AM: Perfume has been used before in art, but I felt I would bring something more modern to the table. I dived deep into research for a series of shows I was working on and found a “nose” in Grasse, a person educated in perfume, and felt I could get something more interesting by working with a specialist. This nose was willing to work with me on this very abstract idea of developing scent based on a drawing. I packaged the scents from the art shows and worked on the concept of creating a brand. I had been a working artist for a couple of years and was excited about the possibility of this developing into a luxury brand with an artistic background.
US: What makes Andrea Maack perfume different from other brands?
AM: Over the years I have developed a signature style in scent, it’s just there, based on instinct and what I like. The other day I was testing a new creation, and a girl stopped me in the street and asked whether I was wearing Andrea Maack. I answered “Yes I’m Andrea and this has not been released yet.” She replied “I know, I just recognize the brand signature.” I was pretty amazed she was able to identify that; that's a huge compliment to me.
We’d love to dig more into the science of smell, so feel free to shoot us your questions in the comments!
As an added bonus, Andrea Maack is generously offering 15% off everything with code UNBIASED15 AND with every order of full sized product, you’ll receive their Best Seller Discovery Kit, FREE!
SOURCES:
https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/history/story-perfume
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK92802/
Very interesting!