Perfumes: Find the Right Scent for You

by Karl Bantleman

Perfume has always been a fascinating product and inspired poets and writers. Well chosen and suitable perfumes make women feel irresistible, romantic or even energetic and are nowadays part of every outfit.

But perfume is not an invention of the last hundred years even though it surely got famous since then. But already the Romans and Egyptians used herbs and fruits to mix pleasant scents for men and women. Flower essences were added centuries later via a distillation process in the orient but the most important development of perfume took place in Europe and especially in France in the medieval age.

In the 14th and 15th century, perfume was mainly used to hide insufficient hygiene and was only affordable by royals and selected upper class families. However, in the 18th century a perfume industry was developed in a little town named Grasse on the French Rivera. Even though the economic zenith is over it is still famous for the design of the most popular fragrances and beautifully embedded in fields cultivating flowers for perfume.

Due to the availability of more raw materials and the logistically good location of Grasse, the use of perfume has become more and more common and affordable since then.

Today, a fragrance can be grouped in four different notes to classify a scent professionally: floral, oriental, woody and fresh notes. Against the common background, these notes are generated not only from flowers and spices but also animal and synthetic sources. Whereas the precise ingredients of each perfume have always been kept secret, most composers of perfumes choose similar ingredients. However, thanks to different proportions the results are always different and not comparable.

The perfume industry is by far one of the major revenue drivers in the cosmetic industry. This is emphasised by famous style icons acting as ambassadors for fragrances e.g. Nicole Kidman (Chanel No.5), Keira Knightly (Coco Chanel), Kate Winslet (Tresor) and Anne Hathaway who promotes the latest Lancome fragrance “Magnifique”. The profits behind perfumes are massive and through licensing the big manufacturers assure rights to use the names of celebrities for their scents. Very often the person stated on the label had no influence on the choice of ingredients and let alone the scent. Mostly the scent is a result of market research and recent trends which are likely to become a huge hit if promoted by the right name.

Despite these economic industry facts perfume is still a product of desire and luxury. It expresses the personality, attitude or even mood of people and contributes to the general well-being. Therefore, a perfume should be carefully selected to make sure that it really suits you and your lifestyle.

Finding the perfume for you can be tricky with a wide range of perfumes on the market. With a difference fragrance for each occasion, make sure you have the right one.