Jo's Scent Notes: Escentric Molecules Molecule 01 + collection

Escentric Molecule 01 is a perfume industry phenomenon that has been stirring up the scent world since 2006. Big-time.

Since German perfumer Geza Schoen launched his Escentric 01 scent, in fact, it has been enveloped in mystery and rumour. Is it a pheromone? Will strangers follow you down the street wearing it? And is it true that some people can’t smell it…?

Geza’s revolutionary idea was simple. So simple. He bottled a single molecule, Iso E Super, which had previously been used as part of perfume constructions, but never on its own. So that original fragrance is one aroma chemical, bottled. Geza – a very clever, interesting and drily humourous chap, who I’ve got to know over the years, and interviewed many times – describes it as ‘an abstract synthetic molecule characterised as a cedarwood note with a warm, velvety cocooning sensation.’

Personally? I am almost anosmic to this particular molecule, meaning I can hardly smell it – in common with quite a lot of people; perhaps weirdly, I have friends who can’t smell it on themselves, yet continue to wear Molecule 01 because so many other people have commented on their fragrance, when they wear it. (NB It is not, strictly, a pheromone.)

Molecule 01 was the first in a series that Geza subsequently brought out, based around single aroma chemicals such as Ambroxan. More to my taste, however, is another series of fragrances, which takes Molecule 01 as the foundation stone, and then builds more complex fragrances around that note, ultimately giving an authentic impression of a particular and widely-loved natural ingredient.

This collection is called Molecule 01 +. The debut trio of fragrances under this banner featured Molecule 01 + Mandarin (zest-a-rama!), Molecule 01+ Iris (soft, suede-y, lovely) and Molecule 01+ Patchouli – the bottle above actually being the second I’ve used, so you can see how much I’ve worn it. (I am a patchouli lover from way back; this is a ‘clean patchouli’, and this reminds me of very much another favourite but pricier scent, Perfumer H Patchouli.)

And earlier this summer, a second trio of Molecule 01 + fragrances came out. Since then, from time to time I’ve been wearing all of them (one of them more than the others, as you’ll see) – and am thus keen to share.

Molecule 01 + Black Tea is clean – and yes, tea-like, with the palate-cleansing freshness of maté tea absolute. It positively sparkles, at first, then becomes muskier on the skin after around 30 minutes. To me, this is a crisp white shirt, in a bottle – something you could wear to the office, spritzing again at teatime to elevate your mood, along with your elegance level. Alternatively, an outdoorsy weekend scent, if you’re still #WFH.

Molecule 01 + Ginger is quite different – really nose-tingling and warm (honestly mega-gingery), with that tingly top note extracted from the rhzome of the ginger plant. (Ginger is a bit of a note du jour in perfume now, and this is probably my favourite, relatively uncomplicated example of that gingery genre.)

My top pick of this latest collection, though, is the woodily wonderful and wearable Molecule 01 + Guaiac Wood which grabbed me from the first mysterious spritz. If Black Tea + 01 is fresh, and 01 + Ginger is radiant, 01 + Guaiac Wood is mysterious, smoky, and w-a-y-y-y more complex.

Guaiac wood is an extract from the heartwood of the Palo Santo tree, another super-fashionable fragrance ingredient at the mo. To me, Geza’s play on this is stepping into a dark but dry forest. Or a carpenter’s workshop. Or hanging out by a camp fire. I can see myself wearing 01 + Guaiac Wood a LOT as the weather cools. Again, it softens and mellows on the skin, so that I spend quite an indecent amount of time sniffing myself, when I wear it. (And let me tell you, when I layer this over 01 + Patchouli, I’m packing quite the woody one-two punch.)

So yes, I can definitely smell it. As yet, strangers haven’t followed me down the street (or not to my knowledge) – but the first morning I wore it, my husband and our bookkeeper both asked me (positively) what I was wearing.

Contrary to rumour, not a pheromone, no. But still such a good sign, eh?

Escentric Molecules Molecule 01 + Black Tea/£95 for 100ml – buy here

Escentric Molecules Molecule 01 + Ginger/£95 for 100ml – buy here

Escentric Molecules Molecule 01 + Guaiac Wood/£95 for 100ml – buy here

Escentric Molecules Molecule 01+ Patchouli/£115 for 100ml – buy here

PS There’s a sensational new Harrods x Escentric Molecules collaboration that I plan to tell you about, too. But that’s for another day, to give Molecule 01 + its well-deserved moment in the spotlight.