Perfume Blog

Shopping for a new perfume can be overwhelming and a tricky business with all the scents available today. However it gets even more complicated when there are different versions of the same scent available. Extraits to Colognes to Aftershaves, there are countless options of fragrances available in the market and at least thousand new fragrances are launched every year. Finding the right concentration is just as important as choosing the right fragrance. Many people get anxious & confused when the sales person asks “Which concentration would you prefer?”

Fragrance concentration refers to the strength or quantity of perfume oil that a fragrance has. Higher perfume oil concentration generally means stronger fragrance, greater longevity on skin and also higher price point.

Fragrance concentrations are broken down into following easy-to-understand categories, these are of general nature rather than a specific one. So we would suggest you to take it all with some salt :-

Parfum - The word Parfum comes from Latin phrase per- (through, thoroughly) + fumäre (to smoke), also known as Pure Perfume or Extrait de Perfume. This is the most pure, concentrated, expensive and long lasting of all fragrance concentrations. 

On average, it contains anywhere from 15% all the way up to 40% perfume essential oils (IFRA: typical 20%) and due to its higher concentration of fragrance oil one can expect Parfum to last at least 8 hours and far beyond.

Extrait de Parfum may feel a bit heady at the beginning due to its concentration but it gives the wearer a full spectrum of Top, Heart and Base notes that are released slowly over time. Alcohol composition in Parfum is the lowest among all other concentrations, which makes it an excellent choice for those with sensitive-dry skin as it tends to stay on surface and is less likely to dry out the pores.

It usually comes in small but heavy glass flacon bottles typically consisting anywhere from 7.5ml to 30ml with ornate stoppers and is generally dabbed on certain pulse points and isn't used all over the body. However, the trend today is that even Parfum versions come in 50 or 100ml bottles with sprayers.

In the beginning of Modern Western Perfumery, this was the most usual format offered in perfume houses. It is believed that Jicky by Aime Guerlain, an oriental fougere fragrance for women, is the first fragrance labelled as "Parfum" in 1889.

Eau de Parfum- After Parfum, Eau de Parfum also known as EDP occupies the next spot when it comes to strength and concentration. Many confuses Eau de Parfum with Pure Parfum, however, the keyword here is "eau" meaning "from water" which means essence is more dissolved & diluted. Eau de Parfum usually offers concentration between 10-20%. On average, Eau de Parfum will last for solid 6 to 8 hours.

As the oil level drops, there is more alcohol added, thus making it generally cheaper than pure Parfum but still EdP remains among the higher end of the price spectrum. Whilst Parfum concentration gives wearer the full blend of Top, Heart and Base Notes, Eau de Parfum focuses on the Heart notes as the Top Notes vanishes from the skin quicker.

This EDP version is very common and a popular option for its slightly lower price but luxurious feel, making it the best of both worlds. Since it is one of the most popular categories, most brand start off their fragrances in this concentration. EDP concentration is also referred to as “Millesime”, a term famously used by the house Creed.

Eau de Toilette - The term Eau de Toilette comes from the French term "faire sa toilette" which means "getting ready". It was the cleaning water that was used to be added in the bathing water or applied directly onto the body after bathing. Due to which in this context Eau de Toilette also means ‘Grooming Water” or “Toilet Water”.

Modern perfumery adopted the term to indicate the concentration of a fragrance. EDT was first produced in the 14th century. It is a light watered-down composition of EDP and designed for individuals looking for the same scent but a subtle & delicate option.

The oil concentration in EDT generally varies from 5% to 15%. EDT can maintain its pleasant scent anywhere from 4 to 6 hours per application (depending on the skin).

This type has better projection due to higher alcohol concentration which makes it radiate and diffuse from your body for longer distance. For many people, it is a go-to choice for a typical day.

Some prefer EDT for the day, due to the abundance of hesperidic citrus notes. It is a great choice to create first impressions as it has a generous dose of alcohol that can create an aura of scented bubble around you.

Majority of perfume brands offer their scents in EDT concentrations allowing people to enjoy their creations without burning a hole in the pocket.

Eau de Cologne - Eau de Cologne, EDC or simply Cologne, usually has a 2% to 4% concentration of the perfume and an excessive amount of alcohol. Lasting power drops to somewhere around 2 to 4 hours, making it an extremely light and inexpensive liquid. These products are generally used to neutralize body stench or are used as a Splash-on fragrance.

