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Hundreds of years later, women
of Egypt were using perfume for their cosmetic qualities. It
is believed that Egytptian queen Cleopatra had her own exclusive
balms and scents used as cosmetics and aphrodisiac, which helped
her to conquer Julius Caesar and later Mark Anthony. Also from
this same era, it is believed that perfume was used in Mesopotamia
for ritual ceremonies. And farther east, in China, aromatic herbs
were used for medicine purposes.
Later on as trade routes expanded,
perfume became very popular and demand for scent products increased
trade among different civilizations. Africa and India started
to supply Middle Eastern civilization with spikenard and ginger.
Syrians sold fragrant goods to Arabia. Mediterranean civilization
began buying cymbopogon and ginger from South Arabia. And so
the trade of scent goods kept on, and as it continued to swell,
fragrance perfume was eventually introduced thru time to several
civilizations such as Hindus, Israelites, Carthaginians, Arabs,
Greeks, Romans and finally reintroduced hundreds of years later
in Italy and France.
By the
13th century Italy was doing major trades of spices and perfumes
with Eastern civilizations. Portugal and Spain were also trying
to establish important trades of spices by having exclusive routes
to the East. That`s how the new world of America got to be discovered.
As Italian perfume influence
swept over neighboring countries, France began expanding the
use of perfume by first offering perfumed gloves, which were
most often perfumed with neroli or animal scents such as ambergris
and civet. From then on, French perfume has become famous worldwide
and today sets the standard for excellence.
Also France played a major role in reestablishing
the use of perfume for therapeutic purposes in the western world.
It has been reported that during Word War II, therapeutic perfume
had been used in the treatment of wounds and burns, and later
in the treatment of psychiatric problems.
Perfume has brought different people together in
the past thru the trade of aromatic scents. It also played a
major deal, since its trade meant economical power for the nations.
And so the history of modern man has been greatly influenced
by this special product, enabling new worlds to be discovered.
On a personal level, perfume is capable of influencing people`s
behavior and that by itself sets perfume in class by itself.
Perhaps that`s what makes it so desirable by all of us. |
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