fabric conditioner Archives - The Philippine Beat

Downy recently launched its line of premium fabric conditioners (Passion and Attraction) which contain a unique blend of perfume oils. It’s like wearing perfume without putting perfume on.

The build-up to the actual day of the launch began with a challenge for the nose. This blogger took up the challenge to guess what was the missing ingredient on a scented towel sent in together with the challenge.

Two of Procter & Gamble’s perfumiers (Hector Esquinca and Shingo Ishii) headed for Grasse, France, the perfume capital of the world, to create two exciting new scents just for the Filipina nose to enjoy. Thus, Passion and Attraction were born.

Being a perfume noob, I knew next to none about how perfumes were created so it was with great interest that I listened to these two men whose sensitive noses could be likened to the sensitive taste buds of gourmet chefs.

It was my first time to learn of “scent notes”. There are the base notes, the middle notes and the top notes. Hmmm, now I’m reminded of my days taking piano lessons. Wikipedia describes these notes this way. Top notes are the scents that one immediately smells upon applying a perfume. Middle notes are the scents that start to emerge once the top notes start to dissipate. And the base notes are the scents that come out once the middle notes dissipate. The base and middle notes are the true essence of a perfume scent. These scents usually come out about 30 minutes after application.

Hector Esquinca, who developed the fragrance of Passion, describes it as “sweet and vibrant”. It has a fruity fragrance with apple blossom, freesia and vanilla as its top and middle notes, and fresh mulberry and cedarwood as its bottom notes.

On the other hand, Shingo Ishii, who developed the floral fragrance of Attraction, says that he combined a blend of floral scents like Jasmine, Rose and Ylang-Ylang as its top and middle notes, mixed with soft musk, tube rose and wood fragrances for its bottom notes to give the scent a lingering hint of the Oriental.

Downy’s Perfume series uses the advanced, touch-activated Perfume Microcapsule (PMC) Technology. Perfume oils are placed in microcapsules within the Downy formula, which are deposited on clothes during rinsing. When rubbed or touched, these capsules slowly release more fragrance into the air so that you get not just a whiff of perfume but fresh bursts of it the whole day.

I can personally attest to this. At the launch, we all got scarves washed in either Passion or Attraction. I got the Attraction scarf. Weeks later, every time I pick up the scarf, I get a fresh whiff of the perfume. It still remains as strong as the day of the launch!

What happened to the challenge? I guessed right! ROSE was the answer. And for that, several of us bloggers who got it right each won a year’s supply of Downy’s perfume series.

(bloggers pose with emcee Christine Jacobs)

Pick and choose between the fruity fragrance or the flowery fragrance. Either way, when your clothes are rinsed in Downy fabric conditioner, it will be like wearing perfume without wearing perfume. All day.

Downy had been my constant companion during my years of living in Pennsylvania as a grad student. Doing the laundry in the school’s laundromat, I’d haul my load of clothes down to the basement where the machines were located, with a Downy bottle sitting right on top of the entire heap.

So imagine my delight to see a basket at home marked “Downy”.

On hindsight though, I should have taken a picture before unboxing that Downy basket but excitement got the better of me. Imagine my surprise when the basket DID NOT HAVE any Downy inside it!

Instead, the contents of the basket revealed 2 towels mysteriously marked “Towel 1” and “Towel 2” (my thought bubble: Now why did they have to label 2 towels that look similar?“

The basket also had 3 scented candles in two-toned pink (my favorite color!). These ones I liked! Still, what were these here for?

And why no Downy???

It was only when I opened the PR envelope inside that I realized the purpose of the towels and scented candles. I was being invited to 2 challenges that would test the sensitivity of *drum roll* my nose!

In Challenge 1, I am supposed to tell which towel was sprinkled with perfume and which one was washed with the new Passion by Downy fabric conditioner.

In Challenge 2, I had to decide what additional ingredient (besides Jasmine, Ylang-Ylang and soft musk) was added to Passion by Downy. There were 3 options to choose from: Cinnamon, Rose, or Lavender.

CHALLENGE 1: Guess which towel was washed with Downy Passion

I carefully opened both towels, making sure that I just exposed one side of it so the fragrance won’t easily dissipate. I took deep breaths from both, really trying to make out which one was perfume-y and which was Downy-smelling. Wow, hard to tell! They both smelled nice. I had to reach deep, deep down into the recesses of my memory to recall what freshly washed laundry smelled like and which would be the more probable choice.

My Answer? TOWEL 1 IS THE ONE WASHED WITH DOWNY PASSION. And Towel 2 is the one with perfume.

CHALLENGE 2: Guess the additional ingredient in Downy Passion

I opened up Towel 1 again (which of course was my bet for having been washed with Downy) and took several deep breaths to check it out. Is the additional ingredient Cinnamon? Or Rose? Or could it be Lavender? By process of elimination, cinnamon was the first to be eliminated. Definitely did not smell cinnamon-y, like cinnamon rolls do. So it was a toss-up between Rose and Lavender. I got stuck here for some time. Until I realized that I had an idea what Lavender smelled like. It’s what I often spray on my pillows and sheets before I head for bed. Lavender is known in aromatherapy to induce relaxation, you see. As i continued to take in the scent of towel #1, it didn’t seem to fit my memory of what Lavender should smell like. So by default (and here, I’m crossing my fingers), I say —

My Answer? ROSE IS THE ADDITIONAL INGREDIENT IN DOWNY PASSION

Now that I’ve cast my votes on the 2 challenges. I’ll just sit back and really hope that my guesses are spot on. Being a Downy lover, I really would love to win a whole year’s supply of it.

And while this challenge is all about Passion by Downy, they do have another fabric conditioner called Attraction by Downy with its fruity, sweet fragrance of apple blossom, freesia and vanilla.

So there you go, the two new perfume scents in your favorite Downy fabric conditioner.

How do they get the perfume into the conditioner? They use an advanced, touch-activated Perfume Microcapsule (PMC) Technology – the perfume-blended oils are placed in microcapsules which, when rubbed or touched, slowly release more fragrance into the air. As you keep touching your clothes, sheets or just about anything, you actually release more of your favorite fragrance.

Aromatherapy in the wash…neat!

Tag: fabric conditioner

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