About Perfume 

Perfume is made up of a mixture of alcohol, fragrant aroma, and oils.
These mixtures or ingredients are always blended with Solvent. The solvent either consists of ethanol alcohol or a mix of ethanol alcohol and water. The more expensive perfumes contain more oil than alcohol thus the fragrance last longer.

History of Perfume

The history of perfume began in antiquity. The word perfume used today to describe scented mixtures, derives from the Latin "per fume", meaning through smoke. 

One of the oldest uses of perfumes comes from the burning of incense and aromatic herbs used in religious services, often the aromatic gums, frankincense and myrrh, gathered from trees. The Egyptians were the first to incorporate perfume into their culture followed by the ancient Chinese, Hindus, Israelites, Carthaginians, Arabs, Greeks, and Romans. The earliest use of perfume bottles is Egyptian and dates to around 1000 BC.

Notes of Perfumes

The concentration of perfume oil describes the intensity and longevity of the scent.

Different fragrance oils break down at different rates. The composition of a perfume is called an accord, and scents are called notes. Scent notes must be combined to create a special fragrance and there are three set of notes that appear gradually on top of each other in order to create an olfactive harmony.
We can smell scents of perfume because they evaporate; light molecules evaporate quickly, heavy ones slower. These scented gas molecules are chemicals that float through the air into our nose. The more scent molecules enters our nose, the stronger is the smell

Notes in perfumery are descriptors of scents that can be sensed upon the application of a perfume. Notes are separated into three classes; top/head notes, middle/heart notes, and base notes; which denote groups of scents which can be sensed with respect to the time after the application of a perfume

Top Note

Perceived immediately upon application of a perfume, top notes consist of small, light molecules that evaporate quickly.

Middle or Heart Note

The scent of a perfume that emerges just prior to when the top notes dissipate. The middle note compounds form the "heart" or main body of a perfume and emerge in the middle of the perfume's dispersion process.

Base Note

Fragrance falls in 9 different families.

Floral: The most traditional and popular family. It can range from a linear scent of one flower. Floral are feminine and romantic and suitable for any age.

Fruity: Fruity fragrances are fresh and youthful. Strawberry and Kiwi. Fruity fragrances are always more popular in summer.

Woody: Woody fragrances are more earthy and masculine and are an acquired taste.. They range from smoky to mossy and include scents such as patchouli, pine and sandalwood. 

Oriental: Oriental scents are spicy, warming and exotic such as Guerlain's Mitsouko, which also sits within the floral and woody families.

Green: Green scents are those of cut grass and fresh leaves. 

Water or marine: Water scents are those redolent of ocean breezes or rainstorms.

Aldehydics: Aldehydics are synthetic. They first found their way into the perfume world when Coco Chanel requested that a perfume be made that was entirely synthetic. 

Tabacco / Leather: These fragrances smell exactly how they sound and, like woody scents, are more masculine and mature.

Fougère: This family is also quite masculine but is used in perfumes as well. The strongest notes will usually be lavender and oak moss.

Perfumes Types

Different types of perfumes have different concentration levels. The concentration or composition of perfume starts with a base of fragrance oils, which can be natural, animal or synthetic. The perfume concentration level depends on the percentage of oils it contains.

Perfume extract include concentration of essential oil between 20%-40%

Eau de Parfum include concentration of aromatic compounds between 10%-30%

Eau De Toilette include about 5%-20%aromatic compounds.

Eau de Cologne include concentration level between 2%-5%

FAQ

Why does a fragrance last longer on some people?

Fragrances are basically oils that will be absorbed by the skin like moisturizers. To help your fragrance last longer use a matching body lotion or unscented body lotion to apply to pulse points before applying your fragrance.

Why do fragrances smell differently on different people?

Body chemistry, diet and age affect fragrances on their skin. Also, fragrance consists of many essential oils. Certain essential oils have affinity to our skin, and they may be absorbed while other may not. This creates an imbalance on the skin and accounts for the difference.

How should I or where should I apply fragrance?

Fragrance should be applied to pulse points. This is where the blood vessels are closest to the skin giving off more heat and acting like mini fragrance pumps. Pulse points are the wrist, behind the ear, crook of the arm and knee, base of the throat. Also, for long lasting fragrance spray at the ankles, it allows the fragrance to blossom up.

Why is perfume so expensive?

Fragrances contain a certain amount of natural ingredients, which are expensive. To make a pound of rose oil, it takes well over a ton of flower petals, and this cost can range from three to four thousand dollars. The same is true for most essential oils.

Does perfume need special handling?

Fragrances should be kept away from excessive heat or cold, and to avoid evaporation, the cap must be tightly closed to maintain fragrance integrity. Also, do not expose the fragrance for any length of time to sun light.

Are there other uses for a fragrance other than application to the body?
You can put a few drops of your favorite fragrance in a bath or a few drops in the water when washing your lingerie or spray on artificial flowers.

How to make perfume stay longer?

For a long-lasting effect, fragrance should be layered all over the body, starting with toilet water or eau de perfume, next in strength to perfume, to build the fragrance foundation. Because fragrance rises, spray or smooth fragrance onto skin from the feet to the shoulders. If fragrance is applied only behind the ears, it will eventually rise and disappear.

As a final highlight, perfume, the most concentrated and long-lasting form of fragrance should be applied at the pulse points where the heartbeat is apparent (wrists, behind ears, crook of elbow, base of throat, bosom, behind knees, inside the ankles).

What is Musk?

Musk is the name originally given to a substance with a penetrating odor obtained from a gland of the male musk deer, which is situated between its back/rectal areas.

What is Amber

Amber is fossilized tree resin

What is Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals, plants, and other organisms from the remote past.

What is Resin

Resin is a hydrocarbon secretion of many plants particularly coniferous tree.

What is Saffron

Saffron  is a spice derived from the flower of the saffron crocus
Coming from the dried stigmas of the saffron crocus, it takes 75,000 blossoms or 225,000 hand-picked stigmas to make a single pound which explains why it is the world’s most expensive spice.

What is Stigma

Stigma — is the receptive tip of the carpel which receives pollen at  pollination  and on which the pollen grain  germinates. The stigma is adapted to catch and trap pollen, either by combining pollen of visiting insects or by various hairs, flaps, or sculpturing

What is Sandalwood

The tree is medium sized 12-15 meters tall. The tree reaches its full maturity in 60 to 80 years, which is when the center of the slender trunk (the heart wood) has achieved its greatest oil content. As the tree grows,  the essential oil develops in the roots and heartwood, which requires atleast 15 to 20 years. Full maturity is reached after 60 to 80 years. The core of dark heartwood gradually develops, which is covered by outer sapwood. The sandalwood tree is never felled, but uprooted in the rainy season, when the roots are richer in the precious essential oil

What is Oakmoss

Oakmoss grows primarily on the trunk and branches of oak trees,
Mosses are small, soft plants that are typically 1–10 cm (0.4–4 in) tall, though some species are much larger. They commonly grow close together in clumps or mats in damp or shady locations. They do not have flowers or seeds, and their simple leaves cover the thin wiry stems

What is Agarwood

Agarwood is basically from Aquilaria trees. These trees largely grow in Southeast Asia These trees occasionally become infected with bacteria / fungus and begin to produce an aromatic resin in response to this attack. As the infection grows, it results in a very rich, dark resin within the heartwood.

The resin is commonly called as agarwood or ood.

These trees grows in India, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam & Laos