ALL ABOUT PERFUME
The history of perfume
The word perfume comes from the Latin word per fumus meaning \'through smoke\', which refers to the fragrance offerings of herbs, plants and branches of the past that gave off fragrance through the smoke. The Mesopotanians were the first people to burn all kinds of parts of plants and branches during their religious ceremonies, releasing scents. They also placed fragrant branches and parts of plants in water and oil with which they then smeared their bodies and these fragrant liquids were also used to embalm the deceased.
The Egyptians were also already familiar with burning incense about 3000 years before Christ, which was mainly done with them during all kinds of ceremonies. It was only much later that the use of scent became so important to the Egyptians that from birth to death they sprinkled themselves daily with a nice scent and even took perfume with them to the grave. The use of fragrance became so important at one point that the governments of several Egyptian cities obliged their inhabitants to perfume themselves at least once a week. As a result, a bathing culture began to develop, which was later adopted by the Greeks and Romans. In Egypt they also made a true art of making the bottles in which perfume was stored as beautiful as possible. Around 1500 BC, glass was first used to make perfume bottles and a bottle of perfume was worth even more than jewelry. Incidentally, it was the Greeks who were the first to come up with real liquid perfume in the form of perfumed animal fat or vegetable oil, creams and powder.
Somewhat later, more and more herbs and spices such as pepper, ginger and sandalwood were imported from India to add to perfume. In Egypt more and more jasmine was grown and used and even today Egypt is still one of the largest suppliers of essential oils of jasmine. In Greece they mainly used the scent of lilies and roses for their perfume.
For a long time, the use of perfume in Europe was reserved for the rich people who bought it from traders from exotic places. It was not until the 17th century that perfume making started to emerge here in Europe. Perfume also started to play an increasingly important role in Europe, because various greats from history could not do without it. For example, Louis XV wanted a completely perfumed court and Queen Elizabeth I only visited perfumed places because she could not tolerate unpleasant smelling places. When people in the 19th century started to gain more and more knowledge of chemistry, the perfume industry could really develop. More and more new scents were developed and the creation of scent combinations was suddenly possible. Before that time, only one type of flower was used for a fragrance.
How do you choose a perfume?
Everyone has probably experienced it when you smell a scent on your sister or girlfriend that you really like and want to have right away. When you spray the same scent on yourself a little later, you think: hmm, what did I really like about this scent? This has to do with the fact that every skin reacts differently to a perfume because scents adapt to the person who wears it and the skin type, the acidity of the skin and the biological phase the person is in play a role in this. . Because a perfume mixes with the body odor, one person can smell a certain odor very differently than the other. The acidity of the skin (pH value) is around 5.5 with normal skin, on the other hand, dry skin has a slightly lower acidity and an oily skin a slightly higher acidity. Also during the menstrual cycle and pregnancy, the skin and therefore also the smell of a perfume can change slightly. Your environment can also suddenly make an odor smell very different than in the store, this can be due to temperature, humidity or the use of air conditioning.
Fragrance stages
It takes about 10 minutes before you can smell the real core of a perfume, so in fact you should wait at least 10 minutes before deciding whether to buy a fragrance or not. A perfume often consists of more than 30 ingredients, but the main scent components of a perfume can be divided into so-called notes: top notes, heart notes and base notes.
The first minutes you mainly smell the alcohol which evaporates quickly and soon after the top note of the perfume comes and this is often a fresh, strong scent that has passed very quickly.
After 10 minutes to an hour, the scent reaches the heart note of the perfume and this is the actual scent that lingers for about three to four hours.
Finally, there is the base note and this is an often sensual and sweet scent and gives the perfume character and draws into your clothes.
Fragrance families
A classification has been made by the committee of the French Association of Parfumeurs, the Société Française des Parfumeurs, for the classification of the main fragrance families, which can be distinguished into: citrus, floral, fern, chypre, woody, amber (oriental) and leather.
Citrus This fragrance family traditionally consists of citrus notes, such as lemon, lime and orange.
Grapefruit, orange and lemon are examples of fresh citrus scents.
Floral This is a very popular fragrance type where the fragrance is characterized by a single flower.
Well-known floral scents are rose and may flower.
Varen / Fougere Lavender, oak moss, coumarin and geranium.
Chypre Fresh scents in combination with more floral scents.
Well-known Chypre scents are bergamot, oakmoss, ladanum and patchouli.
Woody Woodsy scents such as patchouli, cedar and sandalwood.
Amber (Oriental/Eastern) Heavy, spicy, long-lasting scents such as cinnamon, vanilla and amber. Sparkling and exotic flowers and warm and aromatic notes are characteristic of this fragrance family.
Learn Smoke, fire, birch, and tobