It seems that the digital principle of information transfer today has also affected spirits: instead of expressive images, numbers are increasingly appearing in their names. Why do perfumers prefer dry numbers? Does “number five” sound more poetic than the word “love”?
Age, height, clothing size, calculation of income and expenses – numbers accompany us all our lives. They bring accuracy into it, streamline it, give a feeling of fidelity to the information. Inscribed in the columns of the diary, help organize the working day. Marked on the calendar, they remind you of birthdays and appointments. Symbols of order, numbers inspire confidence in us. Sometimes we even assign ourselves lucky numbers-talismans. It happens that we are afraid of some numbers – for example, 13. “These are echoes of the fear of numbers that came from the depths of centuries,” explains psychologist Yevgeny Osin. – In ancient times, people attributed magical properties to numbers. Psychologist Marie-Louise von Franz (a student of Carl Gustav Jung) writes in her book that in the myths of different peoples there is an idea that only a supernatural force – death, fate or a deity – can count and accurately calculate everything, from the duration of a person’s life to the number hair on the head *. Therefore, the numbers evoked reverence and fear among the ancients. Finding a number on a bottle of perfume, we will not be afraid, but we will be intrigued: what could this mean?
Access codes
In the names of many fragrances, numbers appear according to the “address” principle, which carries a quite tangible symbolic message. For example, the Parisian address 24 Faubourg is known throughout the world as the location of the flagship Hermès boutique. The fragrance of the same name is the face of the brand, its plenipotentiary ambassador, designed to convey values and history by smell – a long journey from a saddlery workshop to a fashion house, whose silk scarves and Kelly handbags women pass on to their daughters. Bitter flowers24 Faubourg Hermès, oozing with golden honey, do an excellent job with this task. Approximately the same goal – to perpetuate the address of its headquarters in a bottle of perfume, to convey to us a “message in a bottle” – was set by the founder of the Etat Libre D’Orange brand, Etienne de Swardt (Etienne de Swardt) . Creating the Archives 69 fragrance, he not only wanted the world to know the number of the house where he creates his scandalous perfume compositions. At the same time, Etienne decided to create a provocative fragrance – an olfactory (olfactory) image of Lolita, a sinful kiss and forbidden sexuality, embodied with the help of notes of wet suede and a musky chord The number 69 is responsible for both the geographic and provocative component of the name of the perfume, since the 34th century it has meant one of the positions of oral sex. It is also the address of their first boutique. And the perfume composition itself is the history of the Perfume House, mixed from best-selling notaromats: Philosykos fig leaves, blackcurrant buds L`Ombre dans L`eau, airy tuberose Do Son, spices L`Eau.
Evgeny Osin, psychologist
“What numbers do we choose”
“When we see the inscription “Oriental Fairy Tale” or, say, “Blood and Sand” on a bottle of perfume, the words evoke a certain image for us, and we pay attention to the fragrance. If instead of words we see a number, we also react. Why? The science of psychosemantics answers this question. It has been established that numbers look devoid of properties only for computers. In humans, they evoke stable object, color, and emotional associations*. So, the numbers 2, 4 and 7 seem to us “good”, “bad” – 0 and 8. “Manly” – 7 and 9, and “feminine” – 0, 2 and 3. The numbers 4, 7 and 8 are connected with a sense of novelty, 6 and 1, on the contrary, seem “old”. Even numbers look reliable, stable, complete. Odd (especially simple ones) beckon with irrationality, mystery – it is not without reason that the creators of fragrances often prefer them. It can be assumed that the secret of the success of some fragrances is partly hidden in the number designations. The five included in the name of No. 5 Chanel are “fast”, “solid”, “masculine”. No wonder the spirits have withstood the test of time. However, a holistic image of a perfume is formed by its aroma and only then – by secondary signs like a name or design. Therefore, the contribution of figures to this image and can play a decisive role only under otherwise equal conditions. For example, when we find it difficult to choose one fragrance from several, we will give preference to a bottle with a number if it coincides with a friend’s birthday, or a memorable historical date, or the number of the apartment where we once lived.
* The American Journal of Psychology, 1979, vol. 92 (No. 4).