Eau de Cologne is arguably the oldest type of perfume concentration used. It is translated from French as "water of cologne".

In 1709, Italian barber Giovanni Maria-Farina devised a concoction, which he named Kölnisch Wasser (Cologne Water) after its hometown Köln in Germany. It was highly praised by Emperor Napoleon, who used it not only as a perfume but also for gargling, drinking and taking a bath.

Eau de Cologne is a generic term for perfumes geared for male usage but there are still plenty of female perfumes which use this designation. Typically, many EDCs are formulated for Men as lighter fragrance variation of its EDP or EDT counterpart.

Eau de Cologne originally referred to a traditional chypre recipe that used heavy quantities of Top notes of citruses and tiny base of herbal notes. Thus, EDC gives a citrusy, airy, light and fresh feel.

EDC concentrations have a variety of uses, like, dabbing some on sensitive skins, using it to scent a handkerchief or simple spraying this to take in the calm, pleasant aroma. Also, EDC needs to be applied in generous doses, as a result of which EDCs are often available in large size bottles of volume up to 200 ml and spraying is usually the application method. One of the oldest colognes 4711 developed by Wilhelm Mülhers (or Maurer and Wirtz) in the 18th century, is still produced and worn today, a true classical masterpiece.

There are some perfumes that are marketed as EDC but give out performance that is comparable to many EDTs or EDPs out there due to the fixatives or base compounds used to enhance the longevity of the scent. 

Having covered the most known types of perfume concentrations there are some left which do not generally get the popularity they deserve i.e. after shave Lotions & Body Mists.

One could argue that there is virtually no difference between EDC, After shaves & Body Mists, since they all have roughly the same amount of perfume concentrations. However the difference mainly lies in the composition & intended use of all three.

After Shave - The earliest known example of humans shaving is at least 100,000 years old when stone age men used sea shells to pick out their beard(Ouch!). But shaving as we know it, goes back to at least 60,000 years.

Since the tools that they used instead of a Razor were dull, a shave in those times usually resulted in bruises and cuts. Which were bound to get infected due to the hygiene conditions in those times. To overcome this health hazard, people all around the world soon started using water, Alum, Alcohol and much later, Ethanol.

The primary tool which acted as a razor has since developed during the years. However, the use of a liquid to sanitise the cuts has been a constant forever (cause lets face it, some men are clumsy and will end up cutting themselves, or God forbid, others!).

During the popularity of the use of ethanol some men with a brilliant idea mixed perfumed compounds in the ethanol mixture to give birth to the aftershave lotions we use today.

Where Eau De Cologne can be naively termed as a light perfume. After Shave lotion’s primary purpose is to disinfect the skin after its close encounter with a sharp razor and a secondary purpose to leave you with a pleasant fragrance.

In the current market there is a head scratching number of options while choosing to buy and Aftershave, some even claim to make you look younger. Despite the absurd claims, After shaves have been used since time immemorial & is a trend that is here to stay.

Body mists - Body mists are based around a water & ethanol formula. Which includes a fragrant compound to give you that light aura around you and is only noticeable to people who get intimately close to you.

Mostly they are used after taking a bath, however they are also now increasingly used as a part of a night time routine, where you just want a light scent to calm your sense and bring you to sleep.

When it was released it was intended to be used by teenagers going to school, however over the years it has started to be used by almost everyone.

Body Mists have a very low perfume concentration. Which results in a light fragrance (perfect for people who dislike strong scents) giving one a performance of 2-3 hours. It is different from its other low concentration counterparts as it is mostly based on a water & ethanol derived formula and hydrates your skin as well as giving you a mild scent to enjoy.

They are also pretty useful when layering a certain fragrance. You can layer the Body Mist with a body butter or can layer a perfume with the same brand’s body mist.

We have reached the renaissance period which covers the 15th & 16th centuries, characterized by the newfound willingness to learn & explore and the focus on human efforts to bring innovation in daily life.

