Fragrance is a pleasant-smelling liquid which people put on their bodies to make themselves smell nice. Often, people also use fragrances in cleaning products. Many of the chemicals used to create fragrances are known to disrupt hormone systems and can cause allergic reactions in some people. Some are suspected or proven carcinogens, including styrene and phthalates. The fragrance industry is self-regulating, and currently the FDA does not require that all ingredients be listed on product labels. Fragrance chemicals are a major source of environmental pollution, as chemical vapors from perfume can contribute to air pollutants such as ozone and fine particulates.
The scent of a person is an important social cue, and the use of perfume can help individuals differentiate themselves in the eyes of others. The perception of a person’s scent has been linked to a variety of emotional and behavioral responses, including sexual attraction and jealousy. The fragrance of a person’s skin can be altered by external influences such as temperature, food, and alcohol consumption.
Despite its widespread use, very little research has been conducted on the psychological and neural effects of fragrance. Some anecdotal evidence suggests that perfume can induce pleasure, and it may increase the perceived attractiveness of a person. However, the neurobiological mechanisms underlying these effects remain unknown, and it is not clear whether perfume has any reward-like properties.
An important consideration in interpreting research on the effects of fragrance is that perfumes contain a wide range of chemical compounds, making it difficult to determine how they affect individual people. In addition, the effect of a particular perfume may be different depending on the context in which it is worn. For example, one study found that women rated a man’s natural body odor as more attractive than his artificial perfume. This finding could be explained by the fact that perfumes can mask a man’s natural body odor, which would otherwise indicate genetic incompatibility with a woman.
Perfumes typically contain ten to hundreds of ingredients. These include essential oils and synthetic aromatic chemicals that can be classified by their structure (aldehydes, esters, terpenes, etc.). Other components of a perfume include fixatives, which slow the evaporation rate of the essential oil and enhance its stability; and solvents, which serve as the carrier for the scent.
The composition of a perfume can be modified through various production methods, including maceration and enfleurage. The former involves soaking plant material in fat or oil, which serves as the solvent to capture the molecules. The latter technique involves laying the material on a tray and then extracting it with a solvent, such as ethanol.
In the nineteenth century, perfume became associated with high fashion and social status. For instance, a French perfumer created a royal perfume for the aristocracy and a bourgeois perfume for the middle classes. The aristocracy favored rose and jasmine, while the middle class preferred lily and narcissus. During this period, it was customary to wear a small bottle of perfume in the hand and carry a larger bottle as a handbag accessory.