What exactly are skin perfumes?

This season, skin fragrances are in full bloom. Completely mixed, they have already been on the market for several years, even if until then they were rather discreet.

A “nude” fragrance that refers to lingerie

Very discreet skin scents they do not refer to any particular olfactory category. But after the release of a version imagined by the Glossier brand, many labels wanted to create their own version of the skin perfume. A confidential fragrance which, like lingerie or a freshly washed white t-shirt, gives an impression of delicacy, cleanliness and lightness but above all subtlety. Globally, it’s a bit like your smell mixed with that of your shampoo, your laundry detergent, the fragrance of your cosmetics… In short, everything that makes you you and no one else has your so-called unique olfactory signature.

Perfume for the skin: a technological advance in itself

As we explained above, skin perfume is a fragrance that imitates the unique smell of skin, but better. Generally detectable only by you or your loved ones, their notes echo musk, rose, cedar wood and even amber. Confidential smells, that is built around the Iso E Super molecule. This synthetic molecule was developed in 1973 in the laboratories of IFF, or International Flavors & Fragrances, Inc.

This company develops cosmetic active ingredients and works for the perfume industry. The Iso E Super molecule (which is purely chemical) they use is special, because it instantly mixes with the wearer’s body chemistry to give greater brightness to its smell. This is why it is often used in skin perfumes.

Why such an interest?

If skin fragrance is starting to make its way into today’s cosmetic landscape, it’s because its subtlety appeals to many of us. And for good reason, the power released by so-called “classic” perfumes isn’t to everyone’s taste. Sometimes intoxicating, sometimes too distinctive or sometimes difficult to bear… They tend to erase the natural scent of the skin to impose their own.

The gender-neutral appearance also plays an important role in the success of these perfumes. More malleable depending on who wears them, they adapt extremely easily to any natural perfume, without imposing an olfactory signature belonging to a specific genre.

For her part, Rachel Herz, neuroscientist and expert in the psychological science of smell, interviewed by She USAattributes the highlighting of these scents to the post-covid temporality that has played a role in our relationship with others:

“The pandemic has placed restrictions on the presence of other people and limited our ability to get close to anyone. So grasping this secret clue of someone’s presence provides an additional level of intimacy that has a psychologically significant dimension at that particular moment. People are emerging from deep social isolation and want to connect emotionally, socially and intimately. Skin scents can help give us all of these things. »

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