People in that time still used perfumes (mainly pomanders & acorns of various shapes & sizes) to mask unpleasant body stench and were learning the aphrodisiac properties of compounds derived from animals, like Castoreum from Beavers & Musk from Deer. Meanwhile, royalties of Italy already started hiring personal perfumers to create personalized scents. The most prolific among these arrangements was one between noblewomen ‘Catherine de’ Medici’ & her perfumer Rene De Florentin. She was known to possess poisonous jewelry, which she supposedly used to murder other nobles. The poisons were of course created by her perfumer(chemist). Though the actual and profound impact of this arrangement materializes when she was married to Henry II of France.

When married, she took many poets, artists & her perfumer with her to Grasse, France. In Grasse, glove makers were annoyed by the smell of the animal skin. They were using heady-dense perfume compounds to mask the stench. So when Catherine de Medici took her perfumer to Grasse, it provided a huge upward jolt to the perfumery techniques & methods used in France. To appease her the glove makers in Grasse soon started cultivating perfumed ingredients in the nearby hills. Which ultimately led to Grasse becoming the heart of perfumery in the world.

Shortly after the rejuvenation of the perfume industry in Grasse, a perfume frenzy started, courtesy of French King Louis XV and his famous ‘Scented court’. King Louis XV hired many perfumers and to appease him many of the countrymen started venturing into various ingredients, techniques & methods of perfumery. In his ‘scented court’, every day, a new fragrance was applied. This increased the popularity of perfumes drastically, people started wearing perfumes every day & customizable fragrances came into popular culture. Also, the hygiene of people was getting better so as a result, the industry transitioned from dense-heady perfumes used to mask terrible stench to delicate, light & airy concoctions.

It was during this time of fragrance frenzy that the first great houses of perfumes were established like Floris in London, Piver & Houbignant in France, etc. The change from dense oils to delicate alcohol-based perfumes provided the world with first ‘Eau De Cologne’ which was called Aqua Mirabilis (admirable water). Invented by Italian monks during the middle ages by mixing alcohol & some perfumed ingredients, but, was perfected by the great grandson of an Italian migrant, who left Italy to finally settle in the city of Cologne in Germany. The name of the grandson was Giovanni Maria Farina & he named his creation initially as ‘Aqua Miribilis di Colonia’.

Farina quickly established a factory to manufacture this light, airy & complex scented alcohol solution in Cologne, Germany. He tweaked his creation many times, finally settling on one made of citruses (Bergamot, Grapefruit, Orange, etc.), flowers & fruits. He called it ‘Eau de Cologne’ or ‘The water of Cologne’. His creation was extremely well received in Europe & the world making him the chief supplier of it. This lead him to open Maison Jean Marie Farina in 1806.

This development at the start of 19th century provided for unrivalled development & popularization of perfumes.

The dawn of the 19th century saw the famous ‘Eau de Cologne’ being accepted & popularised among nobles & commoners alike. With the likes of Napoleon Bonaparte being enchanted by this heavenly water, becoming one of the main customers of Maison Jean-Marie Farina. Since the mixture was more than 95% proof, Napoleon also drank ‘Eau de Cologne’ everyday, which I would like to advise you, the reader, not to try. The factory of Farina was taken over by ‘Roger & Gallet’ and they renamed the famous fragrance as ‘Extra Vieille’.

The world during this time was also experiencing tremendous growth in science & particularly in chemistry. The search for new scents & to bridge the gap between demand and supply of various ingredients, chemists started to research the chemical composition of various perfumed ingredients which led to the isolation of  fragrant compounds from its sources, giving way to the trend of synthetic ingredients.

In 1820, one of the first fragrant compounds was isolated from Tonka Bean & was named Coumarin, which has a sweet vanilla like odor with bitter undertones. However the independent synthesis of Coumarin takes place almost 40 years later marking the advent of ‘Modern Perfumery’ as a result of which Coumarin has been used since then as an artificial substitute to Tonka Bean & Vanilla in perfumes all around us. After this several other synthetic compounds were isolated & created, such as, Vanillin from Vanilla, artificial Musks, Aldehydes, Heliotropin, etc. This newfound dimension in perfumery allowed chemists & perfumers to explore unique avenues and thus they created some of the most trendsetting fragrance of the time. As the synthetic compounds also allowed perfumers to create concoctions which cannot be found in nature, the allure of perfumes increased among the people.

