Perfumes have been used throughout history to enhance personal hygiene, mask unpleasant odors, and express individuality. Popular perfumes, like Sauvage by Dior, contain a mixture of ingredients that can reveal much about the cultural, social, and economic contexts in which they were created and used.
By studying perfumes, we can gain insights into past societies' lifestyles, beliefs, and aspirations. Here’s a trace of fragrance history through the ages.
By examining perfumes and their historical context, historians and researchers can gain valuable insights into the economic, social, cultural, and technological aspects of different civilizations and time periods. Fragrances offer a sensory and tangible connection to the past, enriching our understanding of history and the people who lived before us.
Early Usage
Fragrances have been used in religious ceremonies and rituals throughout history. Ancient civilizations, such as Egypt and Mesopotamia, utilized perfumes in their religious ceremonies and burial rituals. The Egyptians used aromatic substances such as myrrh and frankincense in religious ceremonies and embalming.
The scents associated with these practices provide insights into their beliefs, customs, and spiritual practices.
They also created fragrances for personal use, using ingredients such as lily, rose, and cinnamon. Perfumes were considered luxury items used by the wealthy to display their wealth and status.
During the Roman Empire, perfumes were used for both personal use and scenting their homes and public spaces. They also used perfume to mask the smell of decay in their cities. The Romans were known for their sophisticated perfume-making techniques, using ingredients like musk, myrtle, and laurel.
Usage in the Middle Ages
Perfumes have also been traded across vast distances for centuries, reflecting the exploration and trade routes of ancient civilizations. The trade of aromatic substances like frankincense, myrrh, and spices such as cinnamon and cardamom played a crucial role in connecting different cultures and establishing trade networks.
In the Middle Ages, people used perfumes primarily for religious purposes.
Monks used them to mask the odor of their bodies and surroundings, while churches used them to create a holy atmosphere.
The Renaissance Age
Perfumes became more widely available from the 14th to 17th centuries during the Renaissance age. Their use also became more widespread, treating various ailments, such as headaches and stomach disorders.
During this time, perfumes helped mask unpleasant odors, which were prevalent due to poor sanitation.
The 18th And 19th Centuries
The perfume industry flourished in Europe during this period. France was the center of this thriving industry. Society no longer reserved perfumes for the wealthy.
Perfumes can be influenced by significant historical events and cultural movements. For example, during the Renaissance, the discovery of new aromatic materials coincided with the flourishing of art, science, and exploration. In the 1920s, the Art Deco movement influenced the design of perfume bottles and packaging, reflecting the era's modernist and geometric aesthetic.
They were now accessible to the middle class. This shift was partly by technological advances, which allowed for the production of synthetic fragrances.
The 20th Century
Social Status and Luxury: Perfumes have long been associated with wealth, luxury, and social status. In many historical periods, only the affluent could afford to wear perfumes, and specific scents became markers of prestige and class distinction. The popularity and availability of certain fragrances can reveal societal hierarchies and aspirations.
Perfume and cologn became a multi-billion-dollar industry during this century. Companies created new fragrances every year, and perfume advertising became more sophisticated.
Changing Societal Norms: Perfumes and their scents can reflect shifts in societal norms and attitudes towards personal grooming and hygiene. The popularity of particular fragrance families or the rise of new perfume genres can reflect changing beauty ideals and social expectations related to personal presentation.
The various fragrances were marketed as a way of expressing individuality and as a symbol of luxury and sophistication. Applying perfume the right way makes all the difference. The rise of celebrity culture led to the creation of celebrity-endorsed fragrances.
Modern 21st Century Perfumes
Perfumes continue to reflect the cultural and social contexts in which they are created and used. Natural and organic perfumes are becoming more popular, reflecting a growing concern for the environment and sustainability.
Technological Advancements: The methods and techniques used in perfume production have evolved over time. Analyzing historical perfumes and their ingredients can shed light on the technological advancements and innovations in distillation, extraction, and blending techniques employed in different periods.
Companies are also marketing various perfumes to a broader audience, with gender-neutral fragrances becoming more common.
Dossier is one of the companies at the forefront of the modern perfume industry. It specializes in producing high-quality perfumes at an affordable price point.
