When we smell a particular fragrance, such as, say, clean laundry or a fresh peach, we instantly and unconsciously connect that smell to a portion of our memory. Smell can evoke feelings and bring back memories that we forgot we had. To understand perfume, we would need to start at its inception, back in the time of the ancient times.
Perfume is a powerful tool to express our personality, build our self-image and engage with others. Fragrances, in fact, accompany us in everyday life and tell something about us, raising memories and feelings.
The word perfume comes from the Latin phrase, “per” meaning “thorough” and “fumus” meaning “smoke”. The French later gave the name “parfum” to the smells produced by burning incense. Indeed, the first form of perfume was incense, first made by the Mesopotamians about 4000 years ago. Ancient cultures burned a variety of resins and wood at their religious ceremonies. Incense made its way to Egypt around 3000 B.C. but until the beginning of Egypt’s Golden Age, perfumes were used only in religious rituals. They became available to all Egyptians as the priests gradually relinquished their exclusive rights. Citizens took elaborate baths and soaked their skin in scented oils for pleasure.
The ancient Greeks can take credit for the first liquid perfume. But it was the development of distillation by the Arabs that made perfume manufacture viable. Perfume enjoyed huge success during the seventeenth century, especially in France. Hygiene in those days was pretty spotty and fragrances were used to mask the unpleasant body odors. In England perfumes were used extensively during the reigns of Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I. All public places were scented during Elizabeth’s rule because she could not tolerate bad smells.
As with industry and art, perfume was to undergo profound change in the nineteenth century. Changing tastes and the development of chemistry laid the foundations for modern perfumery. At the turn of the century, perfume usually was derived from a single- flower fragrance. Today, perfumes are extremely complex, made up of many natural and synthetic chemicals, often referred to as “notes” or “overtones.” Chanel No5 was the first perfume created by applying modern chemical principles and the first to contain synthetics.
A Whiff of Chemistry The first stage in making a perfume is the extraction of the fragrant essential oils from plants. While many methods can be used, distillation is the most common one. Steam distillation is based on the principle that plant materials placed in boiling water will release their essential oils which then evaporate with the steam. Once the steam and oil have been condensed, the oil will separate from the water and can be collected. Thousands of kilos of flowers may be needed to obtain just one kilo of essential oil, which partly explains why many perfumes are so pricey. The oils are then diluted with alcohol, which also serves as a fixative, giving fragrances their long-lasting effect by delaying evaporation. The diluted solution is then left to steep in special copper or stainless steel pots before being cooled in order to allow any resins or waxy particles to settle. Next comes the filtering process, and last but certainly not least, packaging.
Today, both synthetic and natural ingredients are used in perfumery. Natural components include extracts of flowers, leaves, roots and citrus fruit. Animal extracts derived from musk, whales or beaver are also used. Chemists have become very adept at producing synthetic versions of many natural compounds, greatly facilitating perfume manufacture. Fragrances are categorized according to the concentration of essential oils they contain. The most concentrated form, and of course the most expensive, is called parfum. It is the strongest and longest-lasting fragrance and contains 20 to 50 percent perfume compounds by weight.
Studying the Science of Scents People sometimes use fragrances not only to make themselves smell nice, but also with hopes of reducing stress, energizing themselves or just lifting their mood. A study by the Olfactory Research Fund in New York actually found a 63% reduction in stress in patients undergoing MRI scans when vanilla scent was pumped into the air around them!
Perfume was born as an expression of the rite and prerogative of an élite but over the centuries undergoes a gradual democratization. Perfume went then from a sacred element to a luxury accessory, from a seductive instrument to a precious therapeutic remedy. Nowadays, perfume is not a trait of the wealthy class anymore, but it accompanies everyday life as a unique and original expression of our identity.
Sources:
https://www.parfumsraffy.com/perfume-history
https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-perfume-1991657
https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/history/story-perfume
http://www.museesdegrasse.com/en/history-perfumery
https://www.tailormadefragrance.com/en_int/history_of_perfume