A few months ago, I noticed that one of my favorite scents looked a little off. My once-clear By Rosie Jane eau de parfum in Dulce had taken on a honeyed hue. At first, I thought it had gone bad, which was upsetting because I’d only had the bottle for a year; when I spritzed it, though, it smelled the same—sweet like soft-serve ice cream on a bright summer day—but was noticeably richer.
I wasn’t sure what to do with it. Keep it? Toss it? I turned to TikTok to see if anyone else had experienced something similar—and they had. Viral videos suggested I had inadvertently “macerated” my perfume, a process that many content creators claim makes a fragrance smell better and last longer. Intrigued, I reached out to perfumers to learn more. They reported that maceration is, in fact, a real and vital step in perfumery, but it’s not at all like what you’re seeing in your feed.
What do “maceration” and “maturation” mean in perfumery?
“Maceration,” “maturation,” and the word “aging,” have been used interchangeably online, but they all have different meanings. Maceration and maturation are controlled manufacturing steps in perfumery, explains Gustavo Romero of Team of Two Perfumers and founder of the Fragrance Alliance Network, while the at-home process that content creators are touting online is simply aging. (More on that later.)
Let’s start at the beginning, when maturation produces the initial fragrance potion. In this stage of the scent-making process, raw fragrance oils are blended and left alone to age and amalgamate for about two to three weeks, says Bhushan Patel, a senior technical manager of scent at International Flavors & Fragrances, Inc. Throughout this step, perfumers try different blends—they might add a little more depth with amber or brightness with citrus—until they’re happy with how the mixture smells.
After that, the scent is macerated. “[Maceration] is not a DIY waiting period at home,” says Romero. This step of developing a perfume, he explains, occurs after a fragrance concentrate is diluted in alcohol. “The mixture [then] rests so the aromatic molecules fully dissolve, distribute evenly, and reach a stable equilibrium.”
Most perfumers consider maceration to be the most important step in perfumery, Romero continues, because it’s when the formula really comes together and smells like a finished fragrance. “It becomes more cohesive and rounded,” he explains. “Harsh edges soften and the composition smells more integrated.” It’s generally the final crucial step before a perfume is transferred to its packaging and readied for the shelves. “Both stages are about integration and stability, not transformation.”
Why did my perfume change color?
What some people are referring to online as maceration or maturation is actually aging. It’s a phenomenon that, Patel says, changes the character of a perfume “sometimes beautifully, sometimes not.”