Steam Accord

Note Profile

Abstract 7 perfumes

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About

Steam is odourless, so this note is a proxy for what steam heats rather than for steam itself. What perfumers reach for is hot metal, hot stone and hot clean cloth. It is a dry, metallic effect, not a wet one, which is what separates it from the water accords.

Scent Profile

Steam accord smells of hot metal and heated stone, a dry mineral effect rather than a wet one. Underneath is the smell of laundered cloth fresh from an iron, a clean musk warmth. A dry, woody base and an amber-resinous depth sit beneath that. A cooling, mentholic lift shows on top, close to a sauna's eucalyptus, and a thin trace of humid air runs through the whole thing.

ScentWheel

Breadthbroad

EnvelopeHeart · ~5h lasting

Family Elemental, Amber · Musk · Leather

Read off the wheel, not a label applied to the note.

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ScentArt

What is ScentArt?

Origin

An abstract accord with no raw material behind it. No manufacturer publishes a steam base. Perfumers build it case by case from aldehydic musks and woody ambers - Habanolide for the ironing effect, Aldambre for a stronger hot-metal version, Aldehyde C11 over the top - and from sauna materials such as eucalyptus, cedarwood and Givaudan's Birch Leaf Givco. Aldambre's supplier describes it as a steam iron pressing clean linen alongside sun-bleached driftwood and heated granite.

Usage in Perfumery

Used to place a scene rather than to carry a fragrance: a laundry room, a hammam, a sauna. It sits in the heart, under citrus or eucalyptus tops and over musks. Perfumers also use it to warm an aquatic composition without adding sweetness.