Tag: facts

Scented Snippets – fascinating facts from the history of fragrance

Following a fragrant trail, we present for your delectation a selection of the choicest scented snippets from history. You don’t have to be a history buff (or anorak – though we proudly claim that title at Perfume Society Towers!) to be bewitched by the history of fragrance. We know it’s been used to communicate with the Gods, to seduce, as a display of wealth – or for pure pleasure – for thousands of years. (And perhaps much longer, even if archaeologists can’t yet find the tangible proof through their excavations.)

Perfume’s fascinating trail leads us from Ancient Egypt to Ancient Greece, to Rome – where rosewater played in fountains – and up to France, where Louis XIV’s court was known as ‘la cour parfumée‘, with the king demanding a different fragrance for every single day…

Egyptian priests, and their Pharoahs, were entombed with fragrances – and when those tombs were opened by archaeologists, in 1897, the perfumes were discovered to have retained their original, sweet smells.  Important figures in Egyptian history were buried with scented oils, to ensure their ‘olfactory needs’ were fulfilled.

Many of those ingredients are still prized in perfumery today.  Jasmine, hand-picked in the morning.  Frankincense resin, still gathered from the Boswellia shrub, with entire forests cloaking areas of Oman, Yemen, Ethiopia.  (Egyptian Queen Hatsheput was apparently crazy for frankincense:  wall paintings on her temple, showing a large-scale expedition to collect frankincense from the ancient land of Punt.)  They used Nile lotus, myrrh, madonna lilies, honey…

 

 

If the art of ancient perfumery was to have a ‘face’, a figurehead, it would surely be Cleopatra.  As legend tells it, she had the the sails of her boat coated with fragrant oils before setting to sea:  ‘The perfumes diffused themselves to the vessel to the shore, which was covered with multitudes.’  Her idea was that Mark Antony would get a waft of her arrival even before he caught sight of her.  As Shakespeare put it:

‘The barge she sat in, like a burnish’d throne,
Burn’d on the water;  the poop was beaten gold,
Purple the sails, and so perfumed that
The winds were lovesick with them…
… From the barge, a strange invisible perfume hits the sense…’

(Which neatly explains the name of a niche Californian fragrance brand, Strange Invisible Perfumes, NB.)

 

 

Public baths were The Big Thing in Ancient Rome, with the affluent classes devoted to body care. Think:  balms, oils, perfumes for skin, hair – and living spaces.  (Food had to appeal to the nose as well as the palate, too, through spicy aromas.)  Even public spaces might be scented:  Emperor Nero was so crazy about roses, he had silver pipes installed so that his dinner guests could be spritzed with rosewater.  (According to legend, he once shelled out £100,000 for a ‘waterfall’ of rosepetals which actually smothered one guest, killing him.  Quite a way to go.)

 

 

Marco Polo brought exotic aromatics and scented goods back to his home city of Venice.  The great explorer returned laden with fragrant treasures from the new civilisations he’d discovered, on his voyage. This major trading hub flourished for a while as the centre of the perfume world. Almost everything was perfumed:  shoes, stockings, gloves, shirts, even coins.  Glamorous women carried or wore a silver version of the pomander, wafting trails of scent through the little perforations, as they moved, helping to block out the fetid smells of the streets and canals.  Meanwhile, doctors wore long robes and bird-like masks stuffed with aromatic herbs to shield themselves against epidemics (including deadly plague).

 

 

 

Queen Elizabeth I beckoned Venetian traders to Southampton to offer their scented wares:  it became fashionable to wear musk- and rose-scented pomanders and sachets, in particular. But soon, the epicentre of perfumery moved from Italy to France – thanks to the influence of Queen Catherine de Medici (above), who married King Henri II in 1533.  Until then, French enjoyment of the scent world was mostly in the form of little scented sachets (called ‘coussines’) or moulded clay bottles (known as ‘oilselets de chypre’).  But Catherine brought with her from her native Tuscany scented gloves, the perfume used to mask the unpleasant aroma of poorly-tanned leather.  At the same time, her personal perfumer set up shop in Paris, where he was besieged by orders.

 

Fragrant facts & myths your nose needs to know!

There are SO many myths associated with scent, so here we’re presenting you with some fragrant facts: How can you find your perfect perfume? What’s the best way to take care of it? Where should fragrance be applied, to get the most out of every spritz?

Nobody’s born knowing these things, so we’ve collated answers to many of the most frequently asked questions we’ve had in the ten years since The Perfume Society first launched…

 

 

 

How do I choose the right perfume for me?

  • We really would then advise trying fragrances in-store if possible, because there is nothing like experiencing the way a fragrance develops on your skin.
  • Initially, try the fragrance on a blotter (also known as a perfume ‘spill’). Allow a few minutes for the alcohol and the top notes to subside, and then smell the blotters. At this stage you may be able to eliminate one or more, if they don’t appeal – but it is really the heart notes and the lingering base notes which you will live with, and which are crucial.
  • Remember: blotters are a useful way of eliminating no-hopers and lining up possibilities, but they’re not really enough to base a perfume purchase on. You really need to smell a scent on your skin.
  • Do make the most of Find a Fragrance: The Perfume Society’s ‘virtual fragrance consultant’. You can input which perfumes you’re already keen on, and our clever algorithm will make a really accurate personalised selection, suggesting up to six fragrances at a time for you to try, at various price-points.

Why do I love some and loathe others?

