Sillage (, ) in

perfume Perfume (, ; french: parfum) is a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agreeable scent. Th ...

refers to the trail created by a perfume when it is worn on the skin. It comes from the word in French for "wake" and can best be described as how a fragrance diffuses behind the wearer as they move. A fragrance does not need to be a heavy one to have a large sillage. Sillage in a perfume is not to be confused with its 'projection' (how a fragrance is perceived by others around the wearer) and is enhanced by motion, ambient temperature as well as the inherent qualities of the skin. According to an article by Mookerjee, a fragrance is perceived by the diffusion of individual fragrance molecules. The rate of diffusion of these molecules in a fragrance, however, appears to be independent of their molecular weights, boiling points, odour thresholds and odour value. Once a fragrance is applied to the skin, the skin itself becomes a substrate to the scent. The inherent scent of the individual skin, moisturisation of the skin, the behaviour of the microbiome of the skin, and the temperature of the surface of the skin that the fragrance is applied to will affect the sillage or diffusion of a perfume applied to it.

Enhancing Diffusion

Compounds such as

Hedione Methyl dihydrojasmonate is an aroma compound that smells similar to jasmine. In racemic mixtures the odor is floral and citrus while epimerized mixtures exhibit a dense buttery-floral odor with odor recognition thresholds of 15 parts per billion. ...

(methyl dihydrojasmonate), damascones, Iso-E super ( Tetramethyl acetyloctahydronaphthalenes),

linalool Linalool () refers to two enantiomers of a naturally occurring terpene alcohol found in many flowers and spice plants. Linalool has multiple commercial applications, the majority of which are based on its pleasant scent (floral, with a touch of ...

and some of the synthetic musks such as

cashmeran Cashmeran (trade name; also known as musk indanone or indomuscone; chemical name 6,7-dihydro-1,1,2,3,3-pentamethyl-4(5''H'')-indanone or DPMI) is a chemical compound used in fragrances. Physical-chemical properties Cashmeran is an alicyclic ket ...

may also be added to fragrances to enhance their diffusion and sillage.

Hedione

Hedione is a synthetic relative of

methyl jasmonate Methyl jasmonate (abbreviated MeJA) is a volatile organic compound used in plant defense and many diverse developmental pathways such as seed germination, root growth, flowering, fruit ripening, and senescence. Methyl jasmonate is derived from j ...

, a naturally occurring compound in floral scents such as

jasmine Jasmine ( taxonomic name: ''Jasminum''; , ) is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family (Oleaceae). It contains around 200 species native to tropical and warm temperate regions of Eurasia, Africa, and Oceania. Jasmines are widely cultiva ...

, tuberose and

magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendro ...

. Methyl jasmonate is also found in many other plant parts and is considered to be a signalling molecule. It is considered one of the compounds responsible for the projection of the scent in living flowers and was first fully characterised between 1957 and 1962 in jasmine absolute (0.8%) by the fragrance chemist Edouard Demole who was working at Firmenich. The first commercially successful fragrance to utilise Hedione was

Eau Sauvage Eau Sauvage is a perfume for men that is produced by Parfums Christian Dior Parfums Christian Dior is the perfumery and cosmetics (makeup and skincare) line of the French fashion house, Christian Dior SE. However, the line belongs to the perfume ...

by perfumer

Edmond Roudnitska Edmond Roudnitska (1905–1996) was a French master perfumer and author. He is known for creating perfumes such as Dior's Eau Sauvage and Diorissimo, and Rochas's Femme. Many of his creations are still in production. He was the father of perfu ...

for

Christian Dior Christian Ernest Dior (; 21 January 1905 – 24 October 1957) was a French fashion designer, best known as the founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, Christian Dior SE, which is now owned by parent company LVMH. His fashion houses a ...

, launched in 1966. The addition of Hedione to a classically hesperidic fragrance construction created a dewy lemony magnolia-jasmine dimension without being directly floral, and gave it a new type of projection and transparency not experienced before in this type of perfume. This is considered to be the beginning of a new trend in perfumery towards transparency and projection.

References

{{reflist Perfumery