A friend runs a small perfume company, and they produce four products; Escentric 01 & Molecule 01 use an aroma-chemical Iso E Super, which has a sweet-smelling warm fragrance reminiscent of sandalwood. Whereas the former is blended with other notes, the Molecule 01 version is pure Iso E Super, which is most interesting when used as a base beneath something else. If worn raw it can be very sexy on some, but it borders on uneventful when applied to my skin.

The Teenager wears Escentric 01 as his signature scent, which lingers for at least 12 hours around the flat - not in any unpleasant way, but such is it's strength it does overpower every other smell.

Neither of these worked for me (they came out a few years back, and I was given samples to try at the time) but more recently the line has had two new products added, Escentric 02 & Molecule 02. The first is again a blended concoction, with summery lightness and citrus hints that is very vivid, but not quite as unisex as the rest of the line - my Niece adores wearing it for instance, it is lovely and sophisticated for a teenager, yet perfectly relaxed and floral on a woman.

The aroma-chemical this time is very interesting indeed, a synthetic version of the active ingredient in ambergris called Ambroxan (natural ambergris was obtained from the intestines of the sperm whale). J. refers to Molecule 02 as their anti-perfume, for good reason; when we first tried it, it was as though a manufacturing error had resulted in the bottle containing alcohol only, as once the initial vodka whiff had gone there was no discernible smell.

When the scent does hit you, the effect is radical however; nothing I've ever worn has created the same effect as Molecule 02. People turn in the street, the girl in the coffee bar looks up as I approach and comments whenever I'm wearing it; and yet I can barely smell it myself, irrespective of the amount I've used. The atmospheric conditions play their part; humid and hot days ramp up it's potency enormously.

A recent incident sums up it's strange effect. One hot muggy day I was at a client's office, sitting across the table from a senior partner, with a listless breeze coming in from the window next to me. The client kept lifting her head and sniffing the air, then walked round and sniffed me directly, asking what I was wearing. I told her the story, and mentioned that Molecule 02 was stocked at Liberty's just around the corner from the office. After commenting on how lovely the scent was for a further 10 minutes or so she went off to track it down and grab food.

She returned with perfume, a fragrant lunch of Thai noodles and upon pushing her empty plate away she stood up.

"How delightful; the smell of you and that fabulous lunch ... all I need now is sex".

Escentric Molecules