Perfume Blog

Founded in Stockholm in 2006, Byredo is a relative newcomer when compared to other brands in the luxury fragrance and beauty space. In just two years and only an initial collection of 5 scents, though, the brand rapidly garnered interest, shooting up to the #2 spot on the Barneys New York list of best-selling fragrances by the tail end of 2009.

Part of the allure is certainly in Byredo’s inherent mystique. The fragrances all share the same unassuming flacons: a sleek bottle in clear glass topped by a dome, carrying simple white labels that only carry the branding and the scent’s name. This minimalist aesthetic evokes the brand’s Swedish roots: founder Ben Gorham is a native Swede who spent a good portion of his life in Stockholm.

The scents themselves are worldly and unabashedly modern. Gorham and his collaborators draw their inspiration from emotions and memories, utilizing unusual combinations of ingredients and notes to create fragrances that are as unique as they are utterly wearable. Every perfume is unisex and versatile, suiting men and women equally at all times of the day and night.

In the intervening years since its launch, Byredo has expanded its perfume lineup to 45 scents in total. This makes it difficult for newbies to narrow down which ones to try out first. Here are our recommendations for the Byredo fragrances that everyone should start with, all available in sample size decants here at Scent Split:

Gypsy Water

Gypsy Water is Byredo’s quintessential fragrance–the OG, if you will. It was the one that led the charge back in 2008, having been released first. Hype quickly built, and it continues to be one of the most well-known scents from the brand, thanks to endorsements from the fashion press and celebrities alike. It counts Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Sienna Miller, and Kate Bosworth among its most loyal wearers.

Inspired by the beauty of the Romani culture, this is a woody aromatic fragrance that opens with playful notes of bergamot, juniper berries, lemon, and pepper. At its heart is incense and pine needle, as well as orris, one of the rarest perfume ingredients in the world. A combination of sandalwood, amber, and vanilla serve as a warm base for this feverish, exotic concoction.

Rose of No Man’s Land

The rose is one of the most popularly referenced flowers in perfume. Designers are inspired by it and often use it in their creations. Byredo has several perfumes that employ roses in their lineup, but Rose of No Man’s Land is arguably the best of them all.

Its name is derived from the term used to describe the nurses who came to the aid of soldiers during the First World War. The spicy rose scent, then, evokes the gentleness and bravery of those courageous women who inspired it. The top notes are pink pepper and Turkish rose petals, which then serve to amplify a heart of Turkish rose absolute and raspberry blossom. Underneath is a warm yet sedate base of papyrus and white amber.

Bal d’Afrique

Bal d’Afrique is French for “African ball”, and is Byredo’s love letter to a continent that Gorham’s father spent extensive time living and traveling in. It reflects those journeys as interpreted by Gorham and is described as a celebration of African influence and culture. Complex and distinctive, it’s an excellent choice for a signature scent–one that no one else smells like. Victoria Beckham and K-hiphop artist Crush are huge fans.

The fragrance brings the heat of the continent at first whiff, using notes of African marigold, bergamot, and buchu, a flowering plant native to western South Africa, to begin the voyage. Cyclamen and violet draw you further in. Bal d’Afrique then dries down to its base notes of Moroccan cedarwood and vetiver, completing the trip around one of the most beautiful and mysterious places in the world.

Mixed Emotions

Mixed Emotions is one of the newest additions to the Byredo perfume collection, only launched this year. Created to encapsulate the times we live in, most people first sampled this scent during the height of the coronavirus pandemic and can only agree that it certainly lives up to its name and inspiration.

It is a melange of conflicting notes that shouldn’t go well together, but does in some indescribable way. Mixed Emotions is a woody aromatic fragrance with an intense opening of blackcurrant and maté, a caffeine-rich South American tea that may explain why it also smells like tobacco to some. More tea is at the heart, specifically black Ceylon, mixed with fresh violet leaves. The base notes are birch woods and papyrus, providing a solemn, quiet ending to the tumultuous scent. It’s a roller coaster of a fragrance, perfectly named.

Mojave Ghost

Inspired by the Mojave Desert, Mojave Ghost is yet another heavy-hitter from Byredo, and is one of the brand’s most popular fragrances. It is intended to encapsulate the spirit of a wilderness so strong and willful that only the most resilient can grow in it. Raw and untameable, some aficionados say that while it is striking on its own, it can be made better by tempering it with other scents that feature lighter notes.

Mojave Ghost, like the desert it’s named after, tempts the senses with warm ambrette and nesberry at first. It then unleashes its fire with strong notes of sandalwood, magnolia, and violet, bringing desert flowers to mind. The base notes for this fragrance are cedarwood, vetiver, and a combination of musks that further emphasize that desolate yet majestic feeling of walking through dunes of sand at sunset.

All of these Byredo fragrances are available in our shop, where you can purchase genuine decants in sizes of 1mL, 2mL, 5mL and 9mL. We also offer full 100mL bottles of these scents in their original packaging, should you desire to add one of them to your permanent rotation. Check out the rest of our Byredo collection today, and don’t forget to browse the rest of our niche fragrance offerings.

