Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds, fixatives and solvents in liquid form that is used to give the human body, food, animals, objects, living-spaces and clothing an agreeable scent. Its use dates back to ancient civilizations, though it was the invention of distillation and the availability of cheap ingredients that enabled perfume production to become profitable. Perfume was made famous in the seventeenth century when it enjoyed enormous popularity in Europe, particularly France, where its creators were based.
Many people like to wear perfume as part of a curated style, combining it with clothes, makeup and other cosmetics to create a look that is uniquely their own. For some, it is a way to feel confident or to express their mood. In addition, some studies have linked pleasant smells with memory and emotion.
Scents can be evocative of certain events and can be associated with specific emotions, which can have a powerful impact on one’s sense of well-being. Perfume, in particular, has the ability to conjure up memories and evoke certain moods. Choosing the right perfume for oneself can be a very personal decision that often involves balancing a desire to make a statement with the needs of everyday life.
When shopping for perfume, it is helpful to have a good understanding of what is in a fragrance and how it works with the wearer’s skin. Fragrance is a complex combination of different chemicals, which can affect the odour produced, depending on the individual’s unique metabolism and the mix of ingredients in each product. It is also important to remember that a perfume can develop over time and change in the way it smells on the wearer, as the different layers of the perfume mix with their own unique skin chemistry.
The first step in perfume making is to extract the fragrant essential oil. This can be done using a variety of methods, but steam distillation is the most common. The resulting oil is then diluted with alcohol and other substances that serve as a fixative, helping the perfume to last longer. It can take thousands of kilos of flowers to produce just a small amount of oil, which helps explain why some perfumes are so expensive.
There are a number of factors that influence the success of a perfume, including its name (which can be an important brand name in itself) and its price. This is visible in the probability distribution of ratings shown in Table 3 where the perfumes with the highest number of reviews are ranked higher than those with fewer. Some of the highest rated perfumes are classic vintage scents, such as “Tabac Blond” by Caron (1922), and others are celebrity fragrances like Elizabeth Taylor’s “White Diamonds”. It is also possible that some perfumes are more successful simply because they have been promoted by a famous person, implying that branding plays an important role.