subject: The History Of Perfumes And Colognes [print this page] The ancient Egyptians were the first known people to utilize perfumes. They would derive fragrance from natural materials by extracting the fragrance from them, hence the term essence. The fragrance is the actual material or substance that it comes from so when you smell a fragrance or scent you are inhaling the actual molecules of the product or substance.
The Egyptians appreciated fragrance and began to create them. The Persians and Romans followed suit. Many Arab countries are famous to this day for the natural fragrances that they produce. Many of these fragrances are sold in stores and on the internet in the United States and have been popular for many years. Egyptian musk and African musk are two of these. Even though both of these fragrances have been around for many years they are both popular and sell very well.
The French are more famous for taking the scented base and adding alcohol to them to make perfumes. Most people today dont understand that perfumes are created by adding alcohol or some other solvent to the scented oil base. The purpose of adding this solvent is to stretch the fragrance and make it smell stronger than it naturally does.
Eau de Parfum, Esprit de Parfum, Cologne, Eau de Cologne and Eau de Toilette are the prominent perfume types available these days.
Eau de Parfum is most preferred. The content of perfume concentrates in this perfume is 7-15%. This perfume provides a fragrance which lasts long. Many people these days are using the concentrate itself before it is mixed with alcohol or other solvents. The pure compound lasts much longer than anything else and has a softer more natural fragrance. A little of this goes a long way.
Eau de Cologne perfume was first launched in a city called Cologne in Germany in 1709. Giovanni Maria Farina was its inventor. Both men and women use this product. Eau de Cologne consists of oils of many fruits like lime, tangerine, orange and lemon along with 85% dilute ethanol. The concentration of oil in this perfume is only 5%. Napoleon was very fond of this perfume.
There are several basic categories of perfume fragrances. They are grouped based on their basic characteristics. Which are; Fruity, Green, Aquatic, Citrus and Gourmand are the basic categories under which modern day perfumes are included. The "Fruity" category contains perfumes with fragrance of fruits like mango, peach and black currant. Those in the "Green" category consists of light and cucumber like perfumes. The "Aquatic" category contains perfumes which are used by both-men and women.
There are three fragrance notes in all perfumes, the top note, middle note and the base note. The top note consists of small molecules which take very less time to evaporate and diffuse. This is the scent that you smell when you open the bottle which contains the fragrance The top note creates a good impression in the minds of people due to its freshness. It begins to dissipate in about ten minutes. The middle note consists of the fragrance molecules which need a little more time to evaporate. It contains the smell of flowers and lasts for about half an hour. It is also referred to as heart note. In the base note, molecules take the longest time to evaporate. It takes 30 to 60 minutes for the base note to be felt. A perfume gets its characteristic smell with the combination of the middle note and base note.
In the case of perfume oils the notes last much longer because it takes the molecules of fragrance much longer to evaporate since they are oil based. The heat of the human body is the biggest catalyst that causes a reaction so the fragrance lasts much longer.
Since we are approaching the holiday season people will be purchasing more scented products in the next few months. Perfumes and colognes make great gifts. The best way to purchase for you loved ones is to buy a variety of fragrances so that if one misses with them another one is likely to tickle their fancy. The best value for your money is realized when you purchase the scented perfume and cologne oils.Fragrance Oil Express
