Fragrance substantivity

Muller, P. M., Neuner-Jehle, N., and Etzweiler, F. 1993. What makes a fragrance substantive ... 

Initial evaluations of chemicals produced for screening are performed by smelling them from paper blotters. However, more information is necessary given the time and expense required to commercialize a new chemical. No matter how pleasant or desirable a potential odorant appears to be, its performance must be studied and compared with available ingredients in experimental fragrances. A material may fail to Hve up to the promise of its initial odor evaluation for a number of reasons. It is not at all uncommon to have a chemical disappear in a formulation or skew the overall odor in an undesirable way. Some materials are found to be hard to work with in that their odors stick out and caimot be blended weU. Because perfumery is an individuaHstic art, it is important to have more than one perfumer work with a material of interest and to have it tried in several different fragrance types. Aroma chemicals must be stable in use if their desirable odor properties are to reach the consumer. Therefore, testing in functional product appHcations is an important part of the evaluation process. Other properties that can be important for new aroma chemicals are substantivity on skin and cloth, and the abiHty to mask certain malodors. 

Deodorant soaps add fragrances that are partially substantive to the skin and that mask body odors, and antimicrobial agents. The antimicrobials, such as Tritfocarban , are deposited on the skin and inhibit bacterial growth and assodated malodors. 

The softener performance perceived by consumers is the balance between the absolute efficacy determined in the laboratory and the product aesthetics. In other words, the consumer perception of the product performance is heavily influenced by aesthetic attributes such as fragrance and viscosity. Consumer tests indeed show that perfume, and more precisely perfume substantivity on fabrics, is the main reason for preferring one product among several delivering the same softness. Consumers appreciate both the odor of the product itself, which generates the appeal and causes the purchase intent, and the smell of the laundered fabrics, which settles the repurchase intent. 

We have touched briefly on how reduced vapour pressures can lead to reduced rates of evaporation. This means that physicochemical properties not only influence perfume volatility per se but also affect other aspects of fragrance behaviour, such as substantivity and retention. These terms are used within the industry to denote perfume longevity in use, usually with respect to a particular substrate and/or surface (e.g. skin, hair, cloth, etc.). 

The Q is put into QSAR by describing the structure of a compound in a quantitative way, the simplest examples of quantitative descriptors being the mass of the compound or the number of atoms present. When the compound is described using physical, as opposed to structural, properties the relationship becomes a PAR. Correlations of this type have been used in the perfumery industry to describe and predict the substantivity and retention of fragrance ingredients that is, the ability of a compound to stick to and remain bound to surfaces such as hair, skin or cloth (see Chapter 11 for more details). 

C17H28O2, MT 264.41, rag0 1.499-1.509, dg 1.044-1.054, is a colorless to faintly yellow liquid, which may become partly crystalline. It possess a powerful woody-ambery note. The material is recommended for use in all fragrance applications, especially for perfuming detergents and fabric softener, due to its excellent technical properties such as stability and substantivity. 

S. Escher and E. Oliveros, A quantitative study of factors that influence the substantivity of fragrance chemicals on laundered and dried fabrics, J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc., 1994, 71(1), 31 10. 

In the past five years, the quantitative measurement of quality, intensity, duration and hedonics of flavors and fragrances has become important. The measurements are used both for comparison of new products to those on the market and for substantiation of performance claims. For this last measurement the use of naive panels which reflect the opinions of the potential consumer becomes important. Examples of the types of measurements needed are a) odor and flavor intensities of ingredients and finished products, b) substantivity of fragrances on skin and c) the effect of solvent on the odor intensity of a fragrance. Although the discipline of physical chemistry can be... 

In the context of flavour and fragrance ingredients, C02-extracted essential oils have found applications in many product areas. In fragrances their retained top notes and the character of the original (derived from the molecular weight components 200-400, not found in steam-distilled oils) impart both life and substantivity. Although most readily appreciated in fine perfumery and colognes, these features have also been demonstrated in toiletries and soaps. 

Fine fragrances must work on the skin and blend with body odor. They must be pleasant, diffusive, substantive (long-lasting), and have the quality of genuine beauty as well as signature characteristics that distinguish them from each other. For most fine fragrances, the perfumes are themselves the products. They are sold to the consumer at various... 

The interactions between the fragrance components modified by the base effects referred to in the previous paragraph illustrate how skilled the perfumer needs to be to achieve a composition or blend which preserves a particular character of odor. Some attempt was made by Pickthall to discuss the matter scientifically over 40 years ago [14] and the opening words of his paper are as true today as when he wrote them. It is remarkable that so little has been written on these two important phenomena in perfumery, namely, blending and fixation. Perhaps it is not so remarkable, as the phenomena are so complex to attempt anything more than generalizations. However the term fixation is one we have not yet reviewed and it is important in the context of substantivity. 

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