THE CORRECT SCENTING OF COSMETICS* by A. L. v^• A••o• •/an zlmeringen-Haebler, Inc., New York, N.Y. THE C•EAV•O•r of a com- bination of odoriferous material in order to produce a pleasing scent calls for a great amount of technical knowledge and artistic ability. To become a competent perfumer even when the: artistic ability is present takes many many years of study and practice. It is therefore not my intention to discuss here that technique or art, but the question of what type scent will suit your product best. Once the formulation of your product is satisfactorily completed, the choice of a scent must be de- cided upon. Either your own per- ruiner or your supplier will submit one or more products for your con- sideration, and whether your cos- metic will be correctly scented or not•-will largely depend on the de- cision you make at that time. As the meaning of the word cos- metic is not too clearly defined, I am taking for the purpose of this dis- cussion all toilet preparations with the exception of perfumes, eau de colognes, toilet waters and such * Presented at the May 19, 1948, Meeting of The Society of Cosmetic Chemists in New York City. products which have the imparting of a pleasant odor as their sole pur- pose and function. By and large the products which we are discussing today have other functional duties the accomplishment of which should always have prime consideration. It is unnecessary for me to point out to this gathering what those prime functions are. Beyond a doubt you are better informed on this subject than I am. I first want to discuss with you those cosmetics which are used for corrective or cleansing purposes, in which case the products do not form an integral part of the woman's make-up. They may be .completely removed before the make-up is applied they may be used to re- move the make-up or they may be used as a treatment after removal of the make-up. The first function of scent in such corrective or cleansing cosmetics is the enhanced sales appeal created by the pleasing odor when your customer picks up and smells at the cosmetic counter, the bottle, box, or jar containing your product. Many a sale is made right at that moment by the appealing scent. 262

CORRECT SCENTING OF COSMETICS 263 That same pleasing scent will also make the use of your product more agreeable, and prevent the chance of losing your customer, even if your product is fundamentally right, on account of her displeasure caused by a non-agreeable odor. The time of day at which your preparation is used and the length of time it must stay on the skin should receive special consideration. Any cosmetic applied before retiring' and supposed to stay on during the night should only impart a faint, pleasant, luxurious scent. Exhil- arating odors such as Carnation, Musk, or Heliotrope types will in- terfere with sleep and should be avoided. Heavy clinging odors have a disturbing effect and should also be eliminated. Be sure not to overperfume any cosmetics applied before retiring for even the correct type of odor when present in too large a volume becomes disturbing during the hours devoted to sleep. By far the largest number of cos- metics fall into another group namely those which form part of the woman's make-up. They too have to be scented to increase their sales appeal, and of course to cover any disagreeable odors, but the most important thing to consider is that your customer, after applying her foundation cream, face powder, rouge, lipstick, eye shadow, etc., will use her favorite perfume.or toilet water as the finishing t'ouch to her toilette. That perfume or toilet water is her particular choice of scent and something which is be- yond your control. Whether the scent of your particular cosmetic is going to harmonize with the perfume of her choice is something about which you can do a great deal, and a problem which should receive your fullest attention. It is logical that this problem does not exist to the same extent for those of you who are producing a co-ordinated line of Perfume, Toilet Water, Rouge, Lipstick, Talcum Pow- der, Bath Soap, BathOil and/or Salts, fox: in those lines the odor theme of the perfume is carried through all those different preparations. Many of you, however, manu- facture only one or a few of those products and then you can imagine the chaotic effect that may result when a customer uses bath oil or bath salts, bath soap, dusting pow- der, face powder, rouge, and lipstick all-scented with different fragrances, and finally your customer adds her favorite perfum e . Regardless of how beautiful the scents used in those preparations may be individually,, the user will present a discordant, jarring odor picture unless there is an underlying harmony. Many a woman will admire a hat, dress, shoes, or handbag but refrain from buying it on account of the fact that that particular item does not go well with the rest of her ward- robe. She is fully conscious of the fact that a beautiful hat, a beautiful 'suit, beautiful shoes, and beautiful accessories that do not match may make her appear a sight instead of a symphony.