The chemistry of love and perfumes

Love is pure chemistry… We know that our brain reacts instantly to the smells around us and that our personal scent can provoke attraction or rejection. A question to take into account in love matters.

Personal odour unwittingly provides information about us. Each individual has a unique smell, determined by genetic factors, diet and skin bacteria, which is subjectively perceived by others. Let's say that we establish a kind of chemical communication with the people we relate to, which can increase or decrease our charm.


Do pheromones have anything to do with human chemical attraction? Pheromones are small, volatile molecules that are easily dispersed in the environment and generate effects in minute quantities," explains neuroscientist Laura López-Mascaraque in the book "What do we know about smell? However, although in the animal kingdom their relationship with sexual attraction, mate choice and parent-child interactions has been proven, the existence of pheromones in humans is less clear. "Is there olfactory control of sexual desire, are there pheromones, is there chemical communication? Most researchers would answer yes to the last question and maybe yes to both," Mascaraque reflects in the book.

However, this is not to say that the ability of perfumes to enhance our personal olfactory signature is in doubt. It is a fact. Perfumer Rodrigo Flores-Roux, vice president of perfumery at Givaudan, points out the appeal of dark, animalic scents in creating perfumes. "There is a hydrogenated molecule, scatol, which is basically the active principle of faeces, but it is a molecule that is also present in mother's milk, which is the origin of life. Indole is another molecule that has a faecal odour, but it brings out the fragrance of white flowers like jasmine, tuberose and gardenia," he explains. Pure chemistry.


The niche perfumery firm Escentric Molecules has made chemistry its hallmark. At a time when green slogans seem to be winning over consumers, the brand boasts that it bases its approach to creating perfumes on "the art of chemistry". Binary codes and chemical structures are at the heart of its communication. Molecule 01 is a perfumery icon, a scent with an animal magnetism based on pure Iso E Super , a synthesised molecule, with a woody, transparent scent that adds volume to the fragrance and enhances the body odour to make it irresistible.

Of course, perfumery has explored love in all its facets, from the romantic to the sexual. Clavin Klein has handled the stories of its fragrances with great success. The sensual (and almost sexual) provocation of the Obsession communication campaign caused a stir in 1985. Ten years later, the brand turned to romantic love with great success for the launch of Eternity. The chemistry between the model couple, Christy Turlington and Mark Vanderloo - who three decades later passed the baton to the top model's own husband, actor and film director Edward Burns - will forever be etched in our memories. In 2024 Eternity faces a new olfactory adventure with the duo Eternity Aromatic Essence, and a different love story with a new pair of lovers that is yet to be revealed…


"What is love for generation Z?" is the question fragrance giant Givaudan has asked itself in order to offer a new creative vision of perfumery on the language of love and seduction for young people. According to the company, 73% of 16-24 year olds in the United States and 68% of French people in the same age group believe that fragrance is the decisive factor that seals the love affair with the other person. With 3.9 billion views, the hashtag #PerfumeTok on Tik Tok attests to the importance of perfume to this generation.


"Embracing Generation Z's reinvention of sensuality, gender and relationships, 'What is Love' offers a realistic reading of what 'love' means to this generation. The importance attached to vulnerability and authentic feelings provides an excellent field of inspiration for our perfumers who, by empathising with this 'rule-breaking' philosophy and genderless approach, have shaken all olfactory preconceptions around attraction and love in perfumery," explains Arnaud Guggenbuhl, Fine Fragrance Head of Global Marketing Insight and Image.

Love has always had many faces, but today more than ever. Young people have opened their minds like no other generation before them to concepts such as inclusivity, equality, gender-free, open relationships, long distance and dating apps. And all this, in a post covid time. We are in the age of emotions, no rules, no gender. So how can we help Cupid to shoot scented arrows?


Perfumery has given wings to the god of love and desire in Roman mythology. Depicted as a winged child, Cupid shoots his arrows to inspire love in people's hearts. The moment of falling in love was evoked by Ralph Lauren in the 1990s, in the women's perfume Romance, a sensual scent with velvety woods, flowers and musk. Vanilla, rose, jasmine and sandalwood are distilled in the potion of Amor Amor by Cacharel, a fragrance that won over the young women of the 2000s. And a decade later, Love Story by Chloé seduced women with notes of neroli and cedar that promised to leave an impression on the first date.


"Proceed with caution… and wear with care. At first, a gentle breath of confusion, an enveloping sea of sensations, a lack of appetite, a tendency to daydream…", so reads the launch communication for Penhaligon's Liquid Love (2023), as if the fragrance before us were a magical elixir to invoke love. Rose, ginger, chilli and green hazelnut combine to create an irresistible distillate of love and desire.


We cannot forget the perfume duos, which invite us to play olfactory games with our partner: Light Blue, by Dolce & Gabbana; Classique and Le Male, by Jean Paul Gaultier; or One Million and Lady Million, by Rabanne, to name just a few examples. Nor of the new exercise by the D'Orsay brand, which has organised its fragrance catalogue according to the facets of love evoked by the olfactory chords of its fragrances.

But let's go back to science, because the power of scent - studied by neuroscience for years - is receiving increased attention and resources from fragrance companies since the pandemic. For example, for the launch of Rabanne's Phantom, Puig took 45 million brain readings of men aged 18-35 to select the most suitable ingredients for the fragrance, which turned out to be lavender and lemon.


We are on the verge of a major shift in the way perfumes are designed. Neuroscience and artificial intelligence will guide the creative talents of perfumers towards the most attractive olfactory compositions that can trigger very specific emotions in our brains. The EveryHuman project is presented as the advance guard of the democratisation of AI in perfumery, offering personalised perfumes on the spot and at an affordable price. Until they found the right algorithm, they have spent years working with psychologists, researchers and experts to gather data that they fuse with social, cultural and sociological information.


While we wait for the next revolution in perfumery, let's continue to enjoy the game of seduction proposed by the most captivating fragrances.