Patent Application
20080096790
The invention will be further described by reference to the following detailed examples, wherein the methodologies are as described below.
A total of 20 different odours were evaluated in a consumer sniff test. The odours were grouped according to their complexity into 3 groups: complex finished fragrances, mixes of fragrance materials known as accords, and simple fragrance mixes or bases. The consumers were asked to smell a subset of the odours and score against the attributes: trendy, calming, nostalgic, relaxing, warm, comforting, stimulating, modem, soothing, sexy, refreshing, cool, energising. The results shown in
The fragrance compositions detailed in Table 1 were prepared and subjected to a variety of test protocols. Those fragranced labelled 11 through to 14 are fragrance compositions according to the invention, whereas those labelled C1 through C4 are comparatives. Analysis of these compositions according to the group classifications given here is shown below.
Salivary cortisol provides a convenient route to assess the degree of stress throughout the day. In the below protocol two perfumes were subjected to a cortisol test largely based on that disclosed in WO 2002/049629. The perfume of the invention 13, with an aromatic fougere scent and perceived as invigorating, was found not to promote higher cortisol levels during a working day than did a control procedure excluding perfume. A comparative perfume C4, a spicy oriental type perceived as relaxing, was found to produce a significantly higher level of cortisol depression, as expected.
A group of healthy subjects (3 male and 2 female, known as subjects A to E) participated in trials over several days to assess the relaxation/invigorating effect of smelling two fragrances as indicated by changes in salivary cortisol levels. Assessments took place at least 4 hours after waking each day.
The effect of no treatment was a small (ca 4.5%) depression in cortisol. Smelling perfume 13 produced a slightly larger depression (ca 8%) but identical within experimental error. The relaxing fragrance yielded a significantly larger cortisol depression (ca. 28%). Fragrance 13 is therefore invigorating without causing noticeable increases in cortisol production.
The fragrances of Table 1 were subjected to two protocols designed to yield information on the mood response they engender.
This was a central location sniff test carried out in the UK.
150 naive consumers were either pre-recruited or recruited by intercept in the street to attend a hall test. They were pre-screened for any nasal disorders or allergic sensitivities to smelling fragrance. The panellists were all female and were selected to represent a cross section of ages from 18 to 55 and a cross section of social classes.
Each subject was asked to smell the fragrances in a predetermined order. As each fragrance was smelt they were asked to mark a series of given mood scales according to how the fragrance made them feel (e.g. comforted, safe, soothed). There were 24 mood scales in all and each was scored on a 0-10 scale from “not at all” to “extremely”.
This was also a central location sniff test carried out in the UK, and as for the Mood Attribute Scaling 150 naive consumers were either pre-recruited or recruited by intercept in the street to attend a hall test. They were pre-screened for any nasal disorders or allergic sensitivities to smelling fragrance. The panellists used were all female and were selected to represent a cross section of ages from 18 to 55 and a cross section of social classes.
Each subject was asked to smell the fragrances in a predetermined order. For this test they were asked to experience the mood or emotion evoked by the fragrance and then select, from a library of displayed pictures, up to 5 that evoke the same or similar mood or emotion. Research carried out previously at Quest had established the mood or emotions evoked by the pictures and had also developed a statistical approach to transforming the picture selection frequency data into mood profiles for each fragrance.
The rank orders from each test are shown below in table 5, with the most invigorating fragrance being ranked as ‘1’. Although there is noise in the data the subset of invigorating fragrances according to the present invention is clearly discriminated from the comparative fragrances.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0621023.1 | Oct 2006 | GB | national |
