124 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY ß Technical qualities: 1. A perfume must be power- ful. 2. It must be balanced. 3. It must be lasting. Let us first deal in detail with the artistic qualities. .4 perfume must be pleasant. This is obvious and will be obtained through the excellence of the prod- ucts used and also through the rich- ness of combinations, or, rather a we say in French, "des Accords" of these products among themselves. .4 perfume must be elegant. It must have "chic," that is, it must be in harmony with fashion although it must not have the temporary character of the latter. .4 perfume must be original. Whether it is based on a new idea, a, new accord, or whether it is a new interpretation of a note already known, it is indispensable that a perfume be original. It will attract not only women who are always looking for novelty but also those who are rather conservative. Let us now deal with the technical qualities: strength, balance, and tenacity. .4 perfume must be powerful. In order to compensate for the increase of price of certain raw materials it is often decided to reduce the concen- tration of perfumes. In my opinion, the result so obtained is just as disastrous as an orchestra heard from too great a distance or a beau- tiful painting poorly lighted. But, if it is obvious that the strength of the perfume is in proportion to its OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS concentration• I must add that the balance of the formula contributes also greatly to its strength, for it is through balance that we will obtain a perfume having body and leaving a lingering fragrance. .4 perfume must be balanced. By balance we do not mean that a perfume must be so well rounded that it will present no dominant note. On the contrary, a perfume too much leveled off or overpol- ished, lacks character just as an overfinished drawing or a too mo- notonous tune. A balanced perfume means a perfume clear and clean cut. A perfume must not be a com- plicated mixture of pleasant odors the total price of which must not exceed a maximum determined by sales considerations. It must be the exact and living expression of a principal idea surrounded and sup- ported by a proper background. Therefore, a perfume formula must not be burdened by useless products which not only render its manufacture complicated and in- crease needlessly the necessary stock of raw materials, but also bring confusion to the perfume instead of making its proper note come out. .4 perfume must be lasting. By •this I mean that the characteristic note of the perfume must not change and that it must continue to effuse for several hours from the person who wears it. I must insist somewhat on this point because if many fanciful tales have been said and written about the technique of perfumes, it is on the subject of fixation that the most

THE PERFUMER'S ART 125 errors have been committed. It is true that many persons do not have a correct sense of smell. Certain people are afflicted with a kind of odor-blindness or astigmatism and make errors in odor values. Others are sensitive only to certain odors others yet suffering from a sort of olfactory myopia have a very limited sense of smell. In our own pro- fession we are not immune to certain temporary deficiencies, caused by colds, fatigue, a temporary physical indisposition or even by the climate or the surroundings in which we hap- pen to be. But the knowledge that we have of our nose, the training of our sense of smell, the numerous daily checkups we make, and finally our custom of relying strictly on comparisons, enable us to have a certain assurance in our judgment. Unfortunately, it is very often that we meet people such as the ones I have just mentioned. They are the ones who generally claim that perfumes are not lasting, whereas the contrary may have been defi- nitely proved by test made by technicians having a trained sense of smell. The danger is that in order to comply with these requests for extreme lasting qualities we run the risk of sacrificing other qualities of the perfume. This is a serious error and it is our duty as tech- nicians to avoid it. Nevertheless, it remains true that a good perfume must be lasting and in order to obtain that result it is generally advised to use fixatives. Fixatives have received the at- tention of the most authoritative technicians and I don't want to discuss this point in detail, their respective value nor, the way they retain the perfume either by their porosity or in lowering the boiling point of the blend. There are various opinions about fixatives but I feel that we must not depend entirely on them to increase, to a great exten.t, the value of a per- fume if the latter has been poorly constructed. In many cases if an odor remains perceptible longer it Js that of the fixative and not the characteristic odor of the perfume. However, the most efficient fixa- tives are the natural tinctures of Musk, Ambergris, Civet, etc. These products, aside from their fixative action, act as the binder of the various elements of the perfume and give it life. These tinctures are always used after being ma- tured. Certain technicians use artificial and rapid aging, whereas others prefer natural aging for several years because they hesitate to stop using a process which has consistently proved satisfactory to them. In passing, let us note that aging is also used for some oils like patch- ouli, vetiver, Bulgarian rose, whereas other oils must be t•sed in their highest state of freshness. Tenacity is also dependent on the chemical stability of the perfume. As you know, the raw materials used must be free from chlorine for instance, since this may alter the perfume. But it is also necessary to avoid other impurities which,