Introduction
Perfume: A little luxury we can enjoy every day!!
Smell
The sense of smell is the sense we use to detect odors. It is the most emotional of all the senses. Smells are never neutral. They are always associated with emotions and objects. They remind us of happy and unhappy situations, places and people. The motive of all of us - giving pleasure with our perfume to those around us or being irresistible to the opposite sex - is the main factor in the use and choice of a perfume.
Perfume is a commercial product. The modern-day trends and needs are changing. Perfume aims to promote a certain image or a new fashion. e.g. Femme Fatale
Perfumes are designed to convey ideas, imagination and desires. The target audience they want to reach is specified.
This is achieved through the naming of the product, e.g. Poison Girl, C.Dior
For a perfume to be called a classic, it must have a continuous success in the international market. e.g. Chanel No 5, Tresor Lancome
Choosing a Perfume
When you buy a perfume, this a purely emotional process. The most important thing to do is to trust your instinct. A person that feels comfortable with his/her perfume, will radiate this feeling to others and this will have a positive result. It is a matter of personal taste. A beautiful perfume awakens our desire to have it and wear it.
Every smell develops completely differently on each of us. That is why we test it on us. It is preferable if we know beforehand a specific style, like a perfume that belongs to a certain fragrance family. Or for what instance you want to use the perfume. e.g. at breakfast, for work or at night. It is preferable to start with lighter perfumes.
Smelling the perfume from the bottle is counterproductive and burdens our nose. We spray it on the paper test strips and that will reveal more easily its aromatic gift. If you like the smell, then you have to try it in the inner side of the wrist or the upper side. Do not rub it.
Perfumes unfold very well in a warm body. Apply to the ankles, behind the knees, at the inner side of the elbow, at the wrists, at the neck, behind the ears. Those points have very good blood flow thus ensuring a favorable effect. A perfume evaporates much more rapidly in dry skin. Instead, an oily skin binds the aromas for much longer.
Familiarization with a perfume
As our nose gets used to a perfume, we no longer sense it, after a certain period. It is a good idea to change perfumes regularly, so your nose can desensitize. If you plan to use the same perfume all the time, you should regularly stop wearing it for a few days, so your nose can rest.
Storage
A perfume must be stored in a cool and dark place.
A perfume consists of ethyl alcohol and essential oils.
Perfume Categories
Eau de Cologne: The most cheap and weak smell that a perfume can have.
Percentage of essential oils: 3-5%
Eau de Toilette: Percentage of essential oils: 6-8%
Eau de Parfum: Very strong version, long lasting.
Percentage of essential oils: 8-12%
Parfum: The most strong extract of the ingredients that a perfume consists of and its most expensive version. They usually come out in 30ml and very few aromas.
Percentage of essential oils: up to 15%
Main Aromatic Ingredients
Amber: From the oldest resins of fossilized trees. Smoky and slightly tarry smell.
Ambergris: Extracted from the entrails of the sperm whale. Mentioned wrongly as amber and produced only in synthetic form.
Used as a heavy base note.
Benzoin: Balsamic resin of the tropical tree Styrax. Has a sweet and balsamic aroma that resembles vanilla.
Oak Moss: Gives a relaxing, earthy, spicy and woody smell.
Galvano: Sticky essence from the roots of a plant in the Middle East. Popular ingredient in floral notes.
Laudanum: Resin from Mediterranean bushes of sage-leaved rock-rose.
Musk: In its natural form, it is a glandular secretion of the musk deer. Today, mainly in the form of a synthetic aromatic mixture, gives aromas to animalistic woody notes.
Patchouli: Bushy plant that grows at the tropical areas of Asia and South America. Has a sweet, balsamic, woody aroma. Is an important ingredient for all the compositions of Oriental perfumes.
Sandalwood: Classic wooden note. Comes from India. Is the most common raw material for perfumes.
Vanilla: The intense and sweet vanilla, extracted from the peelings of the actual vanilla plant.
Vetiver: A kind of sweet grass from Asia. Heavy earthy and woody aroma.
Perfume Categories
Floral: The largest group, characterized by aromas of flowers, like rose, jasmine, iris, carnation.
Oriental: This concept embodies the warm and sensual notes of the Arab world. Balsams like patchouli, resins, benzoins, animalistic aromas like must, ambergris as well as vanilla, cinnamon, carnation.
Citrus: Describes all the range of the fruits from trees or various raw materials that smell like citron.
Wood and Moss: Woody notes. The profile of woody smells varies according to the different types of trees from which they come from. Others remind the smell of sharpened pencil while others are deep and smooth like sandalwood.
Musk amber: Synthetic perfumes that remind the smell of animals and mimic the smell of skin.
Fruity: Fruity notes give a delicate touch and an invigorating sense to the perfumes.
Green, Fougere: With the term "green" we refer to the notes of aromas of broken leaves and fresh cut grass.
Spices: With the term "spices" we mean the warm, spicy ingredients like cinnamon, ginger, carnation.
Skin: Artificial notes that mimic the smell of skin, burnt wood, smoke.
Chypre: Combination of patchouli, citrus and oak moss consist the extended family of chypre perfumes. This category is inspired by the Mediterranean ingredients found on the island of Cyprus.
Perfume Categories - Female
Floral
Oriental
Woody