The Tricky Business of Clean Fragrance

In 1884, the debut of Houbigant’s Fougère Royale marked the perfume world’s first use of coumarin, a vanilla-like aroma compound first synthesised from tonka beans in 1820. The blend of coumarin with lavender and oakmass inspired the fougère olfactive family, still used as a base for perfumes today. Chanel No. 5, launched in 1921, wasn’t the first perfume to use aldehydes, but its overdose of the synthetic chemicals among familiar floral notes created a scent unlike anything found in nature.

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