Some of the first mass produced perfumes with synthetic compounds included names like White Rose by Floris, Heliotrope by Molinard, Guerlain’s Jicky & Fougère Royale by Houbignant. The immense popularity & demand of these perfumes opened the eyes of many perfumers & chemists who soon started venturing into these synthetic compounds. This saw a rapid increase in the setting up of manufacturing sites for perfumes & its ingredients. To the point that by the end of the century, France alone had at least 300 factories manufacturing perfumes or its ingredients, be it naturally derived or synthetically made.

The use of natural ingredients with synthetic compounds birthed various perfume categories like Chypre, Woody & Oriental. The world’s view on femininity changed quiet a bit too, as the century saw women getting rid of the corsets & saw them work in boots, shirts & trousers. This change in the way of women dressing changed the perspective of fashion designers & the industry itself. Paving way for new type of clothes and new type of fragrances associated with the novel idea of ‘independent women’.

So, the 19th century saw perfumes becoming a daily accessory, saw some of the popular fragrances being marketed to a specific gender & saw the birth of modern perfumery. This century brought humans closest to the ‘art of perfumery’ we know & use today.

Due to the developments helmed under Queen Catherine di Medici in the 17th century, Grasse became the largest producer of many perfume ingredients in the 20th century. This coupled with the fact that Paris was becoming the fashion capital of the world, really allowed France to dominate the world in production of perfumes. Companies like Guerlain, Houbignant, Floris, etc were mass manufacturing perfumes & the economies of scale achieved via this allowed the prices of these perfumes to be more on the affordable side and further created a mass market appeal for them.

A serious competition for the biggest brand of the time (arguably the biggest brand ever), Guerlain was soon seen in a young business man named Francois Coty. Having learned the art of perfumery in Grasse, France, Francois Coty soon realised that its not just the juice that sells a perfume. He realised that if he provided a good quality concoction in a pleasant looking-feeling bottle for a reasonable price, he could virtually create a monopoly in the perfume market. Its a virtue that holds true even today where the perfumes are always offered in attractive bottles. Coty approached glass manufacturers like Baccarat & Lalique to create mesmerising perfume bottles. Coty’s second master stroke was to allow women to sample before buying, a thought that is still celebrated today.

The first ‘designer’ perfume was created by Paul Poiret in the premises of his company ‘Parfums de Rosine’. The company and their creation soon became very popular but unfortunately could not survive the depression. However, Francois Coty was undetered by this. After establishing his company in 1904 he created many fragrances which were very well received due to the use of natural ingredients in tandem with the synthetic ones and creating a never sniffed before olfactive experience.

We know that by now fashion & perfumes were seen as complimentary in nature. However the one person who cemented this relation between haute-couture & perfumes was none other than Gabrielle Chanel, a French fashion designer who established the company of ‘Chanel’. In celebration of the new image of corset-free women, Chanel or more affectionately - ‘Coco’ thought about launching a new groundbreaking fragrance. She consulted the company’s in-house perfumer Ernest Beaux, discussing her vision. Ernest in turn created & provided many samples to Chanel herself. From which she chose the 5th number of the sample and so the iconic Chanel fragrance was born. Named (no points for guessing) Chanel No. 5. The excessive use of Aldehyde(a compound which provided a champagne like sparkle to the creation), in No. 5 made the fragrance irresistible and probably the most recognizable perfume in the entire history.

Soon the world and in turn the development in perfumes were hit hard by the two world wars. However, the austerityfollowing the wars were matched equally by the overwhelming demand for haute-couture perfumes. This demand was met by some of the most famous perfumers & companies the world has ever known. One of them was Christian Dior, a new name at the time, but who swiftly wowed the world with his crazy, now iconic, fashion style. He launched Miss Dior in 1947, which was received immensely well.

Perfumes were created for men up until the 20th century but they were mostly not that impressionable. However, this changed soon with the advent of many masculine fragrances in the 20th century. Some of them were Caron Pour un Homme launched in 1934 (featuring Lavender & Vanilla), Old Spice (which was marketed towards women at first, was remarketed as a masculine fragrance) in 1937, Chanel Pour Monsieur in 1955, Tabac original by Maurier & Wirtz in 1959, Estee Lauder’s Aramis in 1964 & Dior’s Eau Sauvage in 1966.

