Perfume is a concentrated blend of natural or synthetic chemicals that are applied to the skin to give it a pleasant scent. It is a form of fragrance that can be worn by both men and women. Some perfumes are used to cover up unpleasant body odors, while others can help boost confidence or add a romantic, sensual or sexual appeal. Perfume is often combined with other cosmetics, such as colognes and toiletries, to create a distinctive scent.
The use of perfume has evolved over time. During the Roman Empire, it was used to signify wealth and social status. In more recent times, it has been used by both women and men to enhance their sense of well-being and beauty, and to make themselves feel attractive.
Most perfumes are composed of a complex mixture of essential oils, fragrance compounds and other chemicals, including fixatives that delay the evaporation of the perfume. The oil is extracted from plants using various methods, but steam distillation is the most common. Thousands of kilograms of plant material may be required to produce just one kilogram of essential oil, which makes perfume expensive.
After the oils are obtained, they are blended together to meet a specific formula predetermined by a perfume master in the industry, who is known as a “nose.” The nose is trained to identify the distinct smells of each of the plant materials used to create the fragrance. The perfume is then diluted in alcohol to give it the consistency needed for application.
The final product is then bottled and labeled. Perfumes can be classified into five major categories based on the dominant aroma: Floral, Oriental, Woody, Aromatic Fougere, and Modern Oceanic. The perfumes are further subdivided into various groups based on the combination of the individual perfume ingredients. For example, Chanel No. 5 is considered a floral aldehydic perfume, while Guerlain Mitsouko is a floral chypre.
While the majority of the perfume ingredients are derived from plants, some are also produced from animal sources. For example, castor oil comes from the seed of the beaver and musk is derived from the glands of male deer. In addition, animal fats such as tallow from beavers and ambergris from the stomach of sperm whale are used as fixatives to enable perfume to last longer.
Many of the plant materials that are used to make perfume can be derived from synthetic compounds, rather than being sourced directly from the source. For example, linalool, a compound derived from terpenes, can be produced by the chemical synthesis of methyl chrysofluorate. Similarly, coumarin can be made from a number of natural phenols by replacing their carbon atoms with chlorine. Modern perfumes can also contain a number of odorants that have been synthetically created to provide unique scents that are not easily found in nature, such as the fresh ozonous smell of calone. The use of these compounds can help to keep perfume costs down while maintaining the quality and olfactory properties of the finished product.