  • A We are conditioned to have smell preferences, and our response is based partly on our individual genetic make-up (our DNA), and partly on our life experiences. So: that crushed tomato leaf note that reminds you of a beloved grandmother and her greenhouse – or the jasmine that was growing round a door when you were poorly on holiday, and which you can hardly stomach. Technically, we all have an ‘olfactory fingerprint’, which is unique to us: it is our life’s experiences all locked away in our smell memory. In the same way that we each respond differently to different smells, we don’t all like the same pictures, or the same music. (And wouldn’t life be boring, if we did…?)

How many should I try at a time?

  • A In a perfect world, one, when you’ve narrowed down your choices – to really get to know the smell as it develops. Ideally, no more than two at a time – one on each wrist. We don’t believe perfume-shopping should be rushed, but we all live busy lives so at a push, you can try one more, on the inside of an elbow; the elbows also happen to be good pulse-points.
  • Never try more than three fragrances at any one time, on your body, or you’ll confuse your senses. And because it’s hard to remember what you applied where, we really do suggest jotting down the details of which perfume you applied to which pulse-point. (It’s almost impossible to remember later, even if you think you’ll be able to…)
  • Ideally, really live with a fragrance before you part with your cash. That might mean getting a sample, if it’s available in store (or exploring the Perfume Discovery Boxes and Brand Sets. It might mean spraying your skin, in a store. (We like to spray a darker-coloured scarf or pashmina, too, and sniff it later.) When you’ve fallen in love, then go back and make your purchase.

 

 

 

 

Can I tell how a perfume will smell, from a blotter?

  • A Blotters, or spills, are specially-made pieces of blotting paper designed to demonstrate how a fragrance smells. They are a good way to establish if you like a perfume’s initial impression. But if you’re buying perfume, you need to discover how it unfolds on your own skin, as it interacts with your unique body chemistry.

What is the difference between perfume/scent/fragrance?

  • A Nothing. They are all words used to describe the wonderful world of smell, and the scented liquids (or balms) we apply to our bodies. Fragrance is in more common usage in the US, and throughout the perfume industry itself. Perfume comes from the Latin ‘per fumum’ which literally means through smoke. It originates from ancient times when people burned woods, resins and flowers as offerings to their gods – and if you’d like to read much more about the fascinating history of fragrance, click here.

What is the difference between Parfum, EDP, EDT, Aftershave and Cologne etc.?

  • A These descriptions are used to identify the strength or concentration of oil in a fragrance. T he concentrations can vary from fragrance to fragrance but here is an average guide. In general, the higher the percentage, the higher the price – but be aware that different concentrations (Perfume, or Eau de Toilette, etc.) may also have different notes in them, and not simply be weaker or stronger. So when you like a fragrance, we suggest you explore its different concentrations.
  • Extract/solid perfume – 20-30%
  • Perfume – 15-25 %
  • Eau de Parfum (EDP) – 8-15%
  • Eau de Toilette (EDT) – 4-8%
  • Cologne (EDC) – 2-4%
  • After Shave – 2-4%
  • Soap – 2-4%
  • Body cream/lotion – 3-4%
  • Perfumed candle – 10%

 

 

Can I wear a men’s fragrance as a ‘perfume’? Or a ‘female’ fragrance, if I’m male?

  •  Absolutely! Only in the last 150 years have distinctions been made between male and female fragrances. Now, most niche houses (and increasing numbers of more mainstream brands) are thankfully saying scent is for anyone who wants to wear it. You may see fragrances described as ‘genderfull’ or ‘gender free’. It comes down to personal choice. We know many men who wear Jicky and Angel, and plenty of women who adore Eau Sauvage or Habit Rouge. There really aren’t any ‘rights’ and ‘wrongs’. Wear whatever you want!

What is a fragrance wardrobe – and do I need one?

  • As Coco Chanel said, ‘Perfume is the unseen, unforgettable, ultimate accessory of fashion.’ So: some people have lots of shoes and bags and change according to their mood. A fragrance wardrobe provides the same opportunity for you to choose, according to your mood or the occasion. What we aim to do through The Perfume Society is make sure that those choices are fragrances you truly love and which suit you – rather than something which languishes, unworn, on a shelf. (Just as we’ve all bought clothes which we’ve worn once, and realised didn’t suit us. That’s what we’re trying to help you avoid.)

If I start to build a fragrance wardrobe, how many should I have…?

  • As many as you like. (How many pairs of shoes do you own…? Or jackets…? And would you wear sequins to work, or a fitted suit to watch a movie on a weekend…?) We don’t want to see fragrances languishing unworn on a dressing table, but if you wear them rather than look at them, then six, ten, maybe even more… You might want to have different fragrances for spring/summer and autumn/winter. (This is very common.) Or for day and evening: the evening fragrances might be stronger concentrations. Something subtle, perhaps, to wear to the office. Something outdoorsy, for gardening. Something snuggly, for cosying up to a fire, watching a boxed set. If perfume brings you joy, indulge yourself – and let others indulge you (preferably in a guided way…)

 

 

 

 

What are niche perfumes?

  • ‘Niche’ is the name given to perfumes which are often interesting, unusual, special, difficult to find – and sometimes pricey, too. There has been a huge rise in ‘niche’ perfumery, in the past few years, with many fascinating new names appearing on the fragrance scene. They might work with a similar ‘palette’ of fragrance ingredients, but often the niche perfumers try daring combinations, or are inspired by very personal events and experiences. All fragrances tell a story, and exploring ‘niche’ perfumes can be a great way to learn about the olfactory universe. In reality, the boundaries between niche and mainstream are so blurred the days, but generally we still call independent, smaller houses ‘niche’, or those that place artistic, unique compositions ahead of what’s fashionable.