Most of their luxury fragrances are inspired by popular designer perfumes.
In conclusion, perfumes have played a significant role in shaping human history. They have been used for their fragrance, therapeutic properties, and as a symbol of power and wealth.
The perfume industry has evolved. Modern technological advances allow for the production of synthetic fragrances and make perfumes accessible to various social classes.
Perfume Addiction
This article is courtesy of SANDRA SYMONS, a journalist and lecturer in Sydney, Australia.
Addict's Choice: Perfume Power
Reprinted Article courtesy of SANDRA SYMONS ©
Each year, new fragrances are launched in a flurry of glamorous and expensive marketing hyperbole. Many women embrace these seductive new fragrances, but there are those who are addicted to one fragrance and make it their signature.
SANDRA SYMONS reports.
Do you have a favorite perfume, one that you always wear with sensual pleasure, one that seems to be a fragrant extension of yourself, one perfume that elicits approving comments from others?
If so, join the ranks of Madonna, who always wears Youth Dew, Jerry Hall (Opium), Cathérine Deneuve (L'Heure Bleue), Princess Di (Diorissimo), Marilyn Monroe (who always wore Chanel No 5), Jackie O (Joy) and Audrey Hepburn (L'Interdit).
Studies in the field of sensory physiology and emotional psychology suggest a close relationship between particular emotional profiles and fragrance preferences. They show that women who wear fragrance usually return to their personal fragrance preferences.
In many cases, women with particular personality characteristics - such as being extroverted and sociable, or quiet and reserved, or even-tempered, or volatile and unpredictable - can be matched to particular fragrance categories.
The international fragrance compounding house, Haarman and Reimer, has done much research on the psychological impact of fragrance. Given that the sense of smell is the one that depends most upon a connection with other senses, it is not surprising that our choice of fragrance is very often determined by our psychological and emotional needs.
Perfume, like the colors and clothes we wear, gives us a chance to identify and emphasize our moods and feelings as well as project something of the moods and feelings we desire.
While each of us is a constantly evolving being who experiences different moods at different times in differing intensities, we maintain a constant inner emotional core which may be expressed in many creative ways.
Generalisations notwithstanding, here are some personality types and the fragrances they are attracted to, according to psychologists who have studied fragrance and its influence:
* Active women with an optimistic approach to life are attracted to fresh, spring-like floral notes such as hyacinth, lily of the valley and freesia;
* Young, or young-at-heart women, who are reserved and enjoy solitude and tranquillity tend to prefer oriental fragrances with a heavy sweetness;
* Women who have an extroverted, impulsive and spontaneous nature and thrive on activity and change like fresh floral fragrances with notes of pineapple, raspberry, blackcurrant and peach;
* Women who like the security of an ordered life yet are emotional ambivalent prefer floral oriental perfumes that combine earthy and sweet notes;
* Mature worldly women gravitate to perfumes with powdery flowery notes combined with balsamic intrigue; and
* Emotionally stable, extroverted women are typically attracted to chypre fragrances that combine oak moss with, say, bergamot freshness.
Do you see yourself in any of these categories? Let's look at it another way - think of the fragrances that you prefer, do they fit a particular fragrance category? Does that fragrance category match up to any of the brief personality profiles described previously?
Over the years, my favourite fragrances have included Coty's Imprevu (when I left school), Balenciaga's Quadrille and Grès' Cabochard (when I was in my first job), Rochas' Femme (when I married) and Guerlain's Mitsouko (which I now wear all the time). Recently, I was given a bottle of Ulric de Varens' Varensia and find it appealing.
All these fragrances belong to the chypre category, that is they have notes of oakmoss, woods and citrus, resin, cedar and tobacco. Do I fit the emotional profile that is bracketed with chypre fragrances? Well, I do regard myself as emotionally stable and extroverted!
Haarman and Reimer has another way of categorising fragrance and personality. It offers seven basic categories of fragrance type and matches them to mood tendencies.
Here they are:
* Aldehydic-Floral Notes
(projecting a fragrance mood that is classical, elegant and cultured). Women who like fragrances with these characteristics have a personal style which is elegant and exclusive, free from the whims of fashion. Culture plays a special role in their lives.
