Old Library Dreams

Customers asked, and we listened. From time to time, people describe the perfume they are looking for as “that old library smell”. So in this edit and pack, we explore this elusive notion of cozy emanations produced by old books.

Firstly there is chemistry. The aroma of ancient leather book covers is echoed by soft incense, in combination with heady florals such as tuberose or orange blossom. Moreover, some elements in cellulose (the wood pulp from which paper is made) slowly mellow with exposure to oxygen and UV light, breaking down into polysaccharides (saccharides stands for ‘sugar’). Hence the sweet and vanillic ambiance of old yellowed pages. An obvious combo to achieve the old library effect would be amber with woody resins and vanilla. There are also perfume materials that smell like the glue used to bind magazines and books.

All in all, it’s chemistry, imagination and memories that work together to produce the perfect fantasy of a library, a bookstore or even a freshly-printed magazine.