Do seasonal scents exist? Are some better for winter than summer?

  • In hot weather, you may find your fragrance seems ‘stronger’ or more overpowering. This is exactly why brands sometimes offer lighter versions of bestselling scents, for the summer. Some people prefer heavier more full-bodied, comforting, almost ‘cocooning’ scents in the winter – but again, this is individual. Personally, at The Perfume Society, we have richer fragrances that we love to rediscover at around the time when we reach for our opaque tights, our socks (and vests!), switching to airier perfumes for the warmers months. Just do what feels right for you, personally – in fact, follow your nose…

Are there some fragrances designed to be worn for daytime, or for evening…?

  • Some do have the name ‘Night’, or ‘Nuit’ – which can be a clue that they’re intended for evening wear. But really, there are no hard and fast rules that have to be followed. This really is all about you. What you may want to do with a favourite fragrance, however, is choose a lighter concentration for daytime – an eau de parfum, or eau de toilette – and apply the perfume version, at night, which is basically a more intense version of the same scent.

 

 

 

 

 

Where should I apply perfume?

  • Coco Chanel advised to apply perfume ‘where you want to be kissed’… What that means is: spray/dab on your ‘hot spots’, or pulse points – behind the ears, temples, wrists, nape of neck, back of the knees, in the crease of your elbows, between your breasts, the small of your back, navel area… The blood flows close to the surface in these zones, and heats the fragrance oils. But do be aware of one no-no: perfume industry ‘insiders’ never, ever rub their wrists together after applying fragrance, because it affects the oils. Spray, waft your wrists around – and be patient…!

How much should I wear?

  • This is completely personal – but enough so you can smell it, and not too much that it overpowers the surrounding area. Your ‘scent circle’ should be your arms’ length and only when people come into your circle should they smell your perfume. If you’re unsure about whether you tend to ‘overdo’ your fragrance, ask a (good) friend. And take into account the occasion, too: you would certainly want to wear more for a night out than to the office
  • Spritz from eight to 10 inches (20-25 cm) away from your body, and let it develop on the skin. DO NOT RUB! (See Hints & Tips, here.) We also very much like this advice from perfumer Olivier Cresp (responsible for the creation of Thierry Mugler Angel, Nina L’Eau, and more): ‘Do spritz fragrance into your hair rather than all over your body. This will help the scent to last longer compared to quickly rubbing off your skin. It also means that when moving your head, there’ll be a more natural whiff of fragrance.’ And the late, great Estée Lauder suggested to women that they spray perfume into the air, like a cloud, and walk through it…

Can I wear more than one perfume at a time?

  • Yes! Did you know that in the Middle East, and many other cultures, people layer up to SEVEN (or more) fragrances at a time? Never be afraid to play with perfume. (The wonderful thing about fragrance is there is no right or wrong: if you like something, then it’s right.) As your sense of smell develops, you should become more adept at working out which fragrances will enhance each other.

 

 

 

 

Can perfume last all day?

  • A Perfume can last four to six hours (or even longer), depending on the ingredients, the strength they are mixed into the base carrier (usually alcohol, but increasingly, oil-based) – and how dry your skin is. (Perfumes dissipate much faster on dry skins, or when the air is particularly dry.) From the moment you apply: the top notes, or ‘head’ notes last around 5-15 minutes before they disappear. The middle notes last from two to four hours, and make up most of the fragrance. The base notes(very occasionally referred to as ‘fond’) usually last from four to six hours or longer.

How long will the perfume last on me?

  • That depends on the type of fragrance and on your unique odour footprint, as well as the oiliness or dryness of your skin; perfume likes to ‘cling’ to oil, and perfumes last longer on oilier-complexioned people. The strength of the fragrance is also a factor, and so are the notes: deep, smouldering base notes – the woods, resins, leather and tobacco etc. – last longer. So a fresh cologne will never last as long as an Ambrée.
  • That might mean the natural oil of your skin – or it might mean, if you have dry skin, that you would do well to smooth on a body lotion or a rich cream, before applying your perfume, to give it something to ‘cling’ to.

How can I make my perfume last longer on my skin?

  • If you moisturise your skin, this gives the oils something to ‘cling’ to, and will boost its staying power. So: if the ‘matching’ body products are available, it’s a beautiful way to ‘layer’ on your fragrance; body creams and body lotions, in particular, add emollients which hold perfume. If these range extensions aren’t available, go for an unscented body cream, butter or lotion which won’t clash with your chosen scent. Try spraying scent on clothing, linings of jackets, and in your hair (check the colour of the scent wont stain, first!) There are huge numbers of specially formulated scented hair mists to match fragrances now, as well. Because hair is porous, but doesn’t heat up like skin, the smell will last far longer.

 

 

 

Why can’t I smell my own perfume after several minutes?

  • The nose becomes desensitised and quickly gets used to the notes of your perfume. You may not be able to smell it at all after 30-40 minutes, although your friends and colleagues may still be able to. Additionally, you may be naturally ‘anosmic’ (unable to smell well / at all) to certain ingredients, which others can smell. This often happens with large molecule aromas such as musks.

Are there other things which will affect the smell of my perfume?

  • A. Diet has an impact: spicy foods can impact on the natural smell of your body, and meat-eaters are said to smell different to vegetarians. Environment also plays a part – both hot and cold climates affect the length of time a perfume lasts and its intensity. Age is another factor: the older you get, usually the drier the skin. (And for the years around menopause, hormonal shifts may mean a fragrance you have worn for years smells completely different.) Medication and certain health problems can also distort your perfume, on the skin. And as for smoking…? Smokers often report that their perfume has ‘changed’, when in fact, it’s the smoking impacting on their actual sense of smell…

Can perfume help change my mood?

