Indole-ge me

[Redneck Perfumisto]

Wow, thanks for this wonderful essential oils/chemistry link.

No kidding - that's an awesome site! This should be on the syllabus for Purplebird's note identification project starting up over on Female Fragrance Discussion.

Indole pops out all over on that site. Neroli, lilac, jasmine. Thanks, dcampen!

[moon_fish]

Since indole&skatole are the molecules in natural smell of flowers, perfumers just use it amongst other 5-10 molecules to recreate the scent of Jasmine or other flowers. Like a quality sign for some people who does not know perfumery chemistry...

But it seems to me like that little girl who love a garlic scent telling `I love garlic, `cause it smells like a good spicy sausages!`

I love slightly rotten scent I met in Jicky, in Ungaro II, in Mouchoir de Monsieur, etc.

Funny fact:
Salvador Dali in his bio mentioned that he was going to defecate only with a blooming jasmineflower guirlandes in his ears. So - do the doings with genius style!
The smell of shit is hard to mask, but you could make it more noble

[Magnifiscent]

I adore you all folks, great posts!
JaimeB, moon_fish, you made my day!

[Merlino]

Wow, thanks a bunch! Now I cannot get past the urinal feature in Royal Delight or the elephant stable note in Musc Ravageur anymore

[Domingo]

This is likely from phenylacetic acid and its esters.
http://www.bojensen.net/EssentialOil...03.htm#Beeswax

Great site man, thanks!

O, and I take skatole (methyl indole) from civit over indole from flowers any day. The latter reminds me of death, civit on the other hand has a very vital vibe to it.

I think I mentioned it before in another discussion, but floral indole can ruin a fragrance for me like almost nothing else.

[hirch_duckfinder]

Neroli has indoles and is the most used natural in perfumery, but its indolic quality (or quantity? Dunno, ask a chemist) is softer and more integrated than that of jasmine.

[zztopp]

Isn't blackcurrant indolic as well ?

[mikeperez23]

Joy parfum has been on my To Test list for quite a while. I will most likely have to order some from The Perfumed Court, since when I encounter it in stores rarely do I see an open tester for the parfum, it's mostly the EdT.

Thanks for the confirmation that I should try it Magnifiscent!

I finally bought a bottle of vintage Joy parfum. Wow - indoles-a-go-go!!

[Redneck Perfumisto]

Mike - have you smelled Michael Storer Stephanie? It's supposed to approximate the headspace of the gardenia. I have a sample, and it does have a very earthy, moist quality, along with the floral notes. (And I have to admit that it struck me as something straight out of the neighborhood nursery's greenhouse.) I'm wondering if that earthy aspect is part of the indole thing. I hate to admit this as a chemist, but I've never smelled indole or skatole. I have a buddy who smelled skatole, and he vouched for the standard description.

PS Jaime - Love the St. Paul quote. If I were to make a component-based analogy, it would be that the world - in all its beauty - is merely so much skatole compared to the perfumer's palette of the full universe and beyond.

[Magnifiscent]

I finally bought a bottle of vintage Joy parfum. Wow - indoles-a-go-go!!

[Dane]

I've since tested Olene and didn't find it all that indolic???

[loungeboy]

I first learned of indoles years ago when I was researching one of my favorite aromas, that of Ylang Ylang. I soon learned most of my favorite smells were deemed to be indole heavy.
I don't know what that says abot me but when I see a great discussion of frags that feature indoles, I am taking notes!

[ubuandibeme]

Great resurrection of a thread! I've since smelled Olene by Diptyque and it is extremely indole prominent! I also believe Nani by Saffron James is less sweet and about twice as indolic! The skatole smell, to my nose, seems to reside within LeLabo's Jasmin 17 - at least that's how I percieve it.

Sometimes an indolic note is very discreet, and comes across as what I call "fleshy".

[Sugandaraja]

I cannot say I could identify indoles separately from the subsection of "indolic white florals" but I do love that ripe-rotten quality that some heavy florals have. Interestingly, Velvet Gardenia has a separate quality from that that I can't name but do NOT like at all... I wonder if it's an indole or something else.

Right now I'm Miami and hopign I can hunt down some tropical flowers to sniff.

[mikeperez23]

Mike - have you smelled Michael Storer Stephanie? It's supposed to approximate the headspace of the gardenia. I have a sample, and it does have a very earthy, moist quality, along with the floral notes. (And I have to admit that it struck me as something straight out of the neighborhood nursery's greenhouse.) I'm wondering if that earthy aspect is part of the indole thing. I hate to admit this as a chemist, but I've never smelled indole or skatole. I have a buddy who smelled skatole, and he vouched for the standard description.

No I haven't - thanks for the heads up.

What I really am interested in smelling is gardenia butter. When I am in New York this summer, I will stop by Enfleurage and smell it (which I believe is right around the corner from Aedes).

[kalli]

I think I do love indole. After reading this info:

Jasmine, lilac, honeysuckle, gardenia, and orange flower share the presence of indole. Those are all notes that I like..with the exception of gardenia. Though, I do like the intoxicating aspect of gardenias..not necessarily the flower scent..maybe I have a thing with indole. But, I don't like my scents to have poop or pee, however. I read that indoles are not necessarily fecal anyway but rather like moth balls. Though, with dilution, the moth ball note goes away and then possesses a floral quality. When jasmine is described as animalic, it is not the indolic notes that give it that quality, but rather other compounds reminiscent of horses. It turns out that jasmine and horse sweat share some of the same molecules.

Very interesting. So, when I smelled Jasmal..I didn't like it cause of the strong, cat pee note. But that wasn't the indole, rather perhaps the 'horse sweat' molecules coming out more?

[farang]

I am in love with white tropical flowers. They probably contain indole, but their scents are always a blend of many compounds so it will be difficult to point out one only. The scents are meant to attract night moths so we are lucky to be on the same scent-lenghts as the moths.

Since I now live in the tropics, I am very happy to have frangipani/Plumeria and tree-jasmine/Millingtonia i the garden. I wanted to grow tuberose as well, but it is considered a funeral plant here, so not popular with my partner.

Anyway, my opinion is that there are no better fragrances for the tropics than these white flower based scents. They fit perfectly!