perfume, aroma produced by the essential oils of plants and by synthetic aromatics. The burning of incense incense, perfume diffused by the burning of aromatic gums or spices. Incense was used in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome and is mentioned in the Old and the New Testaments. It is also found in the major religions of Asia.
..... Click the link for more information. 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 musk, odorous substance secreted by an abdominal gland of the musk deer , used in perfume as a scent and fixative. The gland, found only in males, grows to the size of a hen's egg; the secretion is reddish-brown, with a honeylike consistency and a strong odor that
..... Click the link for more information. , ambergris ambergris (ăm`bərgrēs), waxlike substance originating as a morbid concretion in the intestine of the sperm whale.
..... Click the link for more information. , civet civet (sĭv`ət) or civet cat,
..... Click the link for more information. , and castoreum (from the beaver beaver, either of two large aquatic rodents , Castor fiber and Castor canadensis, known for their engineering feats. They were once widespread in N and central Eurasia except E Siberia, and in North America from the arctic tree line to the S United
..... Click the link for more information. ). 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 attar of roses (ăt`ər, ă`tär), or rose oil,
..... Click the link for more information. , 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 eau de Cologne (ō də kəlōn`), dilute perfume [commonly called cologne in English] introduced c.
..... Click the link for more information. .

Bibliography

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

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.

perfume (redirected from fragrance)

Bibliography

perfume

perfume
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