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My olfactive investigation goes on in Geneva at the Firmenich Research and Perfumery headquarters.
I am willing to hear more about the various applications of Hedione, and about its future.
I meet Pierre-Alain Blanc,
quite a unconventional master perfumer and chemical engineer.
When I was young and handsome, a long, long time ago, I trained as a chemist,
and our company is unique in the industry,
for the person who selects the research molecules is both chemical engineer and perfumer.
Chemical engineer in order to be able to work along other chemical engineers,
have an eye for quality, suggest molecular structures.
Perfumer, so to say « creator », to be aware of market demands and trends.
Biker at heart, it all started thanks to his genetic predisposition for the world of scents.
He can smell every single scent, which is why his first contact with Hedione was rather surprising.
The first time I smelt it, I didn’t smell it.
I remember, I had started working in perfumery, my mentor Mr Maurice made me create a cologne,
he said to add 0,1% Hedione. I said this will bring nothing, right?
I added Hedione to the soap, it was unbeliavable. I showed it to ten persons, all ten chose it.
If Hedione’s many qualities are widely recognised, synthesizing it is a true work of art.
And even though its composition is public domain, few companies seek to make their own Hedione.
I see Hedione as a molecule created by watchmakers. It is not unlike a Swiss watch. This product is very hard to make.
One fleck of dust, you won’t be able to get rid of it and it will ruin the whole production.
Many competitors have tried, many have given up because they could never get high enough quality.
Hedione’s potential and uses have granted it an important part in functionnal perfumery :
soaps, detergents and other cleaning products.
All the more now that, in this sector, scent has become added value, a marketing selling point even.
Advertising has changed a lot : the detergent smells so good, it smells of lavender, etc.
Thirty years ago, this wouldn’t be mentionned. The sense of smell wouldn’t really be referred to.
Detergents just washed white. Almost 80 to 85% of all formulas include Hedione.
It has become universal, now produced in terms of thousands of tons.
The challenges around Hedione are now clear : to reach the best synthesis in order to increase its effect.
90% of Hedione is odourless, still, it is highly effective.
Little by little, as its price went down, perfumers added 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30% of it.
But using too much also means dilution, which is why we want to make it more concentrated.
Thus a new molecule was born, derived from the original, bearing the pretty name of Paradisone.
In 50 years, researchers crafted further declinations of Hedione,
each with its specificities, such as Veloutone, Delphone, Splendione. But this is another story.
I now know more about the fresh breeze that has been tickling our noses for over half a century.
Without Hedione, no doubt modern perfumery would be very different.
It make us more beautiful, more fresh. It moves us, when we tell its story.
True to itself, its sensory and industrial qualities keep evolving and improving with time.