The latter half of the 20th century saw the shifting of innovation in perfumery from European soil to that of the United States. Partly due to the cold war & partly due to the peace movement, the American culture was changing faster than anyone could keep up. The advent of blue jeans, rock & roll music and hippie culture saw the trend shifting from men using after-shave lotions for its scent to wearing Eau de Toilettes as daily wear. It was during this time that classical male fragrances like Eau Sauvage & Givenchy Monsieur achieved their cult status.

Perfumes were being used in the Americas for centuries now, however, they were all due to the help of European explorers who brought ‘Eau de Cologne’ to the nobles of the time. Much later, during the uprising of the ‘make love not war’ movement, a special ingredient of Patchouli tantalized & enchanted the mass American audience. Soon the advertisement for perfumes started resulting in men wearing perfumes created exclusively for them.

This movement had a good impact on the perfume demand internationally. The use of heady & strong ingredients like Patchouli, Rose, Oud & other woody substances shifted the production from delicate fragrances to heady ones. Only to see the return towards light, airy & complex fragrances in the 80s as the role of perfumes were more clearly established which were, for men - a sporty & energetic scent & for women - a sensual & alluring one.

We have finally reached the end of our journey of discovering the history of fragrances. We learned about the earliest known excavated proofs of early civilizations using perfumed compounds. Then we traveled geographicaly and in time to Greece, Rome, Arab, Persia & modern-day Europe. We saw perfumes being created out of single ingredients during the early times & we saw the invention of synthetic ingredients that replaced hard-to-find substances (like Musk). We realized the eternal place held by fragrances in human cultures. We saw the shifting from dense-heady perfumes to light-delicate ones. We saw how the art of perfumery was heavily influenced by Monarchs, Kings, Nobles, Traders, Crusaders, Priests, Queens, Chemists & even religious figures.

We studied the cradle of perfumery up to its adolescence that it is in today. We think it is still in adolescence as we are yet to achieve innovative advancements in the field of botany & science. We called the invention of synthetics the birthplace of modern perfumery, because, today almost every perfume that you know is a love affair between natural ingredients & chemically synthesized compounds, be it Vanillin, Coumarin, Ambroxan, Iso E Super, or Aldehydes. We wish that this progress never ceases & this voyage that the art of perfumery is on, never stops. We wish that the processes, methods & techniques used, grow increasingly efficient & effective.

There is hardly a person alive right now that has not experienced fragrances in their lives. Be it the smell of flowers in a bouquet, the smell of freshly cut grass, the smell of wet soil after rain, or the smell of leather seats in a New Car. We all have directly encountered the wonderful work our olfactory senses do which either makes us roll back our eyes in pleasure or makes us constrict our nostrils to avoid inhaling any of the unpleasant fumes. 

Fragrances have been a part of our lives since time immemorial but we did not directly start with the perfume bottles we know and love today. Instead, we started by burning resins, woods & spices or by incorporating flower petals in everyday use. In fact, the word perfume is derived from the Latin word, "per fumus," meaning through smoke. It was this activity of burning scented ingredients that we started with, on our journey to reach the complex fragrances we have on our shelves today.

Throughout history, various civilizations have started using fragrances in their own manner and we know about all of them, thanks to the work of archaeologists & historians, who find tangible proofs of such events through digging & thorough research. These finds have placed the development & use of fragrances throughout the globe & at varying time periods. Let us briefly visit the ancient civilizations where they used the art of fragrances. 

Indus Valley Civilization

In India, archaeologists have found a terracotta distillation apparatus along with oil containers in the excavation of Indus Valley civilization (located at the western & north-western parts of India) and are carbon-dated to 3000BCE. One of the earliest distillation of Ittar(essential oil derived from botanical sources) was mentioned in the Hindu ayurvedic texts "Charaka Samhita" & Sushruta Samhita which were written around the 6th to 2nd century BCE. Both texts discuss the manufacture of perfumes for royalties & their respective harem's counterpart.

Cyprus

In the Island of Cyprus, various excavations uncovered evidence of a humongous area where possibly a perfume manufacturing factory existed around 4000 years ago. Which goes to show that even the people of that time knew the benefits of perfume mass manufacturing.

 Civilization of Mesopotamia

Evidence of the world's earliest known chemist & coincidentally world's earliest perfumer "Tapputi" were found at the sites of the ancient civilization of Mesopotamia. The evidence in the form of a stone tablet described how Tapputi held a prestigious place in the Mesopotamian government & religion and how she developed methods of scent extraction & using solvents (a practice which is the precursor to modern perfume-making techniques).

