Perfumer (Parfumeur)
Information on this skill...
A perfumer is responsible for designing and composing perfumes and other fragrance compositions. The profession of perfumer can be regarded as a special profession that is not common, and is reserved for specialists. Worldwide there are about four hundred professional perfumers working, mainly from France. The three largest perfume houses come from France and are located in the towns of Galimard, Molinard and Fragonard. A professional perfumer must have a chemical background. The training to become a perfumer will generally take at least ten years. As a perfumer, you also have to deal with a number of important rules of life that a perfumer must adhere to, such as not drinking alcohol or drinking little, not eating spicy dishes and not smoking, because this will seriously affect the sense of smell of a perfumer. The profession of perfumer is a well-paid job, because becoming a professional perfumer is difficult. The reason that a perfumer will earn a lot is partly due to the long and heavy training. At the end of the training, a perfumer must be able to distinguish and name about three thousand different basic chemical odors. A well-known term within the perfumery industry is "The Nose", which indicates that it is a specialist in the field of perfume. Most professional perfumers are women and not men. To become a perfumer, it is important to follow a recognized training at a perfume school, which are also known as nose school. About twelve new perfumers graduate each year. As a perfumer you work in a special world, in which styling, fashion and experience are important. Most perfumers work for a perfume company, which specializes in developing new perfumes.
A perfumer is therefore responsible for designing and composing new types of perfume. Professional perfumers should in most cases be regarded as chemists. As described earlier, becoming a professional perfumer is not easy, because it is a long and heavy training. It is only the major international perfume brands that use professional perfumers. This does not alter the fact that anyone can try to design perfumes independently. There are quite a lot of people active in the field of making perfume, but these people cannot be classified as professional perfumers. The development of new perfumes by the industry is important, because good perfumes can bring in a lot of money for manufacturers. Those well-known perfumes are usually expensive, because perfume manufacturers spend a lot of budget on development and marketing. The cost of perfume is usually not in the fragrance or perfume bottle. It is the development costs and the marketing that make good perfume expensive. In addition, perfume manufacturers spend a lot of time conducting market research and styling.
HOW DOES A PERFUMER WORK
How exactly a perfumer and the perfume industry work is of course a big secret, but in general, a perfumer spends all day smelling and putting together different scents in order to be able to come up with a new perfume. Nowadays, computers are also used to further analyze certain odors. New fragrances are usually made in different variants until the best result is achieved and the perfume company is satisfied. Developing a new perfume scent generally takes several months after a lot of testing. Some well-known large perfume companies are Givaudan, Firmenich and International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) who usually develop new perfume fragrances on behalf of companies. There are also plenty of perfume companies that are only concerned with developing their own brands such as Hermès and Chanel.
WHAT IS PERFUME
Perfume is a mixture of different fragrances that are usually dissolved in alcohol. The fragrances in a perfume are usually divided into different aroma chemicals which are fragrances or flavorings. Most aroma chemicals come from nature and are not chemically developed. Aroma chemicals are not only used in perfumes, but are also used in the cosmetics industry and in air fresheners. The perfume industry also uses a fixative in their perfume. The fixative is an important addition to keep perfume longer and this can be a natural or synthetic substance. Keeping perfume longer in life refers to the smell of the perfume. The fixative ensures that the scents of a perfume do not evaporate or evaporate too quickly. In other words, by adding a fixative, the perfume will continue to smell longer.
COMPOSITION OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF PERFUME:
- Perfume 20 to 40 percent fragrance components;
- Eau de parfum 10 to 20 percent fragrance components;
- Eau de toilette 5 to 10 percent fragrance components;
- Eau de cologne 2 to 5 percent fragrance components;
- Eau de solid 0 to 1 percent fragrance components.
WHAT DOES A PERFUMER DO:
TRAINING TO BECOME A PERFUMER
Within the Netherlands there are no training opportunities to become a perfumer through regular schools. Those who wish to work as a perfumer can follow a chemical training, because this background is the most common. Those who are really looking for training as a perfumer will have to move to France, because there are specific training courses there. Think for example of the International du parfum, de la cosmetique et de I'aromatique alimentaire and the Grasse institute of perfumery. Training to become a perfumer generally takes ten years and is not an easy training. There are about four hundred professional perfumers worldwide, which already indicates that it is a difficult and heavy training. Of course, you will also have to master the French language. In addition, there are also plenty of external training institutes where you can follow a course. Accounting is also important as an entrepreneur.
COMPANIES WHERE A PERFUMER CAN BE EMPLOYED
A professional perfumer works for the larger perfume companies, which specialize in the design and production of perfume. In addition, it is possible that sooner or later a perfumer will set up his own perfume line in collaboration with a perfume manufacturer. In some cases, a perfumer can also work as an entrepreneur. It also happens that famous people associate their name with a perfume brand, but these famous people cannot be seen as perfumers. As described earlier, becoming a professional perfumer is not very easy.
COMPETENCES PERFUMER
The most important competence as a perfumer is of course your distinctive sense of smell. A full-fledged perfumer should be able to distinguish about 3000 different scents. In addition, as a perfumer you will have to be very disciplined with regard to certain rules of life, because smoking, alcohol and spicy foods will seriously limit your sense of smell. A perfumer will also need to have excellent research skills, as composing new fragrances also involves conducting research. Because compiling new fragrances is an interplay with various colleagues, researchers and the management, communication can also be regarded as an important competence. Generally important words are inspiration, motivation and trend watching.
LABOUR MARKET PERSPECTIVE AND CAREER OPPORTUNITIES AS A PERFUMER
The labour market perspective of a perfumer is generally good if you have the right training. It is true that it is a heavy study, which is not suitable for everyone. So it is not the case that everyone can just become a perfumer. In that respect, the labour market perspective as a perfumer is not very great. The career opportunities of a perfumer can be seen in building a good name or starting your own perfume line. In general, a perfumer actually has nothing to do with further career opportunities, because the profession of perfumer is already a profession at a high level.
WORKING CONDITIONS AND SALARY PERFUMER
There are no specific employment conditions for the profession of perfumer, partly because not much is known about the industry. A perfumer with a completed education can earn a lot of money in paid employment, which can amount to 300,000 euros gross per year. An independently working perfumer can certainly earn even more if the perfumer knows how to bring a well-running perfume line to the market.
The content on this page has been automatically translated from the Dutch language. For this reason, texts and videos on this page may contain small errors.
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