New Formulations: Making a Splash
Oversized bottles are used to convey the message that these new fragrances by Marc Jacobs are to be used as all-over body splashes.
How Marc Jacobs developed Grass, Cotton, and Rain.
by Marie Redding, Senior EditorInspired by the concept of the Jean Naté splash-on fragrance popular during the 1970s and 1980s, Marc Jacobs Splash is a collection of three limited-edition splash-on fragrances launching in April.
Grass, Cotton, and Rain are packaged in 10-oz rectangular bottles that are custom designed with rounded corners. Oversized bottles are used to convey the message that these fragrances are to be used as all-over body splashes. The fragrances were formulated with just 8% oil so that customers can splash on a lot of the product without it smelling too intense. Although the fragrances are meant to be splashed on, separate pumps are included in the retail package in case customers prefer to spray them on.
“This collection is a new experience in perfume,” says Laurent Le Guernec, the International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF) perfumer who created the Rain fragrance. “Body splashes could always be found in mass-market stores, but they have never been done by a luxury designer on this level. It tells the customer that you don’t have to take fragrance so seriously.”
Perfumers for these scents were personally selected by fashion designer Marc Jacobs based on how closely their olfactory interpretations matched his own notions of summer scents.
The fragrances’ development took about four months. Marc Jacobs Grass was created by Azniv Buzantian of Firmenich. Its top note of freshly-snapped snow peas is a new note. Wildflower and white muguet make up its heart. The drydown consists of soft woods and dewy musks.
A part of the Marc Jacobs fashion collection was almost literally turned into a scent during the creation of Marc Jacobs Cotton. The scent was developed by Carlos Vinals of Takasago. It contains top notes of fresh linen, liquid oxygen, white peach, mandarin orange, and bergamot. Its heart contains cotton flower, lavandin, and lily of the valley. In addition, Vinals captured the scent from an actual Marc Jacobs T-shirt and reinterpreted it for the fragrance. “Marc really liked this idea. We spent a lot of time talking about how his customer will wear a favorite Marc Jacobs T-shirt all summer because it fits like a second skin. This accord conveys the feeling of a second skin and the softness of suede,” says Michael D’Arminio, vice president of global marketing, Marc Jacobs.
Le Guernec developed Rain’s fragrance accord using IFF’s Living Technology process. “Our team was sent to Brazil to capture what the air smells like after a rainfall,” Le Guernec explains.
IFF has been using Living Technology for the past 20 years. It was first developed when IFF research scientists discovered they were able to pinpoint what makes the scent of a living flower superior to that of a flower that has been cut. “We are beginning to push the envelope more with this technology. We are not only concentrating on the scent of flowers, but we can capture the scent of an exotic place,” says Le Guernec.
Packaging suppliers for Splash include Saint-Gobain Desjonquéres for the flint-glass bottles, Portola Tech for the compression-molded, UV-varnished caps, Aptar Group for the black anodized caps, Kroger for the labels, and Cultech for the folding cartons.