Egypt

Nearly 4000-year-old evidence was also found of Egyptian priests & their Pharaohs being entombed with sweet-smelling resins, woods & spices. Similarly, a concoction, known as 'Kyphi', of at least 16 different aromatic ingredients was burned to appease the Egyptian God Ra.

The usage of perfumes is interwoven in history & religion, like the first writings about fragrant ingredients date back to 4500BCE(found in China). Even the Bible & Quran mention recipes of perfumes and how to use the ingredients.

We only know about the above due to the hard work of historians & archaeologists. Since history is defined by the tangible & undispitable proofs we find for it, it will not be wrong to say that we humans have always used fragrances because scented flowers, resins & woods have always been present in nature.

We are now in the era, just before the birth of Christ i.e BC or BCE (Before Christ or Before Common Era) and humans have now grown in knowledge of the ingredients they used to make perfumes and the techniques they used to do so.

Let us visit some crucial places where the emphasis on the art of perfumery was way ahead at that time.

Greece

The ancient Greeks had a plethora of Gods & Goddesses, they associated a different fragrance for every deity in worshipping and carrying out rituals associated with them. They believed that something so aromatic, fragrant & beautiful must have come from the gods themselves. There were plenty of botanists at that time who wrote about fragrant ingredients and how to use them.

In the beginning, the Greeks only knew to burn ingredients to get their aroma, however soon they started to mince plants, resins & woods together and suspended them in oil to get what we know today as perfume oils.

Also, the importance of hygiene dawned upon the Grecians at this time and they started bathing and using perfume oils (cause they believed that perfumes thwarted diseases).

The most amazing anecdote of 'seduction through perfume' is also associated with this era, If history were to appoint a brand ambassador for the ancient art of Perfumes then it has to be Queen Cleopatra. Texts document the first-ever use of perfumes for seduction when Cleopatra laced the sails of her ship with fragrant ingredients to seduce Roman politician Marcus Antonius. This seduction worked so well that Marcus or Mark later became her husband.

Further, due to the conquests of Alexander the Great, trade from eastern parts of the world brought in exotic fragrant ingredients such as spices, resins, and flowers to the land of Greece. All of which led to the sudden popularity of Perfumes & perfume shops all around the kingdom.

Rome

It shall not be the first time that we learn of the influence the Greeks had on the Romans or vice-versa.  The news of the usage of perfume in Greece spread like wildfire between the people of Rome.

The Romans did not invent the art of perfumery but they sure popularised the usage of it and that too to such an extent that they gave the word 'Perfume' to the world.

In short, the Romans went crazy about perfumes so much that documents show Rome used around 3000 tons of Frankincense in a year. They used ointments with aromatic ingredients for massages and the use of Rosewater became extremely popular during Roman's world-renowned public baths.

They sourced the perfume ingredients from areas of conquests and this sudden inflow of perfume ingredients saw a rapid enhancement in the ancillary activities associated with Perfumery. For example, blow molding distillation and the use of glass bottles for storing perfumes were developed during this time.

But, the Roman empire fell just as quickly as it gained prominence and the advancement in the world of perfumes took a standstill.

 While Roman & Grecians were doing their thing, the world was not sitting cross-legged waiting for things to happen. In India, the temples were being built out of Sandalwood and perfumed ingredients were being used in Tantric & religious rituals.

In China & Japan, they started infusing their surroundings and everyday objects with aromatic ingredients.

The time is around the 7th century & is coincidentally the year, wildly believed to be, the year in which Islam as a religion gained prominence in the world. The religion of Islam favored the use of perfumes as Prophet Mohammedguided his followers to take baths on Friday if they are men of a certain age, to clean teeth & to use Perfumes if available.

 Islamic cultures like Arabs & Persians during this time included mostly traders, who had access to the best spices & aromatic things in the world which they affectionately used to create perfumed ingredients. 

This access & the prevalent religious rituals allowed & encouraged the people to delve further deep into the art of perfume making. Which helped them to grow exotic ingredients in their own homeland and this started the trend of cultivating fragrant flowers & fruits like Jasmine & Citruses.