  • A Yes: many people use fragrance as a lift for their spirits, and there is even a name for the science behind this: ‘aromachology’. It’s been scientifically proven that different aromas can impact on mood and emotions – not just personally, but affecting those around you. Bergamot is a feel-good ingredient, peppermint makes you perkier and more alert, and grapefruit – believe it or not – makes others believe you’re younger than you are…! This is one reason so many people now have a ‘wardrobe’ of fragrances, rather than just one signature scent: a perfume to make them feel romantic, after a hard day staring at a computer screen; to give them a relaxed, weekend feel on Saturdays and Sundays – or simply something that they spritz on for work, in the morning, which makes them feel focused and professional, in the same way as a smart suit or a crisp white shirt…

 

 

 

 

 

My perfume seems different to how I remember it. Is my nose playing tricks…?

  • A When an ingredient is classified as a potential allergen – by IFRA, the International Fragrance Association – two things may happen: it can be removed altogether, or its use limited by percentage, to minimise the risk of a susceptible perfume-wearer reacting.
  • When this happens, perfumes may be ‘tweaked’ by the manufacturer. In some cases, a process called ‘fractionation’ – which allows ingredient manufacturers to remove the allergenic molecule of an fragrance note, while leaving the rest intact – can allow the continued use of that ingredient.
  • Case in point: oak moss – invaluable in the creation of the chypre family of perfumes – has become restricted. Thierry Wasser, Guerlain’s in-house ‘nose’, explained to us that he now uses a ‘fractionated’ oak moss. ‘However, when you fractionate an ingredient, it leaves a “hole”: there is something missing,’ added Thierry. His solution to filling the sensory ‘hole’ in oak moss was to add a touch of – believe it or not – celery. It’s impossible to discern, to the rest of us – but it gave the rounded quality to that so-essential note that Thierry needed to return the classic Guerlain creation Mitsouko to its former, long-lasting glory.
  • Occasionally, however, a perfume may change because the company which makes it is bought by another, and the formulation changed.

Can perfume go ‘off’?

  • A. Fragrance certainly doesn’t last forever – but storing it correctly will help preserve the quality and lifespan of your perfume. The key is to keep it away from light and heat – so a bathroom, or a sunny dressing table, is NOT the place for your fragrance stash: higher temperatures affect the top notes of fragrance, making them musty, or more sour.
  • If you have a dark cupboard to store perfume in, or a drawer, that’s perfect. (Ideally, keep in the box, or – if you’re using a drawer – wrap bottles in a scarf, or even plastic, unglamorous as that is. Be aware that perfume that’s never been opened and kept in a dark place can last more than 40 years…!).
  • If you can’t manage that environment, store on a shelf that doesn’t get direct sunlight, in a not-too-hot room. Then once a bottle is open, you should get up to two years’ life out of it (we’ve had fragrances that last much longer…) Lighter, citrussy scents deteriorate faster than opulent florals…
  • You may find you get a better life out of a spray bottle than a splash: if you touch the glass to your skin, and oil from your body gets into the bottle, that can affect the lifespan of your perfume, too: touch your skin to the rim of the bottle – and don’t use stoppers for application, as they are in contact with the contents. NB Dark glass preserves scent for longer than clear versions.
  • But don’t hang onto any fragrance for too long…! Remember: perfume is to be worn, and enjoyed!

How do I know if it has gone off?

  • A The colour might darken and the liquid may thicken and/or become cloudy – and you can be sure it will not smell like your normal scent. There’s really nothing you can do to redeem it at this point, alas.

 

Looking for more fragrant myths and facts, but this time related to scent’s journey through history to the present day? We have pages of perfumed stories for you to explore in our fascinating History of fragrance section! And if your nose is craving some factual books to dip in to (along with fragrantly inspired works of fiction), then do have a browse of our Fragrant Reads to fill your bookshelves…

 

By Suzy Nightingale

Do Coffee Beans Help ‘Refresh’ Your Nose?

In various fragrance boutiques and department stores, you’ve perhaps come across little bowls and jars of coffee beans and wondered what these are for. Perhaps you’ve even been told by well-meaning staff (or fragrance-loving friends) that these are to ‘refresh’ your nose after smelling too-many scents? So: do coffee beans ACTUALLY help ‘re-set’ your sense of smell, Read on to find out…

 

 

 

The coffee bean conundrum: The answer is short and sweet: sniffing coffee beans does NOT help ‘cleanse’ or ‘re-set’ your sense of smell – and this was proven by Dr. Alexis Grosofsky of Beloit College in a scientific study. Smelling coffee beans is just adding another strong smell for your nose to be dealing with! Our sense of smell constantly re-sets itself, naturally, but if you’ve over-stimulated yours by spraying on all of the perfumes, or to give your nose a bit of a rest in-between scent sample spritzing; the best way to do this is simply by smelling your wool sweater, or an unscented bit of your own skin. This is how perfumers ‘re-set’ (if they need to) while they are smelling hundreds of differing ingredients, or preparing a new fragrance ‘mod’ (modification) of a perfume’s formula.

 

 

The blog air-aroma.com puts this whole coffee bean theory to bed really clearly, saying:

‘Stop in any perfume shop, and you’re bound to find small bowls of coffee beans set between various fragrances. A salesperson may advise you to sniff the beans in between smelling multiple scents. It is commonly believed that the smell of coffee beans creates some sort of palate cleanser for your nose, allowing you to continue to smell fragrance after fragrance.

