Perfumer Shelly Waddington About Her Book Perfuming With Natural Isolates

Shelley Waddington, owner of EnVoyage Perfumes launches her book Perfuming With Natural Isolates. The official launch date was February 2, 2012. Her book is a complete reference manual about natural isolates. Fragrantica did an interview with Shelley to give the readers a short synopsis of her book. Here's what we talked about.

Shelley: I teach courses about natural isolates, as you know. As I continued expanding my own knowledge, the size of the course kept growing to the point where I realized that a book was needed.

My foundational experience in making perfume was exclusively with naturals. When I began to incorporate nature-identical molecules, isolated single molecules, and man-made molecules into my work, several friends and contacts in the natural perfume community expressed their interest in learning about natural isolates. Nature's Nexus Academy of Perfuming Arts invited me to instruct a unit on the topic, and I began teaching about them privately as well.

Unexpected and challenging questions from students often caused me to turn to my expert advisors for answers and I continued to acquire additional knowledge—which I naturally kept adding into the course. Eventually the sheer size of the course material expanded to the point where the need for a book became obvious.

I've included several color illustrations and also some illustrative charts. Reading and learning should be fun and easy! Besides, each individual varies in the way they most enjoy satisfying their curiosity—good teachers and authors understand the value of being able to best reach all styles of learning and levels of mastery. I've done my best to achieve that balance.

Natural isolates are single fragrant molecules that are expertly derived from natural raw materials. The raw materials themselves contain a vast array of different molecules. They are complex. But an isolate is a very simple and straightforward thing. One molecule, that's it.

Most perfume-lovers will recognize most if not all of these early extractions; ambrein from ambergris, ionones from violets, irones from iris (orris), methyl anthranilate from neroli, patchouli alcohol from patchouli, linalyl acetate from linalool, neryl acetate from nerol, nerolidol from neroli, cedrene and cedrol from cedars and junipers, atlantone from Atlas cedarwood, phenylethyl alcohol and damascenone and rose oxide from rose flower extracts (otto and absolute), vetiverol and vetiveryl acetate from vetiver, guaiol and guaiyl acetate from guaiacwood, and pyrazines, which give roasted foods (meats, nuts, coffee, etc.) that certain je ne sais quoi. This is just a small sample of a much larger list!

(By the way, among the topics covered in Chapter One is the complete definition of an isolate, the development of isolates over time, determining naturality, and the source materials from which natural isolates are derived.)

Perfumers will gain new insider knowledge of ingredients and techniques in her book which were used in famous historic and contemporary perfumes, about which she says, "Historic perfumes are so interesting in their own right. They provide insightful snapshots in time, fascinating stories, and are great training tools. But possibly most important are the ways that historical perfumes continue to influence new contemporary perfumes.

Just look at Rondeletia, a famous proprietary blend that dates back to the 1870's (and one of the older formulas I included in the book). Interestingly, Rondeletia is listed as a 'new note' in Houbigant's 2010 modernized version of Fougère Royale.

Readers will also find details about some of the specific materials included in several famous perfumes, and find out why they were chosen and what effects they impart. And even though many perfume-lovers and perfumers are already familiar with the famous perfume that once set a new trend for being linear (no spoiler alert!), they will learn more about linearity, why it occurs, and how a perfumer achieves (or avoids) it.

Because I was writing for both perfumers and perfume-lovers, I included a number of 'little gems' like those above that I hope each reader will find useful and enjoyable."

"This is an excellent read for perfumers at all levels wishing to learn more about isolate ingredients and their applications. For more novice readers fascinated by perfumery in general, Waddington's approach is both highly accessible and downright inspiring." The book is now available for purchase on Shelly's website.

About Shelley Waddington

We thank Shelley for the interview!