Pretty Iconic by Sali Hughes

Author:Sali Hughes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2016-09-23T04:00:00+00:00

Escentric Molecule 01

A perfume that’s not a perfume; that’s there, then isn’t, then is again; that can apparently be smelled by everyone except the person wearing it, with whom they will all fall helplessly in lust.

Escentric Molecule’s attention-grabbing 2006 scent sounds like something halfway between a mad scientist’s dinner party trick and the kind of magic potion shilled in the back pages of an offbeat 1970s magazine. Rumours swirled about Molecule 01’s shape-shifting, attractant qualities: that it was a pheromone, that it acted like a pheromone, that it activated the body’s natural pheromones. The truth, according to creator Geza Schoen, was simply that it’s ‘not possible not to like it’, though the perfume’s quasi-mystical rep does perhaps have some scientific basis.

First, is Molecule 01 a perfume at all? Well, yes and no. Meet Iso E Super, an aroma chemical that adds a woody quality to soaps, detergents, deodorants, air fresheners, even tobacco flavouring. It’s also a common component of many perfumes, notably Calvin Klein’s Eternity, Dior’s Fahrenheit, Perles de Lalique and Terre d’Hermès. And Molecule 01? Well, Molecule 01 doesn’t feature Iso E Super. It is Iso E Super. Apart from some diluting alcohol, there’s nothing else in the bottle. The idea was that, unencumbered by traditional balancing ingredients, Molecule 01 would insinuate itself more subtly than a conventional perfume, the chemical staying close to the skin, the velvety cedar and sandalwood note dancing with the wearer’s own chemistry, phasing in and out in response to changes in body temperature. Because of its responsiveness to the heat of the skin, Molecule 01 can seemingly vanish altogether, only later to reappear. The whole effect, then, is organic, primal even; a suggestion – unlike a conventional perfume, unshamedly ‘worn’ – that the fickle scent of Molecule 01 emanates from the wearer themselves.

Furtive as its single ingredient may be, Molecule 01 has remained a big seller. Layering with other fragrances may help you tether it down; I just like my fragrances to be a little more dependable, a lot less tricksy. But Molecule 01 was undoubtedly innovative, cheekily deconstructing conventional scent to challenge the very notion of what a perfume could or should be.

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