But why would someone need to do that? Olfactory fatigue, or olfactory habituation, is a real thing, and it deserves some attention. Essentially, the olfactory glands in your nose begin to recognise smells after a period of time (like the perfume you’ve been wearing all day), and will stop alerting you to them, making you think there’s no fragrance there. It is an example of sensory adaption; the body becomes desensitised to stimuli to prevent the overloading of the nervous system, thus allowing it to respond to new stimuli that are ‘out of the ordinary’. Do coffee beans have some magical little molecular component that resets our palate, allowing us to continue to smell things? Turns out, the answer is no! ‘

– If you’ve over-sniffed too many scent samples in a row (we empathise!) and smelling your clothing / a scarf / your own skin isn’t enough to ‘re-set’ your nose, just step outside for some fresh air for a couple of minutes.

Instead, if you’re looking for the best ways to smell lots of fragrances at one time, here are some top tips so as not to get in an over-olfactory-stimulated scent muddle…

 

 

 

Give fragrances TIME. So many of us spray, sniff immediately (that’s just the alcohol you’re smelling, with perhaps a mere whiff of top notes) and either make a snap purchase or walk away. Those opening notes can disappear in mere minutes, you really need to let it settle for twenty minutes or more to smell the middle or ‘heart’ notes. The ‘base’ notes are made from ingredients with the heaviest molecules, so these can take several hours to warm and then evaporate on the skin.

If possible, try the fragrance on a blotter first (also known as a perfume ‘spill’). Make sure to write the names of the perfumes on the blotters! Otherwise you end up with a whole stack of them in your pockets or bottoms of bags, and no idea which is which…

Allow a few minutes for the alcohol and the top notes to subside, and then smell the blotters. At this stage you may be able to eliminate one or more, if they don’t appeal – but it is really the heart notes and the lingering base notes which you will live with, and which are crucial. Remember: blotters are a useful way of eliminating no-hopers and lining up possibilities, but they’re not really enough to base a perfume purchase on. You really need to smell a scent on your skin to know for sure that it suits you.

Try not to smell more than about four or five at a time. It’s not really your nose that’s the problem, it’s our perception of smells that take time to be properly considered (and allowing a scent to develop both on the blotter and then on our skin as it warms).

Jot down a few words to describe how you feel about each fragrance. These should be emotional words or things it reminds you of (a fabric / musical instrument / colour / place / time of day). They might sound abstract, but are a true reflection of how a fragrance is melding to your personality (or otherwise). Come back to the blotters several hours later and smell again – see if those words have changed.

 

By Suzy Nightingale

 

 

 

 

Bizarre scented snippets from history… (you couldn’t make it up!)

There have been some truly bizarre moments in perfume’s history (who, I’ve always wondered, was the first person to think of adding civet to a scent, or discovering ambergris could add a magical touch to a fragrance?) For your olfactory delectation, we thought we’d pull together a selection of scented snippets, covering fragrance from the dawn of perfumery to more recent history. While seeking to demystify fragrance since we first launched The Perfume Society, it’s sometimes fun simply to look back and wonder. And you truly couldn’t make these fascinating facts up…

 

 

Egyptian priests, and their Pharoahs, were entombed with fragrances – and when those tombs were opened by archaeologists, in 1897, the perfumes were discovered to have retained their original, sweet smells.  Important figures in Egyptian history were buried with scented oils, to ensure their ‘olfactory needs’ were fulfilled.

 

 

Hippocrates – ‘the father of medicine’ – was big on hygiene, prescribing fumigation and the use of perfumes to help prevent disease.  The Greeks embraced aromatherapy, making it practical and scientific rather than mystical.  Both men and women became obsessed with ‘the cult of the body’:  women, at dressing tables in their private quarters (known as the ‘gynaeceum’), men more publicly, anointing themselves at the public baths, after exercise.  (A ritual that endures in today’s gym changing rooms.) 

 

 

Emperor Nero was so crazy about roses, he had silver pipes installed so that his dinner guests could be spritzed with rosewater.  (According to legend, he once shelled out £100,000 for a ‘waterfall’ of rosepetals which actually smothered one guest, killing him.  Quite a way to go.)

 

 

 

When the Crusades kicked off – in the 11th Century – among the treasures brought back to Europe by Crusaders from the Middle and Far East were aromatic materials (and perfumery techniques).  The celebrated Arabian physician Avicinna is said to have been the first person to have mastered the distillery of rose petals, in the 10th Century.

 

 

 

There has always been a natural link between leather and perfume.  As Queen Catherine de Medici’s glovemaker understood, it works brilliantly to disguise the lingering smell of the tannery.  And in 1656 the Corporation of Glovemakers and Perfumers – for the ‘maître-gantiers’ – master glovemakers/perfumers) was formed in France, .  (Note:  at that point, glovemaking was deemed more important.)

 

 

King Louis XIV (1638-1715) took the trend for perfumery to new heights, by commissioning his perfumer to create a new scent for each day of the week. He insisted on having his shirts perfumed with something called ‘Aqua Angeli’, composed of aloes-wood, nutmeg, storax, cloves and benzoin, boiled in rosewater ‘of a quantity as may cover four fingers’. It was simmered for a day and night before jasmine and orange flower water and a few grains of musk were added. Like some kind of early fabric conditioner, it was used to rinse Louis’s shirts.

 

 

Napoleon Bonaparte had a standing order with his perfumer, Chardin, to deliver 50 bottles a month. He loved its cooling qualities and after washing, would drench his shoulders and neck with it. He particularly loved the scent of rosemary, which is a key ingredient in eau de Cologne, because it flourished along the cliffs and rocky scrubland in Corsica, where he was born.

