The Essence of Fragrance – What Goes Into Creating A Scentsy Fragrance?

The 9 Olfactive Families and What Is a Top, Mid and Base Note?

One of the highlights in my Scentsy calender is the World Tour and this year Scentsy hit Dublin, Manchester and Kassel in Germany.  Being in Essex, all destinations are just as far as eachother lol so we opted for Manchester.  Scentsy World Tour is a one day convention where we receive training, product reveals and of course the opportunity to get together with those within our teams and the wider world of Scentsy.  I find it really strange actually seeing people “in person” as they are my colleagues.  Although we often speak on Facebook throughout the day, it is great to cement those friendships “in the flesh”.

So we set off from Essex at 4.00am and after one stop to have some breakfast, we made it to Manchester at 8.50am, 10 minutes to spare before it started at 9.00am.  Thank goodness, by some miracle we didn’t get lost!  For anyone who knows me and my husband, this truly is incredible!  Even with a satnav we will end up in a back road rather than on a motorway!!

It was so lovely to meet one of my new team members, we speak daily on Facebook, but it was invaluable to be able to spend the day together.

We received training on various topics, but the training which I really found fascinating was titled “The Essence of Fragrance”.  I sell Scentsy wax bars daily, but really did not appreciate the expertise that goes into creating the fragrances.

There are 9 olfactive families.

CITRUS – Mandarin, Bergamotm Lime and Grapefruit

GREEN – Basil, Spearmint, Triplal, Peppermint and Thyme

OZONIC – Calone, Aldehyde C11 and Aldehyde C12

FLORAL – Rose, Muget, Jasmine, Mimosa and Gardenia

FRUITY – Peach, Raspberry, Melon, Apple and Strawberry

SPICE – Pepper, Clove, Nutmeg and Cinnamon

GOURMAND – Vanilla, Caramel, Cocoa, Brown Sugar and Butter

MUSK – Ambrettolide and Galaxolide

WOODY – Sandalwood, Patchouli, Fir Balsam, Cedarwood and Olibanum

Each Scentsy bar fragrance is structured using a top note, a mid note and a base note.

TOP NOTE – this is the initial fragrance you smell once the wax has reached a temperature of between 21-49°C.  The fragrances typically classed as a top note are aldehydes, ozone, citrus, greens, some herbs and some fruits.

MID NOTE – these notes give the fragrance it’s character and typically include flowers, fruits, spices and herbs.  The mid-notes evaporate after the top notes, once the wax has reached between 49-71°C.  When used in a Scentsy wax bar, the mid-notes typically last 24 hours longer than the top notes.

BASE NOTE – these notes give the fragrance their longevity and typically include sweet, powders, resins, woods, musk and heavy fruits.  It is not uncommon to not even detect any of the base notes in a fragrance until you warm it.  The base notes evaporate last once the wax has reached between 71-104°C.  Typically, a base note can last as long as 3 to 5 days when warmed.

As I have mentioned in previous blogs, Scentsy’s wax melts at 49°C (just above body temperature).  Scentsy warmers are designed to keep the wax at a temperature which maintains the mid and base notes.  So we don’t lose the top notes too soon, the fragrance pyramid in the Scentsy bars is inverted, this means that our bars are top note heavy.  Scentsy have designed their fragrances this way because they want the fragrance you smell when you first open a bar to last over time.  On average, there are 30 to 60 fragrances included in a single Scentsy bar!

Scentsy use a combination of natural and synthetic oils, with the main reason being is this is what will give customers the best, most consistent experience.  Scentsy complies with all four governing bodies that determine fragrance oil safety (Research Institute for Fragrance Manufacturing, International Fragrance Association, REACH and the Consumer Labeling Protocol and the United States Environmental Protection Agency).

We came home armed with some free goodies from the new catalogue, including a warmer which has now taken pride of place in my living room.

We did manage to get lost getting out of Manchester and found ourselves driving back and forth over the same flyover but the day would not have been complete if we didn’t get lost lol

If you are a Scentsy Consultant and have never been to a Scentsy World Tour or Convention, I really do highly recommend going along.  The training you receive is invaluable and its a fantastic opportunity to meet staff from head office in the US, as well as other Scentsy consultants.

If you are interested in joining Scentsy UK and becoming an Independent Scentsy Consultant, please email me becky@thecandleboutique.co.uk for more information.