Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds, fixatives and solvents that are used to give humans, animals, food, objects and living-spaces an agreeable odor. It is a very important and multibillion-dollar industry.
Raw materials for perfume can be of plant, animal or synthetic origin. They may be obtained by steam distillation, enfleurage (a method in which flower petals are placed between layers of purified animal fat), or solvent extraction.
Synthetic perfumes are created in a laboratory by the application of chemicals to the raw materials. Often these compounds are combined in a specific proportion to create the desired fragrance.
Various types of perfume can be prepared, including eau de parfum, cologne, aftershave lotion, and splash cologne. Eau de parfum is a solution of a variety of perfume oils, whereas cologne usually consists of one or more specific type of odorous oil. Aftershave lotions and splash colognes are less concentrated.
Chemicals used to make perfume include benzene, petroleum ether and ethyl alcohol. The resulting solutions, sometimes called tinctures or extracts, are then combined with water to form an alcoholic solution of about 10 to 25 percent perfume concentrate.
In the past, women wore perfumes more freely than men, but this was reversed during the mid-19th century. This was a result of an anti-odor campaign and an increase in germ theory, which regarded odor as a cause of illness rather than a means of attracting mates.
In the present, both men and women re-embrace perfume, though a new gender stereotypes exist for the type of fragrance worn. Sweet floral blends are generally deemed feminine, while sharper, woodsy, pine, and cedar notes are considered masculine.