Rich floral aldehydes include Arpège and Je Reviens; those with crisp or fresh notes include Safari and Rive Gauche.
* Floriental Notes
(romantic, dreamy and idealistic). The women who wear these fragrances are sensitive and refuse to view life from a sober, rational standpoint. They are controlled by their feelings, moods and emotions. Classic floral orientals include L'Heure Bleue, Spellbound, Sublime.
* Oriental Notes (introspective, sensitive, reflective). Women who favour oriental fragrances understand themselves. They reject superficiality and have intense relationships. They value inner tranquillity and harmony and are happy in their own company. Classic orientals include Donna Karan, Shalimar.
* Powdery-Aldehydic Notes
(independent, unconventional and unfettered). The women who prefer these qualities in a fragrance demand a free and unattached life shaped by themselves. They are artistic and highly individualistic. They seek to live by their own ideas and convictions. Classic soft flower powdery aldehydes include Chanel No 5 and L'Interdit.
* Fruity-Floral Notes
(carefree, playful, cheerful). Women who choose fruity-floral fragrances love a free and spontaneous life and enjoy it to the fullest. They are curious and open about everything new and thrive on change. Classic or rich citrus floral fragrances include Eau de Guerlain and Ô de Lancôme.
*Fresh-Green Floral Notes
(dynamic, active, extroverted). Women who wear such fragrances are willing to accept certain risks and make a strong commitment in exchange for interesting and varied work. They like to play an active role in events and show great initiative. Classic and rich green fragrances include Aliage and Private Collection.
* Chypre
(professional, pragmatic, self-assured). The women who wear chypre fragrances take charge of their lives. They solve problems in a practical, uncomplicated way. They accept responsibility and project self-assurance and strength of will. Classic chypres include Femme, Knowing, Mitsouko, Paloma Picasso.
There is an eighth Indefinable Fragrance Category projecting a fragrance mood that is down-to earth, well-balanced and harmonious. Women whose fragrance category cannot be easily defined may be described as natural and uncomplicated. They are realistic and dependable and promote a sense of security in those around them. They are perceived as warm and compassionate. They reject the whims of fashion.
Let's go back to several of the celebrity women mentioned earlier, take a quick look at their fragrance preference and speculate if the matches seem right.
French actor Cathérine Deneuve wears Guerlain's L'Heure Bleue, a classic floral oriental with a heart of Bulgarian rose and jasmine and base notes of musk and vanilla. Rose offers a romantic elegance, jasmine an intoxicating, powerful energy. Musk conjures up sensuality and warmth and vanilla adds a tenacious, deep sweetness. Do you think that Deneuve seems to fit the suggested profile of a romantic, idealistic dreamer, a sensitive woman shaped by her feelings and emotions?
Princess Di's fragrance favorite was Diorissimo, a fresh floral with a heart of white flower notes of opulent jasmine and volatile lily of the valley and a base of warm boronia and subtle rosewood. According to the fragrance profile, this suits a carefree and playful woman who loves spontaneity and wants to live by the motto 'you only live once'.
Audrey Hepburn's favorite, which was created especially for her by Hubert Givenchy, was L'Interdit, a classic soft floral with heart notes of jasmine and rose and soul notes of amber and incense. Given these key ingredients, the fragrance suggests a profile that is intoxicating and captivating, sweet and precious, warm and alluring. Aldehydic floral notes suit a woman who is classical, elegant and cultured.
According to Hans Otto Schmitt, of Haarman and Reimer, 17 per cent of women habitually use just one fragrance. The company's research indicates that many of these women fall into the introverted/introspective personality.
"Their fragrance indicates, and reinforces, their inclination to withdraw and feel warm and comfortable in their own space," he says. "They are more interested in keeping the world at bay than inviting the world to enter their space.
"Most of the fragrances chosen by these woman are warm orientals and chypres, fragrances like Opium, Vanilla Fields, Casimir, Shalimar and Tabu. Most of these fragrances are base-oriented (that is, the base notes are more powerful and lingering than the top notes).
