No more scent memories
When the perfume maker Ernest Beaux created the scent that later became the classic perfume Chanel No..5 in the early 20th century, it is said that he relied on memories of the ice-finished spring in the Arctic while serving in the Russian army. The characteristic aldehyd scent structure of No. 5 is likened to "the scent of flowers in early spring rising through white snow". Nearly a century later, an original No..5 bottle from 1921 was auctioned for about $72,000. However, the time for the last drops of incense left in the ancient incense bottle is now very different from the original that Beaux created.
To find the original, people have to go to Osmotheque - a perfume storage warehouse located in Versailles, France - where an original No..5 version is being stored in the refrigerator at an environment of 12 degrees Celsius, along with nearly 6,000 other types of perfume. Some of them have been restored by Osmotheque's own team of experts, based on the ratio and ingredients as accurate as the original formula. Other types, similar to No. 5, are recreated according to historical records stored and provided by the company itself.
Founded in 1990 by famous perfume manufacturers such as Jean Kerleo, Guy Robert and Jean-Claude Ellena, Osmotheque is considered the world's first perfume storage warehouse, sponsored by the French Parfume Association, the French Parfume Committee and the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Ile de France region. This September, the nonprofit opened a facility in the heart of Versailles. Not only a place to store, Osmotheque also organizes about 100 presentations and conferences each year about the ingredients and history of perfume.
Usually, this place is only open to visitors by appointment. But at the inauguration ceremony, the public experienced for the first time the ancient scents as they were - of which about 1,000 were once considered out of place.
Osmotheque is the only organization capable of recreating some ingredients and thereby reviving lost perfume, said Olivier Polge, a perfume manufacturer at Chanel, adding, This is an important resource for preserving the heritage of the sense of smell.
In a sense, what is in the refrigerators of Osmotheque is the story of more than 2,000 years of humanity through the scent of fragrant smell. Osmotheque's president - Mr. Thomas Fontaine once opened the refrigerator and took out the bottle containing Le Parfum Royale - restored from the formula recorded in the 1st century by Pliny the Elder in episode 13 of "History of Nature". From another cabinet, he brought out the Eau de Cologne de Napoleon a Sainte-Helene - the incense used by the French Emperor during his final days in captivity, made from the incense of lemons, bergamot oranges and orange neroli according to the original recipe of the nearby servant Louis Etienne Saint-Denis.
Writer and perfume expert Dariush Alavi, owner of the Persolaise website, said that his visit to the Osmotheque made him feel similar to the first time standing in front of Van Gogh's Sunflower painting. Suddenly, these classic fragrances became meaningful, he said. For him, Osmotheque is like a museum - one that is not affected by the rapidly changing trade trends of the perfume industry.
Reviving invisible works
Although experts consider it art, perfume is difficult to legally recognize to be in that position: The formula is only protected as a trade secret, and creating a similar scent is not considered a copyright violation. That makes many regulators always feel "lacking" a fulcrum.
Fontaine is not too concerned about that. For him, the original recipe warehouse at Osmotheque is proof of the curator's copyright: "One of Osmotheque's missions is to prove that our creations are cultural artifacts, works of art," he emphasized. That is also the reason why he sees Osmotheque as a "tool" to protect the profession.
However, in reality, perfume is still classified as a cosmetic product and is subject to many strict safety regulations. Over the decades, many classic incense sticks have been forced to change due to increasingly strict ingredient limits of the European Union. A typical example is the moss - once a core component of many masterpieces, including Mitsouko (1919) by Guerlain - is currently limited by the International Parfume Society to 0.1% because of its risk of causing allergies to about 4.5% of the population. This ingredient is now mainly replaced with synthetics or other alternative ingredients.
According to Fontaine, such changes change the entire scent. The chypre - once relying on the oat moss - is now identified as having a larger amount of shiitake, according to him, "no longer keeping the true spirit of the original chypre".
Therefore, Osmotheque plays a fulcrum role - where craftsmen can review prototypes, research and create new scents based on the classic spirit. Chanel's Olivier Polge said: "I remember I carefully researched all the colorful aspects of Allure when creating the Gabrielle."
Polge is the fourth perfume maker in Chanel's history, following his father James Polge. He launched the fragrance Gabrielle in 2017. The fragrance he created is now preserved in the Osmotheque, next to his father's Allure and Beaux's No. 25, making him feel extremely proud.
Osmotheque is the only organization that truly protects Perfume art, Polge said, adding, Its reassuring and meaningful to know that future generations can still explore these scents to their original state.