 

 

 

Modern perfumery as we know and love it has its roots in the Victorian era.  It was that century’s clever chemists who came up with breakthrough molecules that took perfumery to a whole new level. The new synthetics were often more reliable and stable – and sometimes enabled a perfumer to capture the smell of a flower whose own scent proves frustratingly elusive to extract naturally.

 

 

 

Chanel’s mother was a laundrywoman and market stall-holder, though when she died, the young Gabrielle was sent to live with Cistercian nuns at Aubazine. When it came to creating her signature scent, though, freshness was all-important. The perfumer Ernest Beaux presented a series of 10 samples to show to ‘Mademoiselle’. They were numbered one to five, and 20 to 24. She picked No. 5 – and yes, the rest is history.

 

 

Until the 50s, fragrance was something women mostly reserved for high days, holidays – and birthdays. Until one very savvy, go-getting New York beauty entrepreneur – by the name of Estée Lauder – had a brainwave. So the game-changing fragrance Youth Dew began as a bath oil (as Estée Lauder herself once told us):

 

‘Back then, a woman waited for her husband to give her perfume on her birthday or anniversary. No woman purchased fragrance for herself. So I decided I wouldn’t call my new launch “perfume”. I’d call it Youth Dew,’ (a name borrowed from one of her successful skin creams)…’

 

Scented Snippets – fascinating facts from the history of fragrance

Following a fragrant trail, we present for your delectation a selection of the choicest scented snippets from history. You don’t have to be a history buff (or anorak – though we proudly claim that title at Perfume Society Towers!) to be bewitched by the history of fragrance. We know it’s been used to communicate with the Gods, to seduce, as a display of wealth – or for pure pleasure – for thousands of years. (And perhaps much longer, even if archaeologists can’t yet find the tangible proof through their excavations.)

Perfume’s fascinating trail leads us from Ancient Egypt to Ancient Greece, to Rome – where rosewater played in fountains – and up to France, where Louis XIV’s court was known as ‘la cour parfumée‘, with the king demanding a different fragrance for every single day…

 Egyptian priests, and their Pharoahs, were entombed with fragrances – and when those tombs were opened by archaeologists, in 1897, the perfumes were discovered to have retained their original, sweet smells.  Important figures in Egyptian history were buried with scented oils, to ensure their ‘olfactory needs’ were fulfilled.

Many of those ingredients are still prized in perfumery today.  Jasmine, hand-picked in the morning.  Frankincense resin, still gathered from the Boswellia shrub, with entire forests cloaking areas of Oman, Yemen, Ethiopia.  (Egyptian Queen Hatsheput was apparently crazy for frankincense:  wall paintings on her temple, showing a large-scale expedition to collect frankincense from the ancient land of Punt.)  They used Nile lotus, myrrh, madonna lilies, honey…

 

 

 

If the art of ancient perfumery was to have a ‘face’, a figurehead, it would surely be Cleopatra.  As legend tells it, she had the the sails of her boat coated with fragrant oils before setting to sea:  ‘The perfumes diffused themselves to the vessel to the shore, which was covered with multitudes.’  Her idea was that Mark Antony would get a waft of her arrival even before he caught sight of her.  As Shakespeare put it:

‘The barge she sat in, like a burnish’d throne,
Burn’d on the water;  the poop was beaten gold,
Purple the sails, and so perfumed that
The winds were lovesick with them…
… From the barge, a strange invisible perfume hits the sense…’

(Which neatly explains the name of a niche Californian fragrance brand, Strange Invisible Perfumes, NB.)

 

 

Public baths were The Big Thing in Ancient Rome, with the affluent classes devoted to body care. Think:  balms, oils, perfumes for skin, hair – and living spaces.  (Food had to appeal to the nose as well as the palate, too, through spicy aromas.)  Even public spaces might be scented:  Emperor Nero was so crazy about roses, he had silver pipes installed so that his dinner guests could be spritzed with rosewater.  (According to legend, he once shelled out £100,000 for a ‘waterfall’ of rosepetals which actually smothered one guest, killing him.  Quite a way to go.)

 

 

Marco Polo brought exotic aromatics and scented goods back to his home city of Venice.  The great explorer returned laden with fragrant treasures from the new civilisations he’d discovered, on his voyage. This major trading hub flourished for a while as the centre of the perfume world. Almost everything was perfumed:  shoes, stockings, gloves, shirts, even coins.  Glamorous women carried or wore a silver version of the pomander, wafting trails of scent through the little perforations, as they moved, helping to block out the fetid smells of the streets and canals.  Meanwhile, doctors wore long robes and bird-like masks stuffed with aromatic herbs to shield themselves against epidemics (including deadly plague).

 

 

 

Queen Elizabeth I beckoned Venetian traders to Southampton to offer their scented wares:  it became fashionable to wear musk- and rose-scented pomanders and sachets, in particular. But soon, the epicentre of perfumery moved from Italy to France – thanks to the influence of Queen Catherine de Medici (above), who married King Henri II in 1533.  Until then, French enjoyment of the scent world was mostly in the form of little scented sachets (called ‘coussines’) or moulded clay bottles (known as ‘oilselets de chypre’).  But Catherine brought with her from her native Tuscany scented gloves, the perfume used to mask the unpleasant aroma of poorly-tanned leather.  At the same time, her personal perfumer set up shop in Paris, where he was besieged by orders.

