And that brings me directly into Part 3, because this is where I want to go much deeper into who is actually behind these fragrances. Not just the brand name on the bottle, but the perfumers, the major fragrance manufacturers, the oil houses, the raw-material suppliers, and where these companies are actually sourcing what eventually ends up in the bottle. This is where the perfume industry starts getting a lot more interesting, because the brand selling you the fragrance is not always the company actually creating everything behind it. The Name on the Bottle Is Only Part of the Story One of the biggest misconceptions in fragrance is that every perfume house has a perfumer sitting somewhere in the back room creating every fragrance from scratch. That simply isn't how a large part of this industry operates. There are several different business models. Some houses employ in-house perfumers. Some hire independent perfumers. Some commission fragrances from major fragrance manufacturers. Some work with outside laboratories. Some purchase fragrance concentrates or bases and modify them. Some independent perfumers actually formulate, compound, test, and produce much of their own work. And there are companies using combinations of all of these methods. This is why I think we need to stop looking at perfume as simply brand versus brand. Behind those brands is another entire industry. The Major Fragrance Manufacturers At the top of the fragrance supply chain are companies most fragrance consumers will never see advertised on a bottle. · Givaudan · dsm-firmenich · IFF · Symrise · MANE · Robertet · Takasago These are some of the giants of the fragrance and flavor industry. They employ perfumers, chemists, evaluators, researchers, and technical specialists. They develop aroma chemicals, natural extracts, proprietary ingredients, fragrance bases, and complete fragrance concentrates. These companies can work on everything from a $20 body product to a prestige designer fragrance selling for hundreds of dollars.

Vetiver comes from the roots of a tropical grass, and its essential oil is prized for a complex profile that can smell earthy, smoky, woody, nutty, grassy, dry and even slightly boozy. But beyond its smell, vetiver can also act like a vertical backbone in a perfume: linking bright top notes to deeper woody bases, drying out sweetness, and adding a grown-up, woody structure. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grjung53fpg