The consumer is worried. While synthetic raw materials should not be demonised, natural products should not be praised! In the collective mind, the term "chemical or synthetic" is all too often associated with a negative judgement, demonised whatever its origin, suffering from a sharp verdict, sometimes hasty, with an underestimation or even an ignorance of the dangers of so-called "natural" molecules. What can we say about aconite, belladonna, colchicum and hemlock, which are full of natural poisons? What about the allergens highly present in natural extracts such as lavender, orange or cinnamon essential oil?

According to the consumer, nothing beats naturalness when it comes to safety. However, molecules synthesised in the laboratory can be completely identical to those found in nature. For example, synthetic vanillin is found in its natural state in vanilla beans, so it is the same molecule, the same compound. On the other hand, a natural vanilla extract will not contain a single molecule but a multitude, even a very complex mixture, whose ratio between each molecule is rarely reproducible, due to its naturalness, unlike a strict molecular assembly of identical natural synthetic compounds, whose ratio is then totally controlled and reproducible.

It is the chemist, we too often forget, who deploys adequate processes for the production of natural odorous extracts composed of natural molecules often present in minute quantities in an original way in the aromatic plant. This set of molecules, called natural extract (essential oil, concrete, absolute ...) is certainly not without danger, some compounds are corrosive, irritating, allergenic or even photosensitizing like bergapten in the essential oil of bergamot. Without the action of the chemist, capable of selectively eliminating one or other of these dangerous compounds, natural extracts would not exist... Essential oils are therefore frequently rectified, i.e. reprocessed to eliminate potentially toxic compounds.

Thus, the molecules produced in the laboratory may be identical to those found in nature. The contribution of chemistry makes it possible, in particular, not to overexploit nature in order to provide sufficient materials for perfumery or food flavouring. The odorous molecules produced in the laboratory may, on the contrary, be artificial, not existing in nature and created from scratch by scientists. These molecules, whether they are identical natural or artificial, are extensively tested and analysed before being put on the market, benefiting from increased vigilance and monitoring that still exists after they are put on the market. Coming back to the creation and formulation of perfumes, those composed only of natural molecules are complex to produce, making it difficult to obtain a satisfactory olfactory aestheticism. Indeed, natural extracts do not always translate the initial smell of the plant, and on the other hand, certain olfactory notes do not exist naturally, let us quote in particular the marine notes or the complexity of certain fruity notes. Let the professional creator, with full knowledge and awareness of the regulations, use the entire palette at his disposal to make us vibrate... The perfume must keep the richness of all its ingredients, taking advantage of a fair balance between synthesis and naturalness, for a pleasure without guilt.