Pell Wall Blog

Category: ingredient

  • Aldehydes: identification and storage

    One of the fragrance ingredient groups that many people with a bit of knowledge of fragrance have at least heard of is the Aldehydes. Made famous by their inclusion in Chanel 5 they have been in widespread use in perfumes since the 1920s. When we talk about aldehydes in the context of perfumery what is […]

  • The 26 Ingredients

    Whether you look at the labels on fragrances you buy or make fragrances yourself and hope to sell them, an understanding of what is on the label and why can be useful. Below I’m listing a lot of materials that you may see on a label.  Don’t make the mistake of assuming that because these […]

  • Musk

    Musk is one of the most common elements in perfumes – some form of musk is included in virtually every fragrance on the market, but which form varies a great deal as there are a great many options. At one time, musk came almost exclusively from various species of Musk Deer but this has almost […]

  • Bitter Almond Oil

    Bitter Almond Oil is one of those curious perfumery ingredients that isn’t at all what it appears to be: it almost certainly won’t have been made from almonds, bitter or otherwise, isn’t bitter and may be natural or synthetic. Bitter Almond Blossom What is called Bitter Almond Oil and was originally and is still occasionally made from bitter almond kernels – Prunus amygdalus Amara […]

  • Storing Perfumes

    A question that often seems to come up is What’s the best way to store my fragrances? So I thought I’d give some advice and the logic behind it here. Open shelves might not be the best choice to store your fragrances Heat and light are the enemies of fragrance longevity, but a bit of temporary […]

  • Books about Perfumes and Perfumery

    There are quite a lot of books about on the subject of perfumes, perfumery and the making of perfumes and many of them are not all that helpful, so I’ve tried to gather together here some recommendations for books I’ve found to be particularly helpful or interesting. Some books from the Pell Wall Perfumes bookshelf […]

  • An insight into the practice of perfumery

    I thought this video presentation from Yann Vasnier was a fascinating insight into the way one perfumer came to join this odd industry and also gives a very clear idea of what it is to create a new fragrance. I hope you find it as interesting as I did.

  • The First Rose of Summer

    The weather has been glorious for the last few days and the late Spring flowers are busy scenting the garden.  But it was this first rose that was the surprise and makes it feel even more like summer has come early to the Pell Wall garden. It won’t be long before I’ll be able to […]

  • Hyacinth Flower Scent

    What’s actually in the scent of a flower? It’s probably not a question most people ask, but if you’re interested in the answer I’m presenting here a discussion of the components of the scent of hyacinth flowers. Hyacinths in flower in the Pell Wall garden Most of these individual chemicals are available to the perfumer […]

  • Starter Kit for DIY Perfume Making

    One of those questions I get asked quite often by people planning to start making their own perfumes is what to buy to get started.  To help answer that I’ve put together some lists of both natural and synthetic materials that I think are good to start with. Pell Wall Perfumes Blending Bench My own […]