All thanks to the newfound craze for perfumes, the Arabs gave the world, two brillaint chemists by the name of Ibn Hayyan & Al Kindi. Among whom, the former developed groundbreaking techniques for distillation, evaporation & filtration enabling him to capture odors of flowers in oils while the latter helmed the establishment of the perfume industry dealing in various fragrances of the time. Al Kindi went on to create hundreds of recipes for Perfumes & medicines and later wrote an extremely comprehensive book on chemistry and perfumes, named “Book of the chemistry of Perfumes & Distillation”.

Persian Empire was not far behind in the art of perfumery. The Kings used fragrances extensively & perfumes as a whole got the common masses hooked. This popularity & demand for perfumes paved way for chemists & botaniststo find out efficient & unique ways to make fragrances.  As a result, a Persian chemist during this time invented the process of extracting oils from flowers which was so innovative that we still use some derivative of it in the 21st century. His experiment with Rose provided the world with the direction to reach the most coveted ‘Rose Water’. Up until this point in history the perfumes were always in-your-face type, without any subtleties. However this experiment with Rose Water provided a delicate-watery essence of the flower, in all its glory.

The developments in the art of perfumery made by the Arabs & Persians influenced the “western” perfumery and the world in countless ways. Since Arabs & Persians were traders, they brought in fragrant compounds from all over the world and soon started exporting perfume oils, compounds and ingredients. The most major trade route was with the European empires with records being found in London of trading of spices & perfumes between them and Arabs.

Courtesy of this trade, Europe was soon to become the perfume capital of the world and the place where ‘modern perfumery’ as we know it would take birth. Further the Crusaders in their attacks on Islamic regions brought back the techniques, processes, equipments & compounds to Europe. Further enhancing the overall grasp Europeans had on the art of perfume making.

We are in the 11th century now, and the Latin Church has initiated the crusades (religious wars) to claim back the holy land from Islamic Rule. There were several of these crusades directed, some of them lost & some of them won but there was almost always war loot involved and that almost always had perfume ingredients with it.

Pillaging & plundering was very common in times of war. So it was only habitual, when Crusaders invaded lands under Islamic rule (Arabs & Persians), they brought back many things, which included perfumed compounds, perfumery stills, chemistry books, handwritten accounts of botanists, and much more. The Crusaders brought new scents and the methods to create them. This gave the Europeans a huge boost in their skills & techniques they were using to create perfumes.

The Europeans during this time mastered & perfected the art invented by early civilizations. They started using Glass tubes & stills so that their compounds wouldn’t react with the material (which was Copper up until that time) of the equipment. Bathing water was scented with aromatic ingredients & so was the water they used to wash hands with. The ladies wore pomanders (a wrapped up ball of aromatic substances) in their gowns to cover bad hygiene or to woo casual onlookers.

The maritime explorations, which started in late 12th century, saw trading of the most exotic flaura & fauna Europeans had ever seen, from far & exciting places by some of the most famous explorers till date. We are talking about the likes of Columbus, Vasco De Gama, Magellan,etc. These explorers opened several marine trading routes & brought back plenty foreign ingredients such as Vanilla from Mexico, Cinnamon from Indies, Sumatran Benzoin, Tobacco & Cocoa from Peru,etc. This influx of some of the best aroma ingredients in the world helped the Europeans further research & use them in perfume making.  

Due to the strategic location of Venice (Italy), the maritime trade routes allowed Italy to flourish really well in their use & research of aromatic ingredients. This boost to the industry came to fruition when in the late 13th century chemists & perfumers in Italy created a 95% proof. scented solution which was named ‘Aqua Vita’ or Water of Life. This marked the change of using solid, oil based perfumes to liquid perfumes.

This invention of scented alcohol revolutionised the use of liquids in perfumes and paved the way for the liquid ethanol based perfumes we use today. Infact due to this invention the world’s first ‘modern’ perfume was created for Queen Elizabeth of Hungary in late 14th century. Which was a mix of Lavender, Rosemary & Alcohol and was named “Queen of Hungary Water”.

Due to the emergence of Black Plague, people in the 15th century feared bathing. As they thought that water infiltrates the body, inflating it and enabling the bacteria to enter the body. This fear led to further increase in usage of perfumes & aromatic ingredients. Every men & women of the time hoped to wear perfume or carry pomanders with them to mask there body stench and to mask the smell of the streets.