“Scent surrection”: Arcaea’s Future Society bottles extinct flowers in six new perfumes

03 Oct 2023 --- The beauty biotech firm Arcaea has launched a fragrance brand called Future Society with the debut of its Scent Surrection Collection – six perfumes derived from the sequenced DNA of extinct flowers.

The biology-first beauty company says its scents create an olfactory experience to capture the essence of flora “lost to time.” Future Society is marketed as a “first-of-its-kind” brand that establishes “biology as a genre in beauty.” 

The first collection of products leverages extinct flowers’ DNA sequences to access previously impossible scents to access. The six perfumes are called Floating Forest, Haunted Rose, Solar Canopy, Reclaimed Flame, Invisible Woods and Grassland Opera.

“Fragrance has always been rooted in powerful storytelling and sensory experiences. We are excited to show how biology can create new stories and product experiences. Science is about more than clinical studies, it also represents new creative tools,” says Jasmina Aganovic, CEO at Arcaea.

“Each of these fragrances will transport you to another time and place, which would not be possible without the groundbreaking science.”

Science for smell
DNA sequencing technology made it possible to understand what scent molecules these flowers may have once produced. The data was then shared with perfumers, who used their aroma chemicals and botany knowledge to create Future Society’s Scent Surrection Collection.

Arcaea’s Future Society’s Scent Surrection Collection captures the smell of extinct flowers.The fragrances were formulated by perfumers such as Jérome Epinette from Robertet and Daniela Andrier and Olivia Jan from Givaudan.

“It is a combination of art and science, enabling consumers to experience the stories of these flowers once thought lost to time,” says Arcaea.

Arcaea explains it intends to grow new ingredients and product experiences for beauty through technology such as DNA sequencing, biological engineering and fermentation. It is poised to produce “highly sustainable products that can deliver new functionality and performance across skin, body and hair care.”

Extinction story
Floating Forest gives life to the Shorea cuspidata, 45-meter-high trees native to Borneo, Indonesia-Malaysia-Brunei. It was last spotted in the wild in 1998 and was logged into extinction, shares Future Society. “The fragrance is a sanctuary of stillness in our shifting world.”

Haunted Rose’s fragrance “is an unwavering spirit that illuminates our tomorrow,” with the scent of Macrostylis villosa subspecies 1 + 2, a white flower-producing shrub found throughout South Africa. Its population is“fragmented” due to urbanization.

Solar Canopy captures the scent of “Hibiscadelphus wilderianus, a Hawaiian endemic species that once covered the Southern Slope of Haleakala but was last observed in 1912.” It was lost due to deforestation.

Reclaimed Flame bottles Leucadendron grandiflorum, a flower native to the Western Cape of South Africa, have not been spotted since 1960 due to increased wildfires.

Invisible Woods is based on a flowering tree that thrived in India’s Western Ghats mountain range and went extinct in 1917 due to droughts.

The last perfume, Grassland Opera, samples a flowering plant from Rock Island in the Falls of the Ohio, US and was last seen in 1881. “The flower is thought to have collapsed when the buffalo ceased migrating across the planes.”

Perfume notes and ingredientsUsing DNA sequences can allow companies to bring scents from extinct plants back to life in perfumery. 
Floating Forest’s top notes are black pepper and bergamot with heart notes of freesia, waterlily and rose absolute and base notes of cedarwood, salted musk, wet stones, papyrus and driftwood.

Haunted Rose’s top notes are black pepper and saffron with heart notes of rose absolute, passionfruit and base notes of ambroxan and sandalwood.

Solar Canopy’s top notes are bergamot, red currant and pink pepper with heart notes of Turkish rose, lychee, pistachio and magnolia, and base notes of vetiver, abroxan and pink sugar.

The top notes of Reclaimed Flame include bergamot and grapefruit with heart notes of geranium, curcuma and eucalyptus and base notes of armoise and chamomile.

Invisible Woods’ top notes are grapefruit, eucalyptus and ginger, with heart notes of rose absolute and chamomile and base notes of iris and akigalawood.

The top notes of Grassland Opera are Bergamot, Clary, Sage, Ginger and Fig Leaves. Heart notes are Ylang Ylang, Jasmine and Mimosa, while base notes are Sandalwood, Patchouli, Guaiacwood, Akigalawood and Ambrofix.

The bottles retail for US$98 each (50 ml), and Future Society’s full-sized fragrances are available now online at WeAreFutureSociety.com. The perfume will be sold starting October 16th on Nordstrom’s website and in 20 store locations.

Sensory bridge to the past
Channeling an olfactory bridge into the past through scent craft was a main theme explored in recent research by scientists that have recreated a scent used in mummifying an Egyptian noblewoman who lived thousands of years ago. The found balms were the “richest, most complex” yet identified from the time period, and could serve as inspiration from the past for today’s perfumers.

The new find harkens to a similar discovery last July, when Spain-based researchers unearthed a perfume dating back to Roman times, which they studied for its chemical composition.

By Sabine Waldeck