Popularity of Overdose Fragrances - why?

[jfrater]

Hey all - I was just thinking about how so many of the greatest perfumes involve heavy overdoses of certain chemicals or oils. Why do you think this is?

Here are a few examples:

Chanel No 5: overdose of aldheydes and animalics (mostly deer musk)
Joy: overdose of rose de mai and jasmin absolute
Bois des Iles: overdose of vetiver and sandalwood
Tabu: overdose of Patchouli and ethyl vanillin
L'Origan: overdose of ionones and dianthine
Tresor: overdose of Grojsman accord
Mitsouko: overdose of peach "aldehyde"
Patou pour homme privee: patchouli overdose
L'Air du Desert Morocain: vetiver chemical overdose
Nuit de Noel: Mousse de Saxe overdose

I am thinking mainly of the vintage versions (where applicable) as most have been reformulated.

 

[I.D.Adam]

I would guess that at the time these were released the overdosed component in question was fairly unique or just had not been so overtly expressed in prior perfumes giving the buying public something new and shocking to try.

 

[Clare30]

I think it was Coco Chanel herself who kept requesting the increase of aldehydes in no5. I suppise as Adam says people want to showcase new things. Look at the saturation of Oud nowadays. Not that it's a "new thing" as much as a new discovery for a lot of perfume customers.

I wonder also if the reason they are popular is just because they overdose on particular very identifiable components so that people latch onto it. Overall, lay people are not very comprehensive in their knowledge of notes in combination, so if a perfume smells of something immediate that they can latch onto and identify it works to sell the perfume to them. Since getting people to buy something largely is about getting them to identify with something- like coca cola, or fairy liqud, they not only get the name, but the colour, the style of the bottle, the taste in the case of food and beverages, and it becomes "their thing". Most of the perfumes you list there, during their peak times and even beyond even a lay person could identify what perfume it was just by smelling it as someone walked into a room, and that relies I would think largely on a few stand-out "quick-grab" notes .

Interesting observation you make here, and really made me think.
Clare

 

[Kacper Kafel]

Armani SI, Drakkar Noir Guy Laroche and Alien Thierry Mugler--- Overdose ambroxan and salicylates.
Calvin Klein Euphoria, One Million, --- Overdose ambrox/ambroxan with sandalwood AC ( probably javanol)
Boss Bottled, Pure Poison Christian Dior --- Javanol overdose
Joop Femme - Coumarin and civet overdose
Le Male- Sandalwood ac ( javanol mostly) coumarin and polycyclic musk overdosed.
Light Blue- Ambrox and Grojsman accord without ionone overdosed.
Boss Femme, Lacoste Pour Femme-- Overdosed Grojsman Accord and Musks.
DKNY Be Delicious--- Undecavertol overdose
DKNY NY- c 12 MNA aldehyde, ambroxan and salicylate overdosed.

 

[jfrater]

I think it was Coco Chanel herself who kept requesting the increase of aldehydes in no5. I suppise as Adam says people want to showcase new things. Look at the saturation of Oud nowadays. Not that it's a "new thing" as much as a new discovery for a lot of perfume customers.

I wonder also if the reason they are popular is just because they overdose on particular very identifiable components so that people latch onto it. Overall, lay people are not very comprehensive in their knowledge of notes in combination, so if a perfume smells of something immediate that they can latch onto and identify it works to sell the perfume to them. Since getting people to buy something largely is about getting them to identify with something- like coca cola, or fairy liqud, they not only get the name, but the colour, the style of the bottle, the taste in the case of food and beverages, and it becomes "their thing". Most of the perfumes you list there, during their peak times and even beyond even a lay person could identify what perfume it was just by smelling it as someone walked into a room, and that relies I would think largely on a few stand-out "quick-grab" notes .

Interesting observation you make here, and really made me think.
Clare

I believe the story about Chanel requesting more aldehydes is untrue - Rallet No1. was already half way to the total aldehydes that appear in Chanel No 5 and it was a perfume Beaux had already tweaked before (From Bouquet de Catherine to Rallet No 1). Some even say that Chanel didn't even smell the perfumes she was offered but merely chose 5 because it was her lucky number (she always launched her new shoes on 5/5). And then when she decided to go on her own with perfumes because she felt she wasn't getting enough money from her contract after she sold off Chanel Perfumes, the resulting perfume (Chanel Mademoiselle No. 1) had no aldehydes at all but, interesting, did have another overdose material: this time methyl ionone.

I guess it is no different from the various perfumes put out by the fashion houses these days - you'd be lucky if people like Jean Paul Gaultier, Ralph Lauren, etc. ever smell the perfumes wth their names on before they are launched.

 

[jfrater]

Armani SI, Drakkar Noir Guy Laroche and Alien Thierry Mugler--- Overdose ambroxan and salicylates.
Calvin Klein Euphoria, One Million, --- Overdose ambrox/ambroxan with sandalwood AC ( probably javanol)
Boss Bottled, Pure Poison Christian Dior --- Javanol overdose
Joop Femme - Coumarin and civet overdose
Le Male- Sandalwood ac ( javanol mostly) coumarin and polycyclic musk overdosed.
Light Blue- Ambrox and Grojsman accord without ionone overdosed.
Boss Femme, Lacoste Pour Femme-- Overdosed Grojsman Accord and Musks.
DKNY Be Delicious--- Undecavertol overdose
DKNY NY- c 12 MNA aldehyde, ambroxan and salicylate overdosed.

That's interesting - I didn't realise Javanol featured so heavily in those perfumes. Le Male is a curious one that's for sure.

I think Cool Water may have been an overdose of Dihydromyrcenol IIRC.

 

[Clare30]

Wow, okay. I suppose she never smelled them, then. Not the story told by the House of Chanel ( I used to work for them as a freelance in Harrods), but myths do like to grow and change.

I bow to your superior knowledge.

 

[I.D.Adam]

That's interesting - I didn't realise Javanol featured so heavily in those perfumes. Le Male is a curious one that's for sure.

I'm surprised as well given it's price and strength.