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Hedione... Hedione, He-di-one, Hedione,
C13 H22 O3, Methyl Dihydrojasmonate.
It is actually a tiny chemical compound which, since it was created by Firmenich and production started in 1961,
is said to have transformed the world of perfumery.
Today it is used in more than 60% of all fragrances and bodycare products on the market.
Its linear note captures the freshness of jasmine.
How did such a small molecule turn out to be such an important discovery for a whole industry?
In order to find out, I set out to talk to various key players in the world of fragrances,
perfumers, of course, but also engineers and chemical engineers.
From Paris to Geneva, across the sites that witnessed the creation of Hedione,
this is only the beginning of my olfactive investigation.
First chat is with Octavian Coifan, author of the blog 1000 Fragrances,
historian of perfume and independent perfumer.
We meet at the Versailles Osmothèque, international conservatory for the greatest fragrances of all time.
You could say I am at home wherever there are scents.
When you start using your nose, out in nature, and start smelling what surrounds us,
then you start understanding the essence of life, and the essence of life is fragrance.
Since the age of six, Octavian memorizes the names of the plants.
He first studied chemistry, in his homeland Romania,
then chose to go to France to learn about perfumes, learn their history and their secrets.
This is when he encountered Hedione.
I first caught a hint of the famous Hedione in the 1990s,
at a time when everybody, or close to everybody wore one fragrance that filled the streets.
That fragrance was Acqua di Giò.
Acqua di Giò is a wonderful fragrance, able to litterally occupy the atmosphere.
Hedione does not only have a strong release power, it also seems to make blends fresher, weightless.
Hedione reveals the true essence of nature.
Jasmine brings you deep human scents, the slightly filthy, sensual scents,
while Hedione gives wings to jasmine.
It is a magic trick that makes a fragrance vibrate, so that it is alive and not just on skin.
Hedione is a molecule that does not have a strong smell.
It took the genius mind of a perfumer
to understand how much this quite faint scent of a molecule could bring to a composition.
The first fragrance that made Hedione's name known is the iconic Eau Sauvage by Dior,
hence I will carry on to holy ground and be on my way to the Maison Dior.
The investigation goes on.