WEDNESDAY 9 JULY 2014 • [email protected] • www.thepeninsulaqatar.com • 4455 7741 inside The house COMMUNITY • G4S Qatar hosts that 20,000 Iftar, holds toothbrushes built donation ceremony P | 4 P | 10 MARKETPLACE • OSN revamps website to support multiplatform browsing P | 5 ENTERTAINMENT • British film enters a new golden age P | 8-9 PEOPLE • The dream: To play catch-up with Heinz P | 11 TECHNOLOGY WHAT’S IN A • Smartwatches targeted as next ad frontier P | 12 LEARN ARABIC • Learn commonly used Arabic words SCENT?Perfume makers are turning and their meanings to preserve the scent of their fragrances in the face of new EU anti-allergy restrictions. P | 13 2 PLUS | WEDNESDAY 9 JULY 2014 COVER STORY Perfume makers face EU anti-allergy curbs Patricia de Nicolai, French perfumer who created the Nicolai perfume brand with her husband 25 years ago, smells perfume ingredients in the brand’s laboratory in Paris. BY ASTRID WENDLANDT anti-allergy restrictions. Perfume creators say they love oak to use oak moss from which these two The global high end perfume indus- moss for its woody, earthy notes which molecules have been removed. The mak- EAWEED may not be try, generating $25bn in annual sales, give it depth and help make scent ers say this results in a much lighter and the first ingredient that is readying itself for EU regulations last longer. But on the grounds that less vigorous scent. springs to mind for per- that will come into force in early 2015. between one and three percent of the “I am crazy about oak moss, it is fume. But algae are among These will ban widely-used ingre- EU population could suffer an allergic one of my favourite ingredients,” says obscure ingredients to dients such as oak moss, a natural reaction - such as dermatitis - Brussels Marc-Antoine Corticchiato, perfume which perfume makers substance, that was found in the origi- is banning two of its core molecules, creator or “nose” at his niche Parfum Sare turning to preserve the scent of nal versions of best-sellers including atranol and chloroatranol. d’Empire brand. A 100ml bottle of scent their fragrances in the face of new EU Chanel’s No.5 and Miss Dior. Perfume makers will only be allowed costs ¤120. Corticchiato, like many other “noses,” is anxious about the new wave of potentially costly rules emanating from Brussels. The fragrance industry that sup- plies perfume makers like Corticchiato already has its own self regulation body — the International Fragrance Association (IFRA) — financed by providers such as Givaudan, New York-listed International Flavours & Fragrances, and Germany’s Symrise. It has imposed restrictions on a growing list of ingredients over the years for various health reasons. In addition, perfume makers do a lot of their own in-house and post- market surveillance and do their own testing, which can cost several hun- dred thousands euros a year, depend- ing on the number of products and ingredients involved. Leading brands such as Chanel, Dior and Hermes have ‘noses’ and their own Small bottles of oak moss per- research laboratories. They do not fume ingredients in the labo- publish figures for the costs associ- ratory of the French Nicolai ated with them but industry experts perfume brand in Paris. estimate them to be in the order of several million euros a year. PLUS | WEDNESDAY 9 JULY 2014 3 One solution for oak moss, Corticchiato says, is to add a touch of algae as its wet, iodised smell coupled with other ingredients, can help recreate oak moss’ mouldy character. The European Commission is also banning a syn- thetic molecule called HICC, or lyral, which repli- cates the smell of lily of the valley. It too can cause dermatitis in allergy sufferers. L’Oreal, which makes Lancome and Armani per- fumes, said it was looking for alternatives. It declined to say which of its perfumes contained lyral. Perfume makers say they understand that their products need to be safe and recognise how damag- ing to their reputation any serious allergic reaction would be. But some say the industry is being unfairly targeted. Up until now, they say, there have only been minor cases of allergies manifested by skin irrita- tions or eczema. “I think Brussels’ focus is a little exaggerated spe- cially compared to alcohol and cigarettes which are sold freely and do more harm than perfume,” says Patricia de Nicolaï who created the French Nicolaï perfume brand with her husband 25 years ago. She says she has never received a complaint about allergy but has reformulated some of her best sellers such as New York and Eau d’Ete because they used oak moss and lyral respectively. The European Union denies targeting perfume any more than any other industry and says its new regulation seeks to address scientists’ and doctors’ concerns about the health hazards related to the use of perfume. Testers and a bottle of per- NORTH-SOUTH PERFUME LINES fume ingredients are pictured Some inside the perfume industry say lobby groups in