Perfume is a very personal choice and can be a great accessory to express a person’s style. It is also an easy way to leave a lasting impression on those who encounter you. Perfume is a form of aromatherapy and can help to relax or invigorate the wearer depending on the scent.
Perfumers use a variety of natural and synthetic ingredients to create fragrances that are designed to be worn on the skin. Historically, perfumes were made using many different natural ingredients including musk (derived from musk deer glands) and ambergris (extracted from petrified sperm of whales). Today, perfume is mostly created in laboratories with the help of an ever-growing list of chemicals.
Fragrance is a mixture of oils and water that when applied to the skin produces an aroma. The oil is usually extracted from the petals or leaves of a flower, fruit or tree. The oil is then diluted with alcohol, which serves as a fixative and helps the perfume to last longer on the body. The resulting product is then blended with a variety of other substances including dyes, chemicals and preservatives.
A person can choose from a wide array of perfumes, from very light and airy to deep and rich. Most perfumes have a base note which is the least volatile and lingers on the skin long after the top and middle notes have evaporated. It is important to note that a perfume will smell differently on each individual, due to the unique chemistry of their own skin.
The history of perfume goes back thousands of years. Ancient civilizations infused body lotions and waters with aromatic plants, burned incense made from aromatic woods and used fragrant oils to cleanse themselves. The ancient Egyptians marketed their perfume by using beautiful containers that were often engraved and decorated with designs. Their main objective was to evoke a positive association and stimulate the sense of smell.
Today, perfumes are still marketed with attractive packaging and are designed to evoke pleasant memories. They can also be sprayed on before dressing to leave behind a fresh, long-lasting scent that will remain with the wearer throughout the day. Perfume can also have aphrodisiac properties and many people find that they are attracted to certain smells. Ingredients like jasmine, ylang ylang and vanilla have been known to prompt instant attraction and intuitive sensual responses. It is no wonder that Cleopatra was able to seduce Mark Antony with her perfume.
There are a number of ways to describe a perfume, including the names of the various notes that make up a fragrance, its olfactive family and its olfactory pyramid. A perfumer will evaluate a perfume by determining its character, i.e. its top, heart and base note and will consider a variety of factors in order to achieve this. These may include occasions, seasons and moods. In addition, the perfumer will look at the composition as a whole and determine whether it is more masculine or feminine in style.