Birthday of Note: Steffen Arctander, Perfumer and Flavorist (September 9)

Steffen Arctander was born in Denmark on September 9, 1919. He is best known as the author of Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin, which was independently published in 1960. His birthday is the perfect time to reflect on his unique and atypical career. 

Arctander was one of the founders of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists of Denmark (Dansk Kosmetic-Kemisk Selskab) in 1955, when he was chief chemist and perfumer at Co-Ro Manufacturing (the company was focused on flavor essences for mineral water and ice cream during his tenure there). 

He moved to the United States two years later to join the perfume and essential oils division of the Colgate-Palmolive Company. He created the first college-level course in perfumery at Rutgers University the same year (1957). Rutgers currently offers four courses (master's degree level) related to fragrance and personal care, which is a testament to Steffen Arctander's legacy. 

The formation of International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF) (the result of a merger between Polak and Schwarz, and Van Amerigen and Haebler in 1958) led to Arctander's role as perfumer and head of the odor quality control department at IFF in 1960. 

Four years later, Steffen Arctander was a contestant on To Tell the Truth, a popular game show that aired on WCBS-TV and taped in New York City. It was the closest Arctander got to fame as a member of the highly secretive flavor and fragrance industry. He was working for IFF at the time.

Arctander's success was shaped by interdisciplinary and autodidactic qualities that magnified his life's purpose on and off the lab bench. He could work on a mint toothpaste formula with the same interest, skill and finesse that he applied to the creation of Blue Diamond perfume* (a personal project). 

Job titles have a way of confining accomplished employees with more than one area of scientific expertise. It's hard to imagine this wasn't the case for Arctander. He understood and applied what it took to create a chemically balanced fine fragrance (perfume), a functional fragrance (e.g. scent used in soap, lotion, detergent) and a functional flavorant (e.g. beverages, toothpaste, extracts). 

What consumer products possessed the mark of his fragrant and flavorful handiwork? We'll never know or infer, as non-disclosure agreements are a permanent roadblock. 

Arctander's expertise in natural raw materials and chemistry allowed him to work across product types and by extension, disciplines. Hands-on experience in the field and the lab gave him latitude in his professional life, and a meaningful legacy after he died on October 29, 1982. 

Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin is more than a well-researched handbook; it's the essence of Steffen Arctander and as close as the reader will get to his biography. This is evident in content that bookends the monographs on natural raw materials. 

The beginning and end of the book is where the reader learns about the author's approach to fragrance creation and categorization, as well as international travel focused on existing and novel aromatic ingredients. The travel portion is scientifically informed, diaristic fieldwork. 

Happy Birthday, Steffen Arctander. Perhaps we'll know more about you on the anniversary of your birthday in 2023. We have history and memories for now.

Notes & Curiosities:

The image of Steffen Arctander that accompanies this post is from Volume 8, Number 3 edition of the Journal of Cosmetic Science.  The journal was published in 1957 and includes a wonderful article about Florence E. Wall, an award-winning female chemist. 

Steffen Arctander joined the British Intelligence Service during WWII, where he applied chemical expertise in explosives against the Nazis. 

*Steffen Arctander formulated a perfume called Blue Diamond that was released in 1979. There is little of it in circulation. An experiential account of its olfactory qualities is revealed in perfumer Ayala Moriel's Smelly Blog. BTW: Elizabeth Taylor's White Diamonds (perfumer Carlos Benaim, IFF) was released in 1991 and isn't related to Arctander's perfume. 

Smell and Tell: Brian Eno Smells

A journalist was interviewing musician/producer Brian Eno in candlelit room when the artist opened a faded lime-colored metal briefcase filled with “an array of phials” containing raw materials used in perfumery. The year was 1982 and the article was titled “An Evening with Brian Eno”. This was the first interview where the subject of scent became the main topic of discussion—it wasn’t the last.

Brian Eno is a full-on smellaholic who continues to collect raw ingredients used in perfumery for private enjoyment and inspiration. What is it about the art of perfumery that continues to fascinate the renowned founder of ambient music? How does Eno’s passion for smells shape his creative output? (Hint: if you download his Bloom app on iTunes you’ll find a breadcrumb trail of synesthetic clues).

