When Sarah talks about Clouds

If you’ve ever heard Sarah talking about Clouds, and you didn’t know why, you’re about to find out.

Sometimes Sarah uses standard industry words, but sometimes she finds another word that seems to do the job better, and then she uses that. And that’s the case for Clouds.

In a piece she wrote, back in 2024, for her Patreon community, she explains what she means when she talks about clouds in perfumery.

I first used this term in my own classes because I found it really useful to describe what they do, and how to use them. It's not a standard industry term. I'm slightly concerned that someone will turn up for an interview at Firmenich and start talking about clouds as if it's commonly understood. It's not. Not yet, anyway, although one day perhaps it will turn up in the dictionary.

How can you know if something is a perfumery Cloud? Basically, if you add twice as much as you planned into a blend, it won't make a lot of difference to the aroma, but it can enhance its clarity, tenacity, projection and sillage.

Clouds are materials with a low slope of psychophysical function, but to qualify as a cloud, they must also be practical to use in large quantities. Having a low slope isn't quite enough to qualify a material as a cloud. (20% d-menthol in a formula anyone?) They must have a gentle olfactory impact too. To measure a low slope, you have to be using a single molecule materials, so there are some clouds - naturals for example - which can't be measured, and some low slope materials which can't be clouds.

One that has come up in conversation this week is raspberry ketone; this is a skin lightener so you can't shovel it in willy-nilly; the current IFRA restriction is 1% in a finished fragrance, but that does mean that in a fragrance diluted to 10%, you can have it at 10% of your formula (100g per kilo). That's enough. It has a very soft but persistent effect, an aroma somewhere between the bottom of a raspberry jam jar and a marshmallow. If you want fruitiness, but without the modern sweetness that feels as if you're being suffocated in candyfloss, raspberry ketone is a good cloud to adopt.

My favourite is probably Cedramber(TM) from IFF, the woody amber which doesn't deserve the terrible/fabulous reputation of most woody ambers because it's the quiet one. It has a recommended use of 2% in the IFF catalogue but I didn't know that when I used it at 30% in The Sexiest Scent on the Planet. Ever. (I.M.H.O.). You can buy it from other suppliers as Cedryl Methyl Ether, or Methyl Cedryl Ether. At high quantities, it has the unusual ability to evoke aromas which you didn't put in the mix: incense, peppers, musk, resins. I've been asked if - and even told that - I've put all of those things in The Sexiest Scent, and that the formula I published was incomplete and I've been trying to fool people! My answer is "make it and see what happens" and what happens is that Cedramber conjures up olfactory illusions of all of those things while remaining seemingly quiet and passive by itself.

All the musks Some are more noticeable than others and some people are anosmic to some or all of them. For that reason, there is a tradition of blending several different musks to make sure that they are noticeable in the finished fragrance. They will always provide a smooth background texture. Galaxolide is the one featured in the Grojsman accord, but Ethylene brassylate is reliable and widely used. Depending on when they were first used, musks have a secret power; they convey a vintage feel. I've used Fixolide for a 1940s to 1970s effect. Galaxolide will drop you right in the 90s.

Some are way more expensive than others too. I now lean towards the biodegradable ones, and those which are made with white biotech. Preferably both of these things.

Linalool and Phenyl Ethyl Alcohol are also good Clouds.

Karmawood. This is a woody amber with an attitude, but I like it because of its biodegradability, and because you can use very little of it to go a long way. The future will be about the sensible use of materials, not piling in 40% concentrate, but using 10% wisely so it smells like 40%. A little Karmawood will give you a similar aroma to a lot of Iso E Super, so I've been experimenting with it in that way. (See Honey Jasmine Karma.)

Sandalore and its friends are great, just watch out for IFRA restrictions and their environmental sources and after effects.

Clearwood, Dreamwood and Akigalawood. One day two of these will no longer be captives. From the presentations I heard from Givaudan and Firmenich last week, I think we can be sure that there are more green chemistry/white biotech molecules on their way; these are the future.

Clearwood smells like the cleanest of patchoulis, and it is sustainable as it is patchouli alcohol grown in yeast and extracted. This one is available to us.

Dreamwood is a sandalwood molecule, only available at the moment as Dreamwood Base to those who don't work at Firmenich. Dreamwood is also produced by white biotech, so it's sustainable and it smells like Mysore sandalwood. What's not to love?

Akigalawood from Givaudan smells like a soft clear patchouli + oudh, and is another biotech molecule but there's no point getting excited about it as we can't buy it yet. Captives are one of the ways that the huge fragrance companies keep their clients handcuffed to their factory gates, so to speak. If you want that aroma you have to stay with them.

Shall we talk about NSC Clouds too?

NCSs are natural complex materials - essential oils, absolutes and extracts - rather than natural isolates. One of the questions I'm asked most about naturals is whether or not we can use them as clouds.

Yes we can. In Frederic Malle's Monsieur by Bruno Jovanovic, there is patchouli "crude" (= raw in French not rude) at 52% of the formula. I like to use labdanum in quantity, and if you have the budget, then sandalwood and rosewood are good too. Our colleague here, Shauna Rudd, once used orris butter as a cloud and I salute her for it! I'll do that as soon as I win the lottery.

Bergamot is my absolute favourite though, and I'm backed up by Guerlain who used to use it at 35-40% of their formulas in the early 20th Century, partly to dissolve the powers they were using to create the Guerlinade.

Here's a Cloud accord for you which I made in the early 2010s and continue to adapt. It's named after my tango teacher in Havana because he was very smooth.

• Iso E Super 30

• Labdanum  10

• Vanillin        20

• Romandolide 30

• Bergamot 10

I have found it useful as a traditional amber base; you can add almost every fruit, flower, spice or musk to it and it stays smooth and solid, like a good tango partner should. It acts as a good fixative too.

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In the original piece, Sarah then goes on to share a Cloud accord which she made in the early 2010s and named Felix Fixer after her tango teacher in Havana because he was very smooth. If you would like to receive this kind of stuff regularly, with formulas included, come and join Sarah’s Patreon community - Scenthusiasm by Sarah McCartney.

So now we all know what Sarah means when she talks about Clouds, but people outside of the 4160Tuesdays universe may not know, but feel free to explain; it works well.