"Key ingredients in these fragrances are typically vanilla, musk and sandalwood which, like incense (olibanum) actually have a chemical reaction on the brain that induces something like mild euphoria," he says.
In aromatherapy terms, certain essential oils have a powerful effect on our emotional states. For example, vanilla unleashes deeply felt emotions and provokes hidden sensuality; sandalwood is warm and seductive; patchouli is earthy, profound and forceful; smoky, musky myrrh implies strength and courage; jasmine provokes erotic thoughts; benzoin penetrates the emotional shield; ylang ylang stimulates the senses; and bergamot is persuasive and enlivens one's sex life.
Not surprisingly, there are many women who favour a single fragrance because they believe it expresses something important about their personality, says Michael Edwards, author of Perfume Legends. "The fragrance becomes the woman's 'signature'. You usually find that a woman who has a signature fragrance feels very comfortable with the fragrance."
The fragrances that women choose as a 'signature' typically pack a psychological wallop. Indeed, they are emotional dynamite in a bottle, with every whiff, capable of conveying a myriad of messages and moods.
End of copyright article by Sandra Symons ©
Perfume Bandwagon
Perfumes are a 25 billion dollar industry, yet are one of the poorest performing sectors of the cosmetics industry. The fragrance market is stagnating and is cluttered with new scent products which means there is no longer any brand loyalty. As many as 300 new brands appear every year. Consumers jump with speed to the latest new 'designer perfume' product.
They must have the new perfume and can't live without the fragrance when it first arrives on the shelves. But they soon tire of the perfume and are ever seeking the novelty in an even newer scent.
The older generation, keen to be seen to move with the times, also adopts new fragrances at the cost of old favorites. This means fragrances often only have a shelf life of 3 years.
Top Perfume Sales
Launching a new perfume globally can cost as much as $100 million, whilst maintaining the highest profile of a fragrance such as Chanel No.5 also costs money. The Nicole Kidman advert for Chanel No.5 cost £18 million and is expected to be used for 5 years.
Successful fragrances are worth their weight in gold.
Chanel No.5 sells a new bottle of the scent every 55 seconds and has 6% of the fragrance market share. This perfume brand just grows in strength. I'd venture that is because it actually smells like a proper grown-up perfume. So many new perfumes just don't beat it as a super scent.
In Britain, hot on Chanel's heels are the perfumes Jean-Paul Gaultier and Eternity, both with soaring sales and both very popular perfumes, each with a 4% market share. Anaïs Anaïs also has 4% market share, but sales of this fragrance are in decline compared to earlier years.
Other major players with 3% market share include fashion perfumes Angel, Coco Mademoiselle, J'adore (in decline) and Allure. Pleasure has a 2% market share making the hundreds of other fragrances just bit players in the fragrance market.
Perfume Brand Loyalty
Perfume brand loyalty is something the younger generation have not adopted and to attract these customers some fragrance houses have fixated on using celebrities. Names like Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears, and Paris Hilton are used on new scent formulations in an effort to revive sales. These perfumes often have short-term popularity.
Perfumes are often revamped producing a lighter version. One fragrance that has just had this treatment is the famous perfume Estee Lauder Youthdew. Under the casting vote of Tom Ford, this old favorite of many has been given a new look and lighter touch. You can still smell a hint of the original Youthdew, but it is no longer so overpowering that you know what the scent is hours later. Yet I think Estee might be horrified at this subdued version.
Others stay true to famous brands like those by the House of Caron which began as a perfume house not as a couture clothes house.
Perfumed at Home
It's not just bodies that we like to perfume, but aromatherapy scents used either on the body or indirectly around the home are also big business in the fragrance world.
Candles
Scented candles, perfumes for interiors, and linens have become a huge home fashion market associated with lifestyle moods and fragrant environments with a feel-good factor. It is driven by consumers who want to cocoon at home whilst experiencing relaxation and mood enhancement.
Some of the best-perfumed candles you can buy include those by Diptyque, Tocca, Jo Malone, Liz Earle, L'Occitane, and Molton Browne.
I have to say the nicest perfumed candles I have tried are Guerlain's Shalimar candle and Jo Malone's Amber and Sweet Orange candle. Real luxury and a heady experience in both cases.
