Perfume is a feel-good stimulant that can relax you, make you feel sexy, and increase confidence. It can also bring back memories of people and places. It can be difficult to choose the right perfume, however, so we’re here to help!
The ancient Romans and Arabs refined the art of perfume 2500 years ago. They used rose and jasmine oils to perfume themselves and their clothing, and burned fragrant incense at lavish feasts. Today’s perfumes contain a blend of ten to hundreds of ingredients: (1) essential oils or aroma compounds derived from natural aromatic plant extracts; (2) fixatives, a class of chemicals that reduce the evaporation rate and enhance longevity; and (3) a solvent mixture (typically 98% ethanol and 2% water) in which the scent is dissolved.
In early times, civilizations extracted perfumed oils from a wide variety of natural materials including musk (from musk deer glands), hexachlorobenzene, hyraceum, and ambergris (whale vomit). These smell a bit gross to us now! Modern perfumes are made in laboratories using a large number of synthetic chemicals.
Before the advent of germ theory, wearing fragrance was viewed as a mark of health and hygiene. This change in outlook, along with the rise of deodorizing soaps and powders, led to a shift toward a more muted public image for women and a perception that smelling too sweet or strong was undesirable.
As a result, perfume became a status symbol for the rich and a means of indicating one’s social class. By the end of the eighteenth century, there were aristocratic perfumes for the upper classes, bourgeois perfumes for the middle class, and disinfectant for the poor.