Perfume (redirected from Parfum)

perfume, aroma produced by the essential oils of plants and by synthetic aromatics. The burning of incense that accompanied the religious rites of ancient China, Palestine, and Egypt led gradually to the personal use of perfume. In Greece, where flower scents were first developed, the use of perfume became widespread. In Rome perfume was used extravagantly. During the Middle Ages the Crusaders brought the knowledge of perfumery back to Europe from the East. It was at this time that animal substances were first added as fixatives—musk, ambergris, civet, and castoreum (from the beaver). Italian perfumers settled in Paris (after 1500), and thereafter France became the leader of the industry. After 1500 scents became fashionable; both men and women wore an ornamental pomander or pouncet-box (dry-scent box), which hung from the waist. Each wealthy household had a "still room" where perfume was prepared by the women. Since the early 19th cent., chemists have analyzed many essential oils and have produced thousands of synthetics, some imitating natural products and others yielding new scents. Most perfumes today are blends of natural and synthetic scents and of fixatives that equalize vaporization of the blends and add pungency. The ingredients are usually combined with alcohol for liquid scents and with fatty bases for many cosmetics. Leading producers of perfume oils are the East Indies, Réunion island, and S France. Bulgaria and Turkey are noted for attar of roses, Algeria for geranium oils, Italy for citrus oils, and England for lavender and mint. The great fashion houses of Paris are renowned for perfumes that carry their names. See eau de Cologne.

Bibliography

See E. Sagarin, The Science and Art of Perfumery (2d ed. 1955); R. Genders, Perfume through the Ages (1972).

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perfume

Fluid preparation used for scenting, composed of natural essences or synthetics and a fixative. Perfumes are concocted by the artful blending of certain fragrant substances in appropriate proportions. The art of perfumery was apparently known to the ancient Chinese, Hindus, Egyptians, Israelites, Carthaginians, Arabs, Greeks, and Romans; references to perfumes are found in the Bible. Raw materials used in perfumery include natural products, of plant or animal origin, and synthetic materials. Fine perfumes may be blends of more than 100 ingredients.

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Perfume 

alcohol or alcohol-water solutions of mixtures of odoriferous substances, perfume compositions, and infusions used as aromatizers. Perfume compositions are made from more than 300 natural and synthetic odoriferous substances obtained from plant, animal, and chemical raw materials. Plant substances, or volatile oils (from steam distillation or extracts), are used alone as scents (rose, coriander, sandalwood oils), as raw materials for making synthetic essences (coriander, sassafras, and anise), and in the form of infusions (patchouli leaves, coriander seeds, or oak moss). Animal substances (amber, civet, and musk) are used only in the form of infusions.

On the average, a perfume composition contains 15 to 60 or more essences. Crystalline essences are first dissolved in one of the liquid nonvolatile components. Depending on the type of raw material, the process of extracting the essence lasts from several hours to a year. The raw material is treated with alcohol two or three times for more complete extraction of the essence. The perfumes themselves are prepared in hermetically sealed devices or cisterns equipped with mechanical mixers or pumps; in some devices the mixing is done by bubble flasks. Water and a small amount of water-soluble dye are added to some types of perfumes after the composition is dissolved. Proteinaceous substances, waxes, and other impurities that are insoluble in alcohol precipitate out during solution of the essences. Finished perfumes are poured into flasks in vacuum pouring machines. The entire operation of finishing the flasks (sealing, labeling, testing the seal, and packing) is done on automated machines or with the aid of special conveyor devices.

The persistence of a perfume odor on cotton-textile fabric must be no less than 30 hours. Perfumes usually contain 10-25 percent composition, although some contain up to 50 percent. Perfumes are divided into two groups according to their odors: flower perfumes, which simulate the odor of one or more flowers, and perfumes created by the imagination of the perfumers. Perfumes may have a light, delicate odor (Lirika, Lei’, or Ellada) or a strong odor (Kamennyi Tsvetok, Chaika, Yaroslavna). Perfume should be protected from the action of sunlight. It is guaranteed to keep for 12 months from the time of manufacture; perfumes of the “deluxe” group are guaranteed for 15 months.