Want to follow the fragrant trail onwards? Find out much more from every era – and what happened next – on our pages dedicated to the history of fragrance…

 

From harlots & hippies: how patchouli got cool again

Patchouli might as well be called the ‘Marmite of the perfume world’ as those of us who fall firmly in the LOVE IT camp have our passionately held views matched only by those who devoutly HATE IT. But perhaps if you have always languished on the loathing side of the fragrant fence, you might have your mind changed by this book we’ve recently added to our Fragrant Reads bookshelves…?

Part of a series of extremely informative ‘naturals notebooks’ on some of perfumery’s key ingredients, written and published in conjunction with NEZ (the French olfactory magazine) and LMR (Laboratoire Monique Rémy – one of the world’s leading producers of naturals used in the fragrance industry); Patchouli is a fascinating read for anyone who wants to take a deeper dive into their favourite fragrance notes. As confirmed patchouli-heads, here at The Perfume Society, of course we had to begin with this one!

 

‘Once seen as a scent favoured by courtesans and hippies,’ NEZ explain (hello, yes, we feel seen) ‘patchouli has become a key ingredient in today’s perfumery. Its warm, woody and complex fragrance provides the perfect setting for fresher notes to run free, especially in chypre and ambrée perfumes.’ (Two of our favourite fragrance families there, so yes and yes again). An easy read, it manages to walk that fine line between interesting snippets of fragrant facts and a more in-depth and technical look at the processes behind how patchouli is produced. Indeed, NEZ say they wanted to ‘Explore every aspect of this exotic plant, from botany, history, art, gastronomy, literature, agriculture and chemistry, to the perfumers who use it and the perfumes they create.’

FYI: If you’re looking to learn more about patchouli, do have a look at our always-useful Ingredients section.

We really enjoyed the quotes from perfumers who adore patchouli – Bruno Jovanovic saying that ‘…if magic had a scent, it would smell of patchouli!’ and describing why he chose some of the other notes he added to his composition of Monsieur for Éditions de parfums Frédéric Malle, ‘To clothe, enhance, envelope the patchouli so it could become a flagship fragrance in Frédéric’s catalogue.’ With diagrams of historical timelines and distillation techniques, along with reviews of key fragrances to try patchouli in, it’s a short but fact-filled book that’s great to dip in and out of rather than read cover-to-cover, perhaps.

Patchouli NEZ + LMR the naturals notebook, £15.99
Buy it from shymimosa.co.uk

By Suzy Nightingale

Spotlight on: Yves Saint Laurent

Yves Saint Laurent was a ground-breaking designer who delighted in shaking up the mainstream, always in his  stylish and undeniably sexy way, with this ethos effortlessly transferring from fashion to fine fragrance.

Producing several of the best-selling perfumes of all time, with stunning bottles that have become collectors items in their own right; not many fragrance houses can claim to have a founder who dared pose naked for his own fragrance advertising campaign, because ‘perfume is worn on the skin, so why hide the body…?’

It all began at the tender age of seven years old, when Yves Saint Laurent began designing clothes for his sister’s dolls, expressing a natural talent and indulging a dream of a career in the glamorous world of fashion design. A deacde later, and he’d enrolled on a graduate fashion course at college, winning both 1st and 3rd prize in the prestigious International Wool Design competition at only 18 years old. His talent was showcased to the world and a young Saint Laurent was offered the role of haute couture designer for the House of Dior. A dazzling debut, interrupted by a brief period of national service in the army, led Saint Laurent to opening his very own couture house, still aged just 21, and enabling him to truly express his fashion expertise.

1962 saw the dawn of the Yves Saint Laurent brand and his masterful couture creations for the rich and famous. But clothing was never the only way Yves Saint Laurent wanted to dress women – in 1964 he created his first fragrance, Y, a collaboration with perfumer Jean Amic. It was an olfactory expression of the elegance and luxury of his couture fashion – a fragrance tailored for the beautiful women he dressed. In its original packaging, the green chypre juice was housed in a bottle cut to reflect the silhouette of a woman’s head and shoulders. The letter ‘Y’ cleverly placed to represent the neckline on her dress.

In 1971 Yves Saint Laurent continued to shock when he launched his first fragrance for men, Pour Homme – posing nude for the visual, in stark representation of the values of the Yves Saint Laurent House, comfort and sophistication coupled with modernity and audacity. In the same year, he created a fragrance for the independent, free-spirited woman who shopped at his new boutique: Rive Gauche. At a time when fragrances were presented in classically feminine bottles, best stored on the dressing table at home, it was the first fragrance to be launched packaged in a tin can!

 

In 1977 Yves Saint Laurent wanted to glorify another facet of YSL femininity; sensuality and seductiveness – and women the world over were seduced by YSL’s Opium . An opulent swathe of ambrée ambers and vanilla by perfumers Jean Amic and Jean-Louis Sieuzac, this audaciously-named fragrance sparked immediate controversy. As the scandal and the hype grew so did demand. Global press took straight to the newsstands to criticise Yves Saint Laurent’s determination to shock, but scandal only served to fuel desire; testers were stolen, posters were ripped down and stores sold out of stock in a matter of hours on the launch date.

Fast-forward to  2014, when the latest reinvention of the YSL woman was launched in the form of Black Opium, composed by four master perfumers (Marie Salamagne, Nathalie Lorson, Olivier Cresp and Honorine Blanc), with an overdose of black coffee accord to instantly invigorate the senses, contrasting with voluptuous white floral heart notes and a gourmand vanilla base.

The following year, Black Opium scooped Best New Fragrance for Women in the UK’s prestigious Fragrance Foundation Awards – and since then, the fragrance has acquired countless ‘collectors’, thrilled by limited editions and new ‘spins’ on this smouldering scent.

