{"id":1880,"date":"2025-01-03T10:07:52","date_gmt":"2025-01-03T09:07:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cinquiemesens.com\/?p=1880"},"modified":"2026-10-27T09:11:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T08:11:00","slug":"learning-the-olfactory-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinquiemesens.com\/en\/actualites\/apprendre-le-langage-olfactif.html","title":{"rendered":"Learning the olfactory language\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a profession where one is regularly exposed to the smell of various scents, a need can be felt: organizing one\u2019s olfactory library methodically rather than simply accumulating references. One then needs to give oneself the means to better understand scents. Therefore, I took the \u00abMastery of the Olfactory Language\u00bb course at Cinqui\u00e8me Sens. Four intense days dedicated to smelling 144 ingredients, both natural and synthetic, as well as emblematic fragrances. An active pedagogy that transformed my experience of perfume.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A dynamic prism to better perceive smells<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pedagogy is based on practice. It follows the progression of the pyramid developed by Cinqui\u00e8me Sens, which materializes seven olfactory families and eleven facets through a color code. Each fragrance or ingredient is perceived and then contextualized within this complex prism.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perfumes are marked by eras and fashions, but also by the introduction or restriction of certain materials. Families evolve over time. Thus, the structure of classic Cologne, whose archetype is\u00a0The Extra Old<\/em>\u00a0From Jean-Marie Farina, it was able to transform over time into a Fresh Water scheme, initiated by\u2019Eau Sauvage<\/em>\u00a0from Dior, enriched with wood facets and hedione. Late 20th centurythe 2nd<\/sup>\u00a0A modern Cologne scheme is being drawn up, with\u00a0CK One<\/em>\u00a0in tinted facets. I then better understand the impact of molecules on the history of perfume. Another example is the first use in perfumery of Dihydromyrcenol, in\u00a0Cool Water<\/em>\u00a0In 1988, it gave birth to a \u00abnew and fresh\u00bb facet characterized by a scent of cleanliness.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of each pedagogical sequence, a table summarizes a set of emblematic fragrances, showing the interconnections and relationships within families and facets. I realize that to better approach perfumes, we must adopt a dynamic perspective, like a kaleidoscope that constantly reconfigures itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To feel and to be felt<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Cinqui\u00e8me Sens, everyone is encouraged to feel things subjectively and to express their own perception. This is one of the pillars of the method. One of the keys to organizing one\u2019s olfactory library is to refer to one\u2019s own experience. While there are well-established language conventions among professionals, emotional description is essential to encode and remember a scent.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One must let oneself be carried away by the evocative power of the ingredients and allow spontaneous associations to take their course. For me, the absolute of algae is Brittany at low tide; the essential oil of birch brings to mind the smell of a fireplace where cold ashes remain; the tabanon with celery salt brings to mind a bouquet of lilies that is so uncomfortable that one has to get it out of the room\u2026 Some fragrances open the floodgates of emotion.\u00a0Woman\u00a0<\/em>de Rochas represents much more than a chypre with spicy and fruity facets because it was worn by my mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Training your nose\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pedagogical approach uses the principle of olfactory discrimination to better understand the specificities of each fragrance. The exercises are sequential. For example: linking certain absolutes with the perfumes that contain them, assigning three perfumes a creation date based on their writing, matching natural essential oils with the synthetic molecules that can replace them\u2026 The group dynamic is stimulating. Perceptions diverge or converge, refine and clarify based on shared feelings.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During these training days, I have time to let myself be carried away by the vibrations of natural raw materials and to be imbued with the strange beauty of certain synthetic molecules. By feeling a substance, then its expression in a fragrance, we realize that the ingredients can evolve and interact when juxtaposed. The art of composition is infinitely complex and, gradually, I am establishing landmarks to better appreciate it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nothing like manipulation in the laboratory\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the last session, three complex families are discussed: the cycads, the ferns and the eastern plants (for pedagogical reasons, Cinqui\u00e8me Sens wishes to retain this designation and reserves the term ambr\u00e9 to designate a facet).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the beginning of every family there is a leader, born of a precise agreement such as\u00a0The Cyprus<\/em>\u00a0De Coty appeared in 1917. This agreement can evolve and become more enriched. There is therefore room to distinguish traditional chypre from the modern one. Over time, the oak moss has been replaced by Evernyl, jasmine, and rose tend to be dethroned by synthetic evocative molecules, and labdanum is supplanted by white musk. This classic\/modern categorization also applies to the foug\u00e8re and oriental families.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is through laboratory manipulation that this distinction takes on its full meaning. For these last three families, the dosages of each ingredient must be defined by completing formulas, in order to create the two versions of a compound. This exercise, performed in front of an organ and through successive measurements, is very enlightening for me. I realize that a molecule can tip the entire balance of a structure, just as a word can change the entire meaning of a sentence.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exercise regularly<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to this four-day cycle and this active pedagogy, I have acquired a method to refine my sense of smell while developing my culture and understanding of perfume.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now I feel the need to train myself regularly to feel using this basic olfactory vocabulary. In the same way that practicing dance or an art requires regular discipline, olfaction must be strengthened through daily exercises. Olfactorum\u00ae, a miniature perfume organ that contains all the scents discussed, seems to me the ideal tool. Touched.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Axelle de Larminat<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you to Veronika Rebecca<\/a> and Camille<\/a>, For the quality of their transmission and their communicative passion.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To learn more about this training:<\/em> https:\/\/www.cinquiemesens.com\/professionnels\/formations\/catalogue\/formation\/11\/perfectionnement-olfactif\/<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dans un m\u00e9tier o\u00f9 l\u2019on est r\u00e9guli\u00e8rement amen\u00e9 \u00e0 sentir des parfums, un besoin peut se faire ressentir : organiser m\u00e9thodiquement sa biblioth\u00e8que olfactive plut\u00f4t que d\u2019empiler des r\u00e9f\u00e9rences. Il faut […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1882,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[105],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formation-et-metier"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinquiemesens.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinquiemesens.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinquiemesens.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinquiemesens.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinquiemesens.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1880"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinquiemesens.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1881,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinquiemesens.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1880\/revisions\/1881"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinquiemesens.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinquiemesens.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinquiemesens.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinquiemesens.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}