The History of Perfume

The history of perfume dates back to the early age of the Egyptians around 3000 B.C when they used fragrances for religious rituals. Some of the main uses were for the application of ointments, balms and the burning of incense. Perfume oils were applied for either cosmetic or medical purposes. Perfumes were found in the tombs of pharaohs which were said to of been used for religious ceremonies. Up until the Golden age of Egypt perfumes were only used in rituals to pharaohs or gods.

During the age of the New Kingdom around 1580-1085 BC perfume was mainly used by Egyptian women and during festivals. Soon after the New Kingdom, perfume spread to the Ancient Greeks around 350 BC and then to the Romans around 500 AD. Greeks used perfumes for everything and then began creating scents for specific events such as love making, helping with the mind, and to increase appetites. Greeks purposed perfumes as a way to cure illnesses.

Romans were the first of the societies to use plants and flowers to make perfume scents. The Romans invented scented water that was used during public baths which were spectacular in giving a great aroma for bathing. Romans took perfumes to the extreme by having all things sprayed with perfume scents such as their dogs, horses, birds and even items such as tables, draperies, and candlesticks. All servants wore blends such as marjoram, musk, spikenard and other aromatic fragrances.

Perfumes found there way to France around 1656 and the popularity grew steady over the years in France. The court of Louis XV was known as “The Perfumes Court” because daily scents would be applied to the skin, cloths, and furniture. During the 18th century a revolutionary advancement in perfumes brought eau de colognes which contained blends of lemon, rosemary and bergamot. Eau de colognes were sued in many different ways such as stirred with wine, diluted in bath water and eaten on a sugar lump and used as mouthwash. Perfumes and colognes became a huge part of culture, and around 1765 the production of perfume factories began to open starting with the Baccarat Factory.

Following the growth into the 19th century perfumes became part of the industry of arts. Paris began the production of perfumes and in the 1830’s vapor distillation which was then introduced to the perfume industry. Bottling started to become increasingly more popular and important. The perfume maker of Francois Coty formed a partnership with Rene Lalique to market the production of bottles for many different perfume creators.

With the 20th century rolling around the advancements kept on coming, first with the discovery of methyl heptine carbonate and methyl octane carbonates in 1903 by Moureu and Delang, and then with the discovery of “glycidic method” of synthesizing aldehydes. Soon after hydroxycitronellal was discovered and it was used from citronella isolated from citronella oil. Perfumes then advanced by the thousands of synthetic scents being produced in various combinations to create a huge verity of scents.

With the production of perfume in both America and Europe perfumes were introduced to broader outlets. Perfume companies were launching over 100 perfume products alone just in the 1920’s. With the burst of designer scents a new era of designers such as Estee Lauder, Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein were introduced to the world.

Present day contains over 20,000 fragrances on the market and is still growing every year. Many changes over the years have helped to establish what perfumes and fragrances are today and what they will become in the future.