What’s That Smell? Counteracting Malodors to Restore a Sense of Serenity

We’ve all been there.  We’ve stepped into a room that reeks of stale cigarette smoke.  Prepared a dish with garlic and onions, and not been able to wash off their stubborn smell from our fingertips.  Felt embarrassed by leaving the bathroom not smelling at its best.  There are many types of unpleasant smells, and they have many different origins.  But if we round up the usual suspects, we will find among the primary culprits: thiols (sulfur ingredients), amines and acids.  These are powerful, stable compounds that—let’s say it straight—stink!  Our brains are triggered to react to them as they often serve as a warning sign.  The prime example being food where it becomes near impossible to eat fruit that has rotten or fish that is past its prime.  So, when something smells bad, it’s because something isn’t completely right.

A Desire to Restore Purity

If an environment, a surface or our skin smells unpleasant, our natural reaction will be to want to solve the problem as quickly and efficaciously as possible.  This usually implies washing or cleansing to decontaminate the space or the surface.  We aim to restore a sense of purity and bring the air in the room or fabrics of our clothes to their “natural state.”  To many of us, purity is a desirable state that is associated with cleanliness.  On a functional level, we wish to get rid of the problem, but what drives us are our emotions.  Malodors often generate embarrassment and discomfort, so we are eager to regain a feeling of wellbeing, or serenity.  This explains why the tagline for our malodor counteracting platform EuroPure™ is: “Experience pure serenity.”

Because of the various origins of foul smells and their inherent molecular complexity, there isn’t one easy solution to counteract malodors.  This is why the EuroPure™ platform can be thought of as a toolbox of different tools, or strategies, to reduce the unpleasant odor and/or our perception of it.

EuroPure™ Is a Platform of Malodor Counteracting Solutions

Before reviewing the different EuroPure™ strategies that we have available, it is first important to name what all of them have in common—they counteract malodors.  In the fragrance industry, the word “counteraction” is the general term that encompasses all the possible mechanisms at hand to combat unpleasant odors.  The acronym MOC is often used in perfumery and stands for “malodor counteraction.”  MOC technologies work by either eliminating the molecules responsible for a bad smell or alter our perception of the undesirable smell.
One of the strategies we offer on the EuroPure™ platform is malodor elimination.  We have identified precise molecules that will eliminate certain compounds—known to smell unpleasant—when they come into contact with them.  The chemical reaction we trigger results in the malodor being removed.  This is not about masking the problem with a nice fragrance, it’s about addressing the problem at its root.  At Eurofragance, we have the perfumery know-how to create fragrances that incorporate these odor-eliminating molecules within the perfume.

Another tool in our EuroPure™ toolbox is sensory counteraction, also referred to as harmonization.  This approach relies on a profound knowledge of perfumery ingredients and how they interact with one another in fragrance creation.  Sensory counteraction requires identifying the exact perfumery ingredients with an olfactive profile that will harmonize with the foul smell to become an agreeable scent.  Think of sensory counteraction in terms of judo, a martial art in which the combatant uses the power and weight of the adversary against him or her.
We can thank the Scientists in our R&D department for the third tool in our EuroPure™ arsenal.  We are now talking about proprietary active ingredients.  An active ingredient, or technical ingredient, is one that delivers a benefit above and beyond its olfactive profile, such as fighting fouls smells.  The ingredient our R&D team developed does exactly this in more ways than one.  Verdenix™, our highly innovative active ingredient, is able eliminate certain types of smells and counteracts other kinds of malodors via harmonization.  We like to say that Verdenix™ is our silver bullet.

All Smells, All Products, All the Way

There are two final points that are important to remember about EuroPure™.  The first is that the innovations we offer to counteract malodors can be imbedded in the fragrance we develop for our customers.  We offer turnkey solutions.  There are no extra steps required of our clients.  We can sell them a fragrance that is ready to go to work, to fight any type of everyday smell.  The second thing to keep in mind is that our MOC solutions can be integrated in any product designed to combat foul smells.  EuroPure™ technologies can be deployed in air fresheners, laundry detergents, scented candles, dishwashing liquids and many more product formats.
Gone are the times of embarrassing unpleasant smells, it’s time to experience pure serenity.