Tuesday, April 1, 2014

History Of Perfume From Ancient Times To Present Day

By Perla M James


The use of fine fragrances and Perfumes has origins which date back to the time to the Egyptians. This was thousands of years ago, and it was later used by Arabs. It then went to China and eventually to Rome. The word Perfume originated from Latin in which per fumus meant through smoke. Burning of Myrrh or Frankincense and similar fine fragrance was a common practice during most religious ceremonies and all festivals. The application of Perfumed oil for cosmetic as well as medicinal purposes began to grow. This is one reason why Greeks, Romans and countrymen developed a liking for baths using scented water.

Queen Elizabeth from Hungary gave orders for the manufacture of scent and from the year 1370 Fragrance popularly called Hungary Water became manufactured. Thus in the Tudor period in England the scents started to become popular. Actually, Queen Elizabeth used to order her men to spray the public places with Perfume so that the smell in these places would be nice.

In France perfume found much favour during the 17th century. The guild of glove and perfume makers was constituted in 1656 following the rise in popularity of perfumed gloves. Louis XV was renowned for applying scents daily not only to the skin but clothing, furniture and soft furnishings.

The 18 century saw Perfume developing further. There was a fresh and lovely fragrance called Eau-de-Cologne after Cologne which was the adopted town of its inventor Italian Maria Giovanni. It was pure citrus oil in alcohol. However, these could only be afforded by the rich people because of their cost.

The bottles of the fragrances and fine fragrances were as important as the fragrances themselves. At the start, the bottles were of clay and of stone. Towards the turnoff the century the containers began to be made of metal or of glass. The scent deteriorated when it came in contact with air and also light. So, it was important to keep them secure form these. Glass with had been manufactured by man since 4000 B. C. Only became the popular material for bottles after the 18 Century. It is said that Louis XIV made glass fragrance containers shaped like pears.

The chemists further improved the fragrances in the 19 century. Till now the alchemists had created some in a different method using vastly different foundations. New techniques helped America make this its fashion statement during the 1920s and fashion houses commissioned their own Perfumes created by their chemists. Today you can see thousands of scents and fine fragrances created by design houses and by celebrities. It is little wonder then that fine fragrance has reached the billion dollar mark in the world market.




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