In general, people tend to associate the scent of roses with springtime. Few other flowers, after all, can capture the pure energy of a world awash with blooms quite like it. In keeping with that philosophy, perfumers then prominently feature roses in fragrances that are released and intended to be worn during the warmer months. Enthusiasts also often recommend switching to fragrances that feature roses as a central note after the colder months have passed.

If you love the scent of roses, though, there’s absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t surround yourself with it even when the temperatures start to drop. It’s timeless, and it goes well with other fragrance elements that rise in popularity between autumn and winter.

The trick to wearing rose perfumes all year long is to pay attention to the fragrance notes that surround them. The autumn and winter months call for rich, warm scents that, in turn, give off an opulent vibe. Below are a few of our favorites here at Scent Split:

Portrait of a Lady – Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle

Launched in 2010, the Portrait of a Lady perfume was designed by French master perfumer Dominique Ropion, the same nose responsible for such iconic fragrances as La Nuit de L’Homme from Yves Saint Laurent and Flowerbomb from Viktor & Rolf (both also available on our website!).

The Portrait of a Lady perfume evokes roses at first sniff with its distinct rose top note. According to Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle, 400 Turkish rose flowers are utilized in every 100mL bottle. The blooms dance upon a heart of intoxicating patchouli, permeated with the warm spices of frankincense and sandalwood. A compelling combination of blackcurrant, clove, and raspberry notes round out this beautiful Amber Floral fragrance that’s perfect for autumn or winter wear.

We offer the Portrait of a Lady perfume in various sample sizes, as well as the original 100mL bottle with its original packaging. To try this scent out for yourself today, simply choose a sample size from our available selections and add it to your cart. While marketed towards women, Portrait of a Lady is also a superlative cold weather fragrance for the adventurous man.

Lyric Woman – Amouage

Like Portrait of a Lady, Lyric Woman is an Amber Floral fragrance designed by Daniel Maurel for Amouage. He is also responsible for the perfumery house’s Epic Woman and Memoir Woman.

Lyric Woman evokes dark crimson roses in full bloom, but like all good things, it comes to those who wait. The fragrance gives off a strong opening of warm spices: bergamot, cardamom, cinnamon and ginger. The heart opens up later to reveal floral notes of rose, angelica, jasmine, and ylang-ylang, given fire by feisty geranium. This complex scent is rounded out by woody base notes that give it a truly luxurious feeling, including oakmoss, musk, vetiver and sandalwood mixed with creamy vanilla and tonka bean.

Heady and intense, yet unabashedly modern, Lyric Woman is perfect for someone who fiercely indulges in her passions. Score a sample today by visiting the product page.

Tudor Rose – Burberry

Tudor Rose, like many other Burberry fragrances, takes its inspiration from the brand’s birthplace of England. It is part of the Burberry Bespoke collection and was launched in 2017. Francis Kurkdjian is the nose behind this fragrance; yes, the same Francis Kurkdjian as Maison Francis Kurdjian, home of the legendary Baccarat Rouge 540.

His creation for Burberry is an homage to the flower it’s named after, as well as the gardens where they can be found in full bloom. One whiff and you’re in the private gardens of Kensington Palace, the former home of the English Rose herself, Princess Diana. This unisex Chypre Floral opens with bergamot before revealing Bulgarian Damask and May roses beneath, mixed with the lightness of jasmine and peaches. Its base notes are composed of earthy ambergris and patchouli, wrapped in warm cashmeran and leather.

Tudor Rose is a lighter fragrance than the other selections on this list, which may make it a bit too bright for winter. However, it’s a lovely fall scent that will make you feel like you’re bringing a garden of roses with you everywhere you go.

Rose Prick – Tom Ford

The head-turning Rose Prick is also inspired by a garden awash with roses—the titular designer’s very own private one, in fact. Everyone knows who Tom Ford is—he’s fashion royalty, and many of his scents have garnered widespread acclaim. Released on Valentine’s Day 2020, Rose Prick is a unisex Cypre Floral from the Tom Ford Private Blend collection, which also includes such well-loved fragrances as Fucking Fabulous and Oud Wood

Often described as a classic rose fragrance with a twist, Rose Prick is a rose decidedly not by any other name—it’s Tom Ford, baby. The opening is chipper and zesty with Sichuan pepper and turmeric, before revealing a trio of roses at its heart: Bulgarian rose, Rose de Mai, and Turkish rose. Like our other selections here, it has base notes of patchouli and tonka bean, creating a rich, full-bodied fragrance.

Rose Prick is for the woman or man who knows themselves well and isn’t interested in apologizing for it. Elegant yet wild, it’s a gorgeous fall scent that should continue to bring you pure, unabashed joy throughout the winter months, too.

If you wish to try out any of the scents we've mentioned here, you’re in luck! Here at Scent Split, you can easily sample them. Consider browsing the rest of our extensive catalog, too!

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.