What are Brian Eno’s favorite smells and why do they have the impact that they do? Recode your concept of creativity. Get inside Brian Eno’s olfactory mind and find out what happens when normal instruments are abandoned and disconnected events are smelled in circuit.

The Smell and Tell series of art+science programming is led by Michelle Krell Kydd, a trained nose in flavors and fragrance who shares her passion for gastronomy and the perfume arts on Glass Petal Smoke. Smell & Tell builds community through interactions with flavor, fragrance and storytelling. The unique and popular series celebrates its eighth anniversary year in June at the Ann Arbor District Library and is ongoing.

Smell & Tell: Brian Eno Smells
Date: Wednesday, February 19, 2020
Time: 6:30-8:45PM
Location: The Ann Arbor District Library, Pittsfield Branch
Address: 2359 Oak Valley Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48103
Phone: 734-327-4200
Admission is free and is sponsored by AADL
Link to Event: https://aadl.org/node/398023

Notes:
Recommended reading for insight into a collaboration between Brian Eno and Maurice Roucel that's curious and mysterious: Brian Eno, Maurice Roucel and the Perfume of Unfinished Business.

Brian Eno Smells debuted at the Ann Arbor District Library in 2018. Attendees and new fans of Smell & Tell at the library wanted an encore. Et voila. There's a new smell added to the scent flight; a perfume that a woman Eno encountered declared as aphrodisiac. Eno associates it with biblical Nard (Spikenard), but it's something completely different. You'll have to attend the program to smell Nardo and find out what it really is (I have it and production is officially discontinued).

Lesson? Don't rely on aphrodisiac lore when you get a sample of of Nardo perfume from a woman in Ibiza: "...a woman I met in Ibiza gave me a minute bottle containing just one drop of an utterly heavenly material called Nardo (I later came to think that this was probably spikenard oil, extracted from a shrub growing at between six and eight thousand feet on the Himalayas and used by wealthy Indian ladies as a prelude to lovemaking)." Tsk-tsk, Brian.

The Creative Process of Firmenich Perfumer Nathalie Lorson

The particulars related to creative process in perfumery continue to infuse media produced by flavor and fragrance houses. These vignettes are purposefully choreographed to instill a sense of authenticity in the viewer, and respect for the art of perfumery. An edgy Gallic soulfulness infuses Firmenich's video portrait of perfumer Nathalie Lorson. The video was posted on Vimeo last week* and appears to be the first of future video portraits from the private Swiss firm.

The story begins with Lorson lighting a strip of Papier de Armenie. A thoughtful monologue ensues:

Everything is rounded, gentle. Everything is done with delicacy. There's no vulgarity–ever. Because it must be things I like, all things considered, whatever the brand you are working for, you put something of yourself into it. 

When I have an idea, I don't let it go. I work, work, work until I succeed. I never give up. My inspiration comes from life, traveling, a color, a shape, a smell...it's all linked. I do the job of someone searching for gold nuggets, a gold digger! I think I'm...persistent, passionate, but on the other hand I can be quite tough. I can be very harsh. 

It's not easy for me to place my trust in someone, but when I do, I'm very loyal. In fact, I'm not hard. I'm actually quite sensitive, but I don't show it necessarily. It's a form of protection...a shell. It's so reductive to call someone a "nose." I'm not a "nose," I'm a brain. 

It's hard not to be struck by Lorson's displeasure at being called "a nose." A perfumer's creation speaks to the sense of smell, but the perfumer integrates several sensory modalities to actualize their creation. (This type of sensory interplay is well articulated by sommelier Jaime Smith who happens to be a synesthete.)

Would one call a visual expert "an eye?" Too Cyclopean. It's a matter of language and "a nose", even when referred to as le nez in French, doesn't do a good job of defining what it means to be a perfumer. Such are the limits of language and culture. Good thing there's video...

Notes:
Brands were getting comfortable with the idea of sharing the spotlight with fragrance creators when "Exposing the Perfumer" was published (Perfumer and Flavorist, May 2007). This has allowed flavor and fragrance companies, who formulate perfumes for international brands, the opportunity to highlight the métier of perfumers. It will be interesting to see how this evolves in the coming years.