the laboratory of the French representing the interests of tobacco firms are better Nicolai perfume brand in Paris. financed and better organised than those represent- ing perfume makers. One reason is the sheer size of the global cigarette industry. In sales terms, it is more than three times the size of the perfume industry. Cigarette lobby of Accords et Parfums, a supplier of major brands investigate what levels of concentrations could be groups include the tobacco manufacturers’ associa- including Dior based in Grasse, likening it to “chang- considered safe for natural ingredients so that con- tion and the tobacco retailer’s alliance. ing the colours of the Mona Lisa”. sumers did not develop allergies to them over time. By comparison, perfume makers rely on Cosmetics Some industry executives say Brussels’ recent Perfume makers are worried that this will lead Europe, a bulky organisation that represents 4,000 focus on the perfume industry stems from its main to more restrictions. There have been suggestions companies including deodorant, toothpaste and per- advisory body, the Scientific Committee on Consumer that they should offer two types of perfumes - some fume providers which have very disparate interests. Safety (SCCS). Many of the committee’s members with allergens in them and consumer advice about Even within the perfume industry, there is no come from northern countries such as Sweden and the content, and others with no allergen. united front as some brands are more affected than Denmark where there is opposition to perfume on “I expected big groups to take the initiative on this others by IFRA and new EU regulation. health grounds. matter but it turns out that they are the most risk One of the industry’s biggest players, L’Oreal, says “Clearly, there are more experts at the SCCS who averse,” said Corticchiato. One problem for big per- it uses mainly synthetic ingredients in its perfumes. are based in northern Europe than in the south but fume brands is that their label sells a dream which These ingredients raise fewer allergy concerns than it is not a deliberate choice,” said David Hudson, is incompatible with the message “this product may natural products found in niche perfumes and brands spokesman for consumer policy at the European cause allergies.” such as Chanel and LVMH’s Dior and Guerlain. Commission. “We strive for geographic and gen- Dior, Guerlain and parent LVMH declined to com- Another issue is that perfumes are not protected der balance but the primary selection criteria is ment for this article as did Hermes. Chanel said it by intellectual property rights. The composition of expertise.” stopped using lyral in 2010 and has been evolving its a perfume is not legally recognised as a “creation of Perfume is not as important to the economies formulas in anticipation of new rules. the mind” but rather an industrial formula that can of northern Europe as it is to southern countries. “At Chanel, we follow very closely talks about regu- be replicated and altered. Perfumes and cosmetics are among France’s top five lation and scientific findings concerning raw materi- “Many perfumes have had to be reformulated exports and the southern city of Grasse is the historic als,” Jacques Polge, Chanel’s chief perfume creator for even though they were considered masterpieces due capital of the perfume industry where many lead- 36 years, said in an emailed response to questions. to changing legislation,” said Olivier Maure, head ing brands such as Chanel, Hermes and Dior source Polge said Chanel controls its formulas and sup- their essences. ply chains to ensure its natural oak moss is bereft Added to that, research shows people from north- of the allergens targeted by Brussels. That way, “we ern regions tend to be more vulnerable to allergies can respect the original scent”. Perfume makers will only than those living around the Mediterranean. One But “once you change an ingredient or two it can theory is that people in northern countries are more be very difficult to keep the scent absolutely intact, be allowed to use oak susceptible because of their lifestyle and generally especially if those ingredients played an important moss from which these two cleaner environment. role in defining the scent,” says Maurice Roucel, creator of many perfumes including L’Instant for molecules — atranol and MORE RESTRICTIONS? Guerlain and Hermes’s 24 Faubourg. chloroatranol — have been The SCCS published a report in July 2012 which A few years ago, Roucel reformulated Dior’s recommended banning oak moss’s core molecules Fahrenheit perfume to remove lyral along with a removed. The makers say and severely restricting the use of many core ingre- few other ingredients and he is now working on the this results in a much lighter dients such as linalool, found in lavender, a move that reformulation of about eight perfumes to make them threatened the high end of the perfume industry meet new regulation.