aromasdesalazar

Most people imagine iris as soft, powdery, and makeup-like.

But the real story is much more interesting.

The prized ingredient used in perfumery isn’t actually the flower—it’s the rhizome (underground stem) of the iris plant. After harvesting, the rhizomes are dried and aged for 3–5 years before they develop their characteristic aroma. Freshly harvested orris has very little scent at all.

Once matured, it reveals an incredibly complex profile:
🌿 Dry woody facets
🌶️ A subtle spicy, carrot-like nuance
🪵 Earthy roots
🧈 Creamy, buttery richness
💄 Powdery violet tones

That buttery character comes from a family of molecules called irones, which are responsible for the luxurious scent that has made iris one of the most treasured materials in perfumery.

Because true orris butter is one of the most expensive natural perfume materials in the world, perfumers often build iris accords using a combination of natural materials and aroma molecules to capture its many facets. Depending on the formula, an iris accord can lean elegant and powdery, dry and woody, earthy and rooty, or even surprisingly spicy.

Our Iris Accord explores that richer side of iris—the one that highlights its woody, earthy, buttery, and root-like character rather than just powder.

What’s your favorite style of iris?

🌧️ Rain Accord

Rain itself has very little scent. What we perceive as the smell of rain is actually a combination of compounds released from the earth, plants, and atmosphere during and after a storm.

One of the most famous materials associated with rain is Geosmin, a naturally occurring molecule produced by bacteria. It is responsible for the earthy aroma that rises from the ground after rainfall, known as petrichor. Humans are incredibly sensitive to geosmin and can detect it at extremely low concentrations.

Creating a rain accord is less about reproducing water itself and more about recreating the atmosphere surrounding a rainstorm. Damp soil, wet stone, soaked concrete, crushed leaves, cool air, and distant ozone all contribute to the illusion.

For this accord, geosmin provides the earthy foundation while carefully selected materials add mineralic, aquatic, green, and ozonic facets. The goal is not simply to smell like rain, but to capture the feeling of standing outside after a storm as the clouds begin to part and the world slowly comes back to life.

What does rain smell like to you?

Chestnut

For centuries, chestnuts were a staple food across Europe and Asia, earning the nickname “The Bread Tree” due to their use in flours, breads, and desserts. Today, the aroma of roasted chestnuts remains synonymous with warmth, comfort, and nostalgia.

In perfumery, chestnut is largely a fantasy note recreated through an accord rather than a single material. Rich, warm, nutty, and slightly sweet, it evokes toasted nuts, fresh baked bread, caramelized sugars, and subtle woody nuances.

One of the greatest challenges in creating this accord was working with pyrazines, thiazoles, and furans—the molecules responsible for many roasted and baked aromas. These materials are incredibly powerful and unforgiving; a trace too little leaves the accord flat, while a trace too much can make it harsh or burnt.

The goal was to capture the aroma of chestnuts roasting over an open fire: the toasted shell, soft starchy interior, and gentle sweetness that fills the air on a cool autumn evening.

What does roasted chestnut remind you of: fresh baked bread, toasted nuts, or a cozy fireplace?

We are happy to announce that we now will be offering our perfumery education courses on Skool. Here you will have full access to the beginner and intermediate course without restriction and can work it at your own pace.

You will also have access to post and ask questions for the other members and be given exclusive access to perfumery educational material we will only post there.

It is free to join and the courses are a one time payment for full access without expiration. Currently working on the intermediate course and will be doing an advanced course in the future as that will be much more in depth and structured.

While the courses currently do not contain any video elements yet, we want to do a monthly live session to be able to answer any of your perfumery questions you may have.

In the meantime, come sign up and say hello! Get started with the beginners course and get an in depth understanding of getting started.

Hope to see you there!!

https://www.skool.com/independent-perfumers-5185/about?ref=01d9dd7db1cd4257b63ecb2f9aad2cf3

Gunpowder

When we think of gunpowder, we often imagine the smell of battlefields, fireworks, cannons, and spent ammunition. But what many people don’t realize is that traditional gunpowder is surprisingly simple.

Invented in China sometime during the 9th century, gunpowder was originally developed by alchemists searching for an elixir of immortality. Instead, they accidentally discovered one of the most influential inventions in human history. The formula consisted of three ingredients: potassium nitrate (saltpeter), charcoal, and sulfur.

While these materials each possess their own odor, the smell most people associate with gunpowder is not actually the powder itself, but rather the aroma created after ignition. The combustion process produces a complex cloud of smoke filled with sulfurous, mineralic, metallic, smoky, and slightly acrid nuances. It is this scent that became forever linked to battlefields, fireworks displays, and historical warfare.

In perfumery, gunpowder falls into the category of a “fantasy accord.” There is no natural gunpowder essential oil or extract. Instead, perfumers build the illusion through carefully selected materials that recreate its atmosphere.

Smoky notes such as birch tar, cade, guaiacol, and isobutyl quinoline can provide the charred and burnt facets. Sulfurous and mineralic effects may be created through traces of blackcurrant materials, certain pyrazines, or specialty aroma chemicals. Metallic notes can evoke the sensation of hot steel, while incense and woody materials add the lingering smoke that hangs in the air long after the explosion has faded.

The result is not a literal recreation of gunpowder, but rather an olfactory interpretation of smoke, fire, metal, and history—a scent that captures the feeling of standing beside a cannon after it has fired or watching sparks disappear into the night sky.

Perfumery is often about recreating things that do not have a true smell of their own. Gunpowder is one of the most fascinating examples: a blend of chemistry, history, and imagination transformed into fragrance.

This month marks a very special milestone. 5 years ago we started a journey, a passion project, something we never thought would get to where it is today. From the beginning, it has always been about creating thought provoking and quality fragrances. To many, this seemed silly and like something that didn’t really have a purpose. But we found it within ourselves to keep going and to do the best we can each and everyday.

This has not been an easy thing to do. Have made many mistakes along the way, but we kept getting up and moving forward. To think back to when I was working in my living room out of shoe boxes trying to figure out what Linalool does and why Benzyl acetate smelled like nail polish remover, to what it is now is so surreal.

Thank you, all of you. You have all made it possible for me to continue pursuing my dream and passion and it means the world to me. I always try to give back to the community and industry as much as possible in hopes to help others see their dream come true.

To celebrate, we will be having an event at our local boutique here in San Diego . We will be there June 27th from 12pm-3pm for those that want to stop by and say hello. We also will be doing a special, buy any 50ml during the time we are there and receive a 15ml travel size free (while supplies last). Just a way for us to say thank you to everyone for their love and support.

Here’s to another 5 years of growth and success.

Michael

I want to start a new series where you get real world behind the scenes look into the life of an independent perfumer. Here it where we will show packing orders, different stages of production, processing, shipping and logistics, etc. We hope to continue opening the world to you guys of what this industry is about and how it works.

Here is the first of the “POV Perfumer” series and a look into what a day starts off like sometimes.

Enjoy!