There are few people who’ve not owned and loved an Yves Saint Laurent fragrance, or who don’t have one of these – classics and modern must-haves alike – in their collection. We’d be hard-pushed to pick a favourite… so, we wonder, what would yours be? And while you’re pondering which perfume to choose, you can read all about their history in more detail on our page dedicated to Yves Saint Laurent…

Seasonal scented ingredients that make winter sparkle…

Frosty foliage glittering beguilingly is uplifting to the soul on wickedly cold mornings, and although our hearts (and hands!) may yearn for the warmth of summer, we can remind ourselves that the onset of winter also heralds some truly magical ingredients that are inexorably associated with the season.
We’ve listed four of our favourites, below, but where does your (cold) nose take you when the frost bites? Well, if you click on the names of the ingredients, you’ll be whisked to their fascinating and fact-filled individual pages, where you can also find a list of perfumes to try with that as the prominant note…
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Myrrh
Long associated with Christmas (one of the three gifts given to the infant Jesus),used in religious ceremonies and magical rites; myrrh is actually a gum resin, tapped from the True Myrrh tree, or Commiphora Myrrha, and originating in parts of Arabia, Somalia and Ethiopia. Tapping the tree to make small incisions, small teardrop-shaped droplets ‘bleed’ from the trunk and are left to harden into bead-like nuggets, which are then steam-distilled to produce an essential oil. Myrrh gets its name from the Hebrew ‘murr’ or ‘maror’, which translates as ‘bitter’. It’s earthy. It’s resinous. It’s intriguing. And it’s still a key ingredient in many sensual and iconic Ambrée perfumes today…
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Pssst! Read more about the fascinating history of myrrh, and how Jo Malone London have used this precious indredient in their soon to be released latest perfume, in our hot-off-the-press glossy magazine: The Scented Letter.
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Pine
There are good pine smells, and, well… horrid pine smells. If you’ve ever sat in the back of a taxi with one of those ‘Christmas tree’-scented cards dangling from the rear-view mirror, you’ll probably get where we’re coming from. But pine can also be wonderful crisp, spicy, outdoorsy and invigorating – and it’s been closely linked to perfume creation since the time of the early Arab perfumers, who liked it in combination with frankincense, in particular…
 
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Cinnamon
Spicily enticing, comforting and sweet, all at once.  Our love of cinnamon dates back thousands of years:  2000 years ago the Egyptians were weaving it into perfumes (though it probably originates way before that, in China). Because cinnamon bark oil is a sensitiser – and as such, you may ‘cinnamates’ on perfume packaging, as a warning – where natural cinnamon’s used, it’s likely to have been distilled from the leaves and twigs.  But it’s often also synthesised, adding a spicy warmth to Ambrées (and quite a few men’s scents)…
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Orange
Studded with cloves we can hang these ultra-Christmas-sy pomanders from our trees for an instant Yuletide hit. But where would perfumery be without orange…?  The blossom of the bitter orange tree (a.k.a. neroli, when it’s extracted in a particular way) is one of the most precious scent ingredients of all.  Bigarade, from the fruit of that tree, is another key ingredient in colognes, while its leaves give us petitgrain, another popular element in citrussy scents.  And then there’s orange itself (sometimes referred to as sweet orange, to distinguish it from the bitter, ‘marmalade’ variety.)
There are many more notes to discover and explore in our Ingredients section of the wbsite, so why not take a sensorial journey and follow your nose there, now…?
Written by Suzy Nightingale

A succinct history of scent: would you wear this "Queen's Delight" Elizabethan perfume…?

Imagine the excitement of smelling spices for the very first time, and then realising you could waft fragrantly (and flamboyantly – these were hugely expensive and kept in locked chests) smelling of success and radiating your wealth… The Elizabethan era saw an influx of exotic goods arriving from all over the world – including luxurious, never before seen perfumery ingredients – the valiant explorers bringing a bewitching treasure trove of scented materials to Europe. Men like think Vasco de Gama (1469-1524), Magellan (1480-1521) and Columbus (1451-1506) brought vanilla, pepper, Peru balsam, cardamom, sandalwood, clove, cocoa… Many were used for flavouring, but also found their way intro fragrant creations.
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A growing trade with the East resulted in the transportation of living plants, too: orange trees (producing not just fruit, but that most romantic and innocent of fragrant blossoms), jasmine and rose. With perfect timing, the distillers were getting ever-more-expert: essential oils could soon be distilled from frankincense, pine, cedarwood, cardamom, fennel, nutmeg, agarwood (‘oud’ as we know it today), sweet flag, anise and more.
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Mostly, though, it is supposed that perfumes were still used to mask awful odours – which made lingeringly heady scents like tuberose, jasmine and musk particularly popular. Queen Elizabeth I beckoned Venetian traders to Southampton to offer their scented wares: it became fashionable to wear musk and rose scented pomanders and sachets, in particular.
Here’s another charming snippet from an Elizabethan recipe – remember, most of these fragrances would be made at home, and such recipes were often found in household books along with food and medicine recipes. Could you follow the instructions now, do you think? And more importantly – would you wear it if you could?
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Perhaps our noses are more atuned to complex aromas these days, with modern innovations meaning we can combine the best of nature with purer extractions and headspace technology (digitally analysing the scent of pretty much anything and allowing scientists to recreate the smell synthetically), but isn’t it fascinating how we can time-travel with our noses?
Now, why not continue your fragrant journey by exploring another fragrant era in our section devoted to the history of perfumery…?
Written by Suzy Nightingale