With the help of mathematics, they discover why certain perfumes are successful

The myth says that in the world a Chanel N ° 5 fragrance is sold every 30 seconds. Mathematics seems to have discovered the secret of its success.

As in music, perfumes are created with notes (vanilla, cedar, patchouli, etc.) and chords, combinations of these notes.

A study from the Imperial College of England has badyzed more than a thousand of these notes in more than 10,000 fragrances and has detected those that are the most popular and appreciated by consumers.

The work was published a few days ago in the magazine PLoS ONE.

Researchers Vaiva Vasiliauskaite and Tim Evans applied the principles of complex network badysis to study the structure of perfumes.

This mathematical discipline helps to examine a large amount of data through the relationships that unite them.

conclusions

• The first conclusion of the work is that the popularity of a perfume does not seem to be related to its price or the date of its launch.
• According to the work, the most used notes by perfumers are musk, jasmine, bergamot, sandalwood, amber, rose, vanilla, cedar, patchouli and mandarin.
• As for the chords, the combinations between musk and jasmine or amber stand out.

Successful brands

Of course, Chanel No. 5 is considered one of the top rated in our database and includes many combinations of notes found in many fragrances, such as bergamot aldehyde-musk or musk-jasmine-orris root or iris, "comments Vasiliauskaite to the Spanish press agency Sinc.

The top-ranked perfumes are: Chanel No. 5, Light Blue (Dolce & Gabanna), Jade (Dior), Euphoria (Calvin Klein) and Chloe (Chloe).

Rare combinations

The work revealed that the most frequent notes or chords do not guarantee a better perfume evaluation.

The rare combination of jasmine and mint contributed significantly to a higher score, for example.

Anise, orchid, bamboo and carnation are other rare but appreciated notes.

"The reason for this difference could be that perfumers look for more exotic and little-explored flavors or that consumers themselves are looking for novelties in perfumes," says the researcher.

The study could be a useful tool for selecting ingredients and serving as an artificial nose.

"Our work provides information on the factors that play an important role in the success of perfumes, which could be a useful tool for the systematic selection of ingredients and serve as an artificial nose," concludes Vasiliauskaite.