Perfume is a mixture of essential oils and aroma compounds, fixatives and solvents used to give the human body, animals, objects and living spaces a pleasant smell.

History of Perfume

The word “perfume” used today derives from Latin “per fumum” meaning through smoke. Perfumery is the art of making perfumes began in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt and was further refined by the Romans and Persians. Tapputi is a perfume maker who distilled flowers, oil and calamus with other aromatics then filtered and put them back in the still several times.

Fragrance Notes

Perfume is described in a musical metaphor as having three sets of ‘notes’, making the harmonious scent accord. The notes unfold over time, with the immediate impression of the top note leading to the deeper middle notes, and the base notes gradually appearing as the final stage. These notes are created carefully with knowledge of the evaporation process of the perfume.

• Top notes: The scents that are perceived immediately on application of a perfume. Top notes consist of small, light molecules that evaporate quickly. They form a person’s initial impression of a perfume and thus are very important in the selling of a perfume. Also called the head notes.
• Middle notes: 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 act to mask the often unpleasant initial impression of base notes, which become more pleasant with time. They are also called the “heart notes”.
• Base notes: The scent of a perfume that appears close to the departure of the middle notes. The base and middle notes together are the main theme of a perfume. Base notes bring depth and solidity to a perfume. Compounds of this class of scents are typically rich and “deep” and are usually not perceived until 30 minutes after application.
The scents in the top and middle notes are influenced by the base notes, as well the scents of the base notes will be altered by the type of fragrance materials used as middle notes. Manufacturers of perfumes usually publish perfume notes and typically they present it as fragrance pyramid, with the components listed in imaginative and abstract terms.
Aromatic Sources of Perfume
Plant sources
Plants have long been used in perfumery as a source of essential oils and aroma compounds. Plants are by far the largest source of fragrant compounds used in perfumery. The sources of these compounds may be derived from various parts of a plant.
• Bark – commonly used barks includes cinnamon and cascarilla.
• Flowers and blossoms – the largest source of aromatics, includes the flowers of several species of rose and jasmine.
• Fruits: Fresh fruits such as apples, strawberries, cherries.
• Leaves and twigs – commonly used for perfumery are lavender leaf, patchouli, sage, violets, rosemary, and citrus leaves.
• Resins – valued since antiquity, resins have been widely used in incense and perfumery.
• Roots, rhizomes and bulbs – commonly used terrestrial portions in perfumery include iris rhizomes, vetiver roots, various rhizomes of the ginger family.
• Seeds – commonly used seeds include tonka bean, carrot seed, coriander, caraway, cocoa, nutmeg, mace, cardamom, and anise.
• Woods – highly important in providing the base notes to a perfume, wood oils and distillates are indispensable in perfumery. Commonly used woods include sandalwood, rosewood, agarwood, birch, cedar, juniper, and pine.

Animal sources
• Ambergris – lumps of oxidized fatty compounds, whose precursors were secreted and expelled by the Sperm Whale. Ambergris is commonly referred to as “amber” in perfumery and should not be confused with yellow amber, which is used in jewelry.
• Castoreum – obtained from the odorous sacs of the North American beaver.
• Civet – also called Civet Musk, this is obtained from the odorous sacs of the civets, animals in the family Viverridae, related to the Mongoose.
• Hyraceum – commonly known as “Africa Stone,” is the petrified excrement of the Rock Hyrax.
• Honeycomb – from the honeycomb of the Honeybee.
• Musk – originally derived from the musk sacs from the Asian musk deer.
Other natural sources
• Lichens – commonly used lichens include oakmoss and treemoss thalli.
• Seaweed – Distillates are sometimes used as essential oil in perfumes. An example of a commonly used seaweed is Fucus vesiculosus, which is commonly referred to as bladder wrack.

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