Note that the addresses have another indisputable plus for their owners: other brands cannot claim them. At a time when words for fragrance marketing names are no longer enough, this is an advantage. In proof – a little more geography. 154 Jo Malone cologne refers to the house number on Walton Street in London where cosmetologist and makeup artist Jo Malone opened his first shop, a tiny one that drew long lines of people who wanted to indulge in ginger and nutmeg-scented bath oils.
The name of the Parfums 06130 fragrances refers to Grasse, the postal code of the French perfume capital. Fragrances by Carolina Herrera at number 212 are associated with New York. Since 1980, the headquarters of the Venezuelan businesswoman Carolina Herrera, who arrived in the Big Apple in search of success, has been located here. The number 212 is the telephone code of the most prestigious New York area of Manhattan.
Spirit of history
Another area in which numbers are indispensable is history. The dates of foundations and accomplishments should be made public (and why not in the form of a bottle of perfume?). After all, respect for historical memory is a priority in all cultures of the world. Gerald Ghislain is well aware of this. The names of the fragrances created by his perfume project Histoires de Parfums are the dates of birth of personalities who left their mark on culture. For example, the aphrodisiac perfume in honor of Giacomo Casanova, seductive with a gourmand combination of licorice, vanilla and almonds, is named after the year of birth of the legendary adventurer – 1725. de Sade – a voluptuous combination of spices and leather – is known as 1740. Any combination of four numbers starting with one is perceived by us as a year. Then we begin to think: “Probably this is a memorable date? Founding time? Most often it is. For example, the coffee-spicy aroma of 1270 by the French brand Frapin marks the date of the first mention of the Frapin family of winemakers in the annals of the Charente. And the oriental fragrance of 1697 with notes of rum and pink pepper is the year the Frapins acquired the noble title and coat of arms. So, no doubt, indicating the year is a very flattering way to choose a name. The old-fashioned spicy glass of 1869 Acca Kappa recalls that the brand has been supplying men with shaving products since the century before last. Or 1881 Cerruti – a line of fragrances that appeal to the beginning of the brand’s history. That year, the three Cerruti brothers opened a small manufactory in the town of Bielle. This was followed by the recognition of their woolen fabric as the best in Italy, the beginning of menswear tailoring, success in Hollywood: Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct, Jack Nicholson in The Witches of Eastwick, Richard Gere in Pretty Woman. Of course, the Cerruti family are excellent tailors, but this has nothing to do with fragrances. Therefore, let’s not be deceived: often dates have nothing to do with perfumery creativity. And even the most glorious history cannot replace expert knowledge in perfumery.
It is all the more pleasant to note examples of putting “continuous perfumery experience” in the title line. Thus, the Omani House of Amouage has released a fragrant pair of Jubilation 25 and Jubilation XXV, celebrating 25 years since its founding. And the eminent French House Guerlain created a perfume with the telling name 180 Ans de Création to commemorate the 180-year history of creativity.
Love for order
The most popular are the serial numbers of aromas. True, quite often, as if preschoolers who have barely learned to count, designers go astray at the number “five” (for some reason – about this a little later). Also, no one wants to be eighth or sixth, everyone wants to be first. In our competitive time, “first” means “best.” For example, Clive Christian No. 1, Parfums de Nicolai Number One and Van Cleef & Arpels First – they all symbolize the beginning of perfume creation. They are like long-awaited firstborns, whose successes parents are proud of. However, perfumer Pierre Guillaume, who numbered Parfumerie Générale perfumes, deliberately skipped one: “I created the first fragrance as a gift for my mother. her.” Pierre’s fragrances also have names: “Numbers are a masculine way of identifying fragrances. On the street you meet hundreds of people and you don’t care about them. But if someone smiled, you are already wondering what his name is. So it is with fragrances: as long as you are indifferent to him, this is just a number. But when you like it, you will recognize and remember his name.
Calling not only a name, but also a number is a common phenomenon among the Houses that catch fans not with a fishing rod, but with a net. Perfume lines that have fragrances for every taste – why not seines? In addition to the name, ten exclusive Prada fragrances in identical bottles have a serial number. The legendary story of the “five” Mademoiselle Chanel is known to many. The quintessence of alchemy, the magical fifth element born of the four elements, is so famous that some entrepreneurs refuse to use the number five. Thus, in the ODIN NewYork range of fragrances, after the violet-iris 04 Petrana, the green woody 06 Amanu followed. The company representatives explained that they did not want any allusions with the “five” from Chanel in order to avoid aesthetic or legal claims. By the way, copyright is one of the most understandable reasons for using numbers lately. There are simply not enough simple and memorable names for 800 new products a year.
Number patterns
Sometimes the numbers in the names of spirits speak for themselves. The oriental fragrances of the Mille et Une Nuits (“Thousand and One Nights”) Armani Prive series are reminiscent of the fairy tales of Scheherazade. The unusual perfume Seven Sinful Scents warns against the seven deadly sins. Five o´Clock auGingembre, a ginger-honey fragrance by Serge Lutens, tells the British tradition of tea drinking. You can find out who the “third person” in Third Man de Caron is only by watching the crime drama of the same name by Carol Reed. Perfume Eau des 4 Voleurs from l`Occitane will be of particular interest to those who read the legend of the miracle formula, which was invented by four thieves who robbed plagued medieval cities with impunity.
The mysterious Maison Martin Margiela logo, consisting of three rows of numbers from zero to twenty-three, also needs to be deciphered. Last year, for the first time in this table, the number 3 was circled for the first time. This was the first-born of the perfume collection, a fresh fragrance (Untitled) – a combination of galban green and neroli with transparent musk.
It must be admitted that Coco Chanel juggled numbers most successfully. Chanel No. 19 (recently released its new version No. 19Poudre) was originally supposed to be called Soso. But at some point, Mademoiselle changed her mind and assigned a number to the spirits: “In honor of the date of my birth, August 19. According to the sign of the Zodiac, I am Leo. And I have an alvin character: in order to protect myself from attacks, I release my claws.
In order for the golden drop of the flacon 8 88, Comme des Garçons, to gain additional meaning, you need to know that in the East “8” means luck, success, prosperity and well-being. It is not for nothing that phone numbers in China are more expensive, the more eights they contain. Numbers in the names of fragrances by Yosh Han, a perfumer, aromatherapist and Reiki master, are devoted to the principle of comparing concepts with numbers. For example, in the lily-pear U4EAHH!2.43 (read as “Euphoria”) or the spicy-floral green Stargazer 7.71, each number in the number, according to the creator, means something. The first digit is the perfume family of the fragrance: 0 – woody, 1 – floral, 2 – gourmand, 7 – green. The second number indicates the number of the chakra that the aroma activates: 4 – the heart, 6 – the area of the “third eye”, 9 – the aura. The last figure conveys the numerological meaning of spirits. Yosh searches for meaning everywhere, even her name means “fragrant” in Chinese.
Mystics of all times and peoples had a variety of ways to search for the secret meaning of words and numbers – gematria and abjadia, akshara-sankhya and isopsephia: in them, letters of various alphabets were assigned numerical values that were added to reveal the “secret meaning of the word.” According to tradition, secret meanings are revealed to those who have enriched their minds with knowledge and experience, who are persistent and inquisitive. However, modern perfumery is closer not to mystical experience, but rather the spirit of fantasy or rationalism. Try, for example, to guess (and if you fail, find the answers in the article) what the following names mean: 41 Breaths from Lenthéric, 21 from Costume National or Iris 39 from Le Labo.
* M.-L. von Franz “Divination and synchrony. Psychology of a significant case” (B&C, 2002).
Sex, sympathy and calculation
Having shown imagination, one can deduce the formula of the inclinations of their creators from the names of fragrances. Here are three examples. 41 Breaths, Lenthéric – such rapid breathing (41 breaths per minute) occurs in a person with strong sexual arousal during an act of love. 21, Costume National – the fragrance contains the favorite perfume notes of Costume National brand owner Ennio Capaza. The number of such notes is exactly 21. Iris 39, Le Labo – all brand perfume names consist of the main note (Iris) and the number of components (in this case 39).