Facts You Should Know About Perfume

Perfume [“perfume”, which means “smoke” in Latin] was very popular with Egyptians, Romans and Arabs. In East Asia, perfume was based on incense. People used to make perfumes from spices and herbs such as bergamot, myrtle, coriander, conifer resin, almonds. The flowers were used only after Iranian doctor and chemist Avicenna showed the distillation process and oil could be extracted from the flowers. In 1370, by the order of Hungarian Queen Elizabeth, the world's first modern perfume, “Hungarian water” was made by blending perfume oil with alcoholic solution.

The composition of the perfume is very important and is processed by experts known as perfumers. This specialist deals with major fragrances such as roses, jasmine and cola. Modifiers like esters; blenders such as linalool and hydroxycitronellol. Fixing agents such as resin, wood scent, and a-color base. The resulting scent is described in the musical metaphor of three “notes”. That is, top notes like citrus and ginger scents [consisting of small sized molecules that evaporate quickly]. Middle notes like lavender and rose scents [consisting of medium-sized molecules that slowly evaporate]; basic sounds such as fixatives [consisting of the largest-sized molecules that evaporate the slowest]. All of these sounds work like chords.

Perfume oil contains high concentrations of volatile compounds and must be diluted with a solvent. Therefore, you will not be injured if applied directly to your skin or clothes. Common solvents are pure ethanol or ethanol mixed with water. Neutral scented fats such as fractionated coconut oil or wax, jojoba also act as a solvent to dilute perfume oil. Perfume oil is further mixed with other aromatic compounds. In general, the percentage of aromatic compounds in perfume extracts is 20-40%. In Eau de Parfum, it is 10% to 30%. In Eau De Toilette, it is 5% to 20%. And for Cologne, it is 2% to 5%.

The concentration of oil contained in the perfume along with other aromatic compounds is the strict secret of all perfume and perfume homes to determine the strength, lifespan, and price of the perfume. By adjusting the percent level and perfume notes, you can create variations of the same brand, such as Chanel Pool Mousse and Pool Mousse Concentrate.

The perfume classification is by no means complete due to its evolving nature. Traditional classification consists of categories such as Single Floral, Floral Bouquet, Amberley, Woody, Leather, Shipley, and Fougeres. The modern classification consists of Bright Floral, Green, Oceanic / Ozone, Citrus / Fruity and Gourmand. In 1983, perfume consultant Michael Edwards created a new fragrance classification "Fragrance Wheels". This fragrance is floral [floral, soft floral, floral oriental], oriental [soft oriental, oriental, woody oriental], woody [wood, moss forest, dry woods], fougere [with all family fragrance elements] , Fresh [citrus, green, water]

Perfumes use many fragrance sources, such as plants, animals, and synthetic sources, when making perfumes. Plants are used as a source of aromatic compounds and essential oils. The plant parts used are:

1-bark [cinnamon, cascarilla];

2- flowers [rose, jasmine, gold tree, tuberose, mimosa, vanilla];

3- flowers [citrus, ylang ylang, clove];

4-fruits [apples, strawberries, cherries, lithua cubes, juniper berries, vanilla, oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruits];

5- leaves and twigs [lavender, patchouli, citrus, violet, sage, rosemary, hay, tomato];

6-resin [labdanum, pill, benzoin gum, peruvian balsam, frankincense / olivanum, pine, fir,, copal];

7-roots, bulbs, and rhizomes [vetiver root, raw and iris rhizomes];

8-seed [Coriander, cocoa, mace, cardamom, anise, nutmeg, caraway, tonka beans];

9-Forest [Agarwood, Birch, Rosewood, Sandalwood, Pine, Birch, Juniper, Sugi].

Animal sources include ambergris, castrum, musk, romterpenes, honeycombs, and civets. Other natural sources include lichens and protists. Synthetic sources include synthetic odorants synthesized from petroleum distillates, pine resins, etc. Modern perfumes are mostly made from synthetic sources because they allow fragrances that are not found in nature, like the synthetic compounds that Calone imparts a marine metal ozone odor. Synthetic aromatics are more consistent than natural aromatics and are therefore widely used in modern perfumes currently available.