Perfumes are blends of fragrance chemicals, fixatives, aromatic ingredients or volatile oils, most often in liquid form, employed to deliver a pleasing scent to the body, clothes, food, living-space, and objects. A variety of perfumes are available in the market today, each having its own characteristic scent and quality. Some perfumes are meant to be sensual, while others are designed to create a calming or de-stressing environment. Others again are used to alter one’s body odor and physical appearance.
A type of perfumes that have created a niche for themselves is the exotic or unusual. Perfumes that fall under this category can be exotic, floral, spicy, balsamic, woody, warm, or invigorating. They may also be made from exotic fruits or bark, such as eucalyptus, jasmine, rose, sandalwood, myrrh, and patchouli. Some of these scents are famous for their ability to produce multiple scents, including a flowery aroma on the tip of your tongue, a delectable smell in your mouth, or a musky sensation in the back of your throat. The scent of sandalwood, which has a very woodsy, exotic smell, is one of the most popular amongst all exotic aromas.
The first perfume created by the ancient Egyptians was composed of olfactory substances that were gathered from animals and plants around them. These scents included certain herbs such as frankincense, myrrh, resin, jasmine, sandalwood, rose, and myrrh. This perfume was preserved in clay containers that had been hollowed out, and since it was so rich in natural oils, it could last for centuries. The term for this first perfume is “sesamoid”, which means it was produced from numerous aromas that were gathered from various plants and animals around the site.
Since perfumes are primarily composed of ingredients such as aromatic chemicals and natural oils, modern perfumes are usually created using a blend of these components. A perfume mixture will contain about forty to sixty different primary ingredients, while the fragrance itself will only contain about twenty to forty different fragrance compounds. Perfumes are divided further into floral, fougere, food, garden, oriental/ Oriental, and spicy categories. Each category of perfume will contain a different blend of different ingredients, which will result in hundreds of different fragrance combinations.
Many perfumes use essential oil as their primary ingredients. Essential oils are concentrated plant fragrances, which are unique because they can have multiple effects on human beings. Because of this, essential oils are often chosen carefully, sometimes taking many months to select, lest the oils found in a particular scent may be accidentally mixed with a stronger essential oil, creating a disastrous mixture. In addition, certain scents have medicinal properties or can be used in aromatherapy to treat a variety of ailments. For these reasons, many perfumes will include some kind of added therapeutic scent, often an essential oil, which can be used instead of a natural essential oil if one is present in an appropriate amount.
The creation of a distinctive fragrance requires an understanding of the different types of perfumes, their main ingredients, and the specific aromas which can be created with the different ingredients. For instance, rose oil has a very subtle floral scent, while orange oil has a very powerful aroma. Knowing which scent to use will help create the most pleasing perfume mixture. Fortunately, today’s manufacturers have perfected the art of creating both classical and modern scents, making it easy for anyone to find the exact perfume scent that is right for them.