Perfume is a combination of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds, fixatives and solvents in liquid form, used to give human skin, animals, food, objects and living-spaces an agreeable scent. Throughout history, perfumes have been made by combining extracts from a wide range of aromatic plants and flowers with oil, natural or synthetic alcohols and solvents. The most popular ingredients today are still rose, ylang-ylang and jasmine oils.
Early civilizations extracted perfumes for thousands of years using a variety of techniques and natural ingredients, from soaking the organic material in a fat or oil base to the process known as enfleurage. The Persian chemist Avicenna invented distillation in the 10th century, changing the perfume industry for good by making it possible to use pure alcohol as a base for the product, and eliminating the need to store perfumes in jars of vegetable oils that could be stolen by rivals.
Modern perfumes can be classified in five categories: Floral, Oriental, Woody, Chypre and Fresh. Each category is divided into subgroups and arranged around a fragrance wheel. For example, the iconic Chanel No. 5 can be considered an aldehydic floral, while Guerlain Mitsouko is a more classic chypre.
To make the most of your perfume, keep in mind that less is more. A small dab on the neck and down the back of your ear (for women) is enough to leave a subtle trail that lingers all day. And don’t forget to moisturize your skin before spraying. This makes it more receptive to the fragrance and helps it last longer.