This year, though, Grasse took a hit. The town and region, along with much of western Europe faced extreme drought, which wiped out swaths of flower crops. The tuberose harvest was 40% less than last year. Farmers across the wider region saw flower yields down by as much as half.<\/p>\n
Farmers complain, having a very challenging drought over a long, long period. Over the summer, they imposed the town\u2019s first water restrictions, limiting farmers to irrigating at night and with less water.<\/p>\n
Grasse isn\u2019t alone: Climate change threatens the future of perfume as we know it. As the multibillion-dollar industry debates the potential of synthetic alternatives\u2014which are easier to procure, control, and patent\u2014global warming\u2019s impacts aren\u2019t making the case for natural scents more compelling. Drought, shifting seasons, and more frequent extremes of frost, rain, hail, and high temperatures are changing crop yields, ingredient quality, and even how much scent different plants produce. As those impacts continue, everything about how certain smells are made may need to be rethought.<\/p>\n
Grasse is well-positioned to produce exceptional flowers because of its quality soil and delicate microclimate, in a hilly area that\u2019s just the right distance from the Mediterranean.<\/p>\n
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At Switzerland-based Givaudan, one of the world\u2019s largest fragrance houses, there\u2019s particular concern about patchouli, a leafy member of the mint family. About 80% of the plant comes from the tropical island of Sulawesi in Indonesia, which in recent years has faced sudden and sporadic extremes of dry and wet weather. \u201cWith erratic dry-wet spells in 2020 and 2021, the survival rate of the plant and the distillation yield were lowered,\u201d says Chee Ping Lee, Givaudan\u2019s head of sourcing for Asia-Pacific.<\/p>\n
There are also signs that global warming may be impacting ingredient quality. Alon Cna\u2019ani, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Copenhagen and co-author of a rare paper<\/a> on the topic, says there is \u201cstrong evidence to suggest that a changing climate \u2014 rising temperature \u2014 will affect the aromatics of plants.\u201d Cna\u2019ani found that the genetic makeup of flowers \u2014 the machinery that produces the aromatic compounds we recognize as \u201cfruity\u201d or \u201cfloral\u201d \u2014 decreases at higher temperatures.<\/p>\n Likewise, in Italy, scientists pinpointed a \u201cclear correlation\u201d between a decline in the scent production of bergamot and extreme conditions like heat waves and droughts. Over 95% of global production of cold-pressed bergamot essential oil comes from Calabria in south Italy, where the climate is getting progressively hotter and drier.<\/p>\n Perfume of the Future<\/strong><\/p>\n Since the late 1800s, the perfume industry has been looking to the lab to replicate or produce new scents\u2014a trend that climate change could accelerate. As conditions in the flower fields become even less predictable and prices yo-yo in response, synthetic compounds produced in controlled environments can offer a cheaper and more reliable alternative for those looking for a consistent scent\u2014and a consistent bottom line.<\/p>\n Synthetics come with their own environmental challenges. Many are byproducts of petroleum or paper and pulp\u2014toxic, polluting, and hard to dispose of safely. But innovations in \u201cgreen chemistry\u201d are emerging to tackle those problems.<\/p>\n If you want consistency, it\u2019s best to look for a nice ethical supplier of aroma chemicals.<\/p>\n Is natural good for nature?![\"\"](\"http:\/\/healthypleasures.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/farmers-300x214.jpg\")
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\nIt is important to know the reasons, why perfume house sourse from nature and why they choose science.\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b
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\nSynthetic molecules are also used in perfumes when a natural ingredient has been forbidden, such as animalistic ingredients – musks (from the chevrotin), castoreum (from the castor), ambergris (from the whale), leathery notes etc.
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\nSome synthetic molecules have powerful perfuming qualities, such as Aldehydes for instance (principal molecule in Chanel 5, Arp\u00e8ge de Lanvin, L’Air du Temps de Nina Ricci, Opium de YSL, etc) or Praline (main molecule in Angel de Mugler, Coco Mademoiselle de Chanel etc) or even Oud wood (which mimics the scent of natural oud without the dangers of Oud that is poisonous and also extremely expensive).
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\nSome synthetics are extracted directly from natural ingredients, such as Ambroxan, extracted from Clary Sage, Hedione or New Hedione, extracted from Jasmine…\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b
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\nThe reasons for introducing the Science and High Tech molecules in perfumery are numerous :\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b
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\n* Creativity (synthetic molecules enable new effects and emotions),\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b
\n* Respect of the environment (over exploiting the soil is leading to an environmental catastrophe, without mentioning the problems of water waste in natural production),\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b
\n* Respect of the humans, as Science has enabled to design Eco and Human friendly molecules that are far more gentle than naturals.
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\nThe formulas by the perfume brand \u00c9lisire<\/span><\/strong><\/a> privilege natural ingredients as nature is at the center of the artistic attention by the Founder, Franck Salzwedel. So most of the ingredients used are natural or in the case of synthetics, extracted from nature (Ambroxan, Hedione, New Hedione, Oud wood etc).\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/healthypleasures.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Screenshot_20220928-180059_cropped-234x300.png\")
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