h a l f b a k e r yWe have a low common denominator: 2
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One of the main draws of expensive perfume is as conspicuous consumption. The problem is, even using the rarest materials you can think of (whale puke?), there is still a limit to human ingenuity in coming up with expensive ingredients.
I propose a perfume made with only deuterated compounds, and
no hydrogen. Spin some yarn about how the slightly higher molecular weight provides a touch of elegance, but leave obvious the unspoken understanding that the whole point is to make the product more expensive.
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Anything likely to fleece the rich and stupid gets my vote. |
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It may actually smell different. Nobody
knows how smell works, and there are
two theories - (a) that it's like antigen/
antibody interaction (key/lock) or (b)
that it depends on bond vibration. |
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If (a), then optical isomers should smell
completely different, but isotopes
should smell the same. If (b), then
isomers should smell the same, but
isotopes should smell different. |
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Apparently nobody is sure whether
isotopes smell different - which strikes
me as odd. Perhaps a perfumier would
be the one to ask. |
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//Anything likely to fleece the rich and stupid gets my vote.// Alas, that I have only one bun to give ... |
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Ah. Actually, the secret to expensive perfumes is not the rarity of the contents - for even the most expensive of perfumes, the constituents cost no more than a few cents. The real value is in the marketing. |
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So the approach here would be to allude to power of deuterated water, and fission and fusion and all that fun stuff, and making it only available to an exclusive few, while still peddling common or garden tap water. |
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(R)limonene smells like lemons. (S) limonene smells like pine. |
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If A and B are mutually exclusive, consider your mystery solved. |
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[GetLunch] yes, that's one classic and
famous example in favour of (a). However,
in most cases, optical isomers smell the
same - which is very much at odds with a
lock/key type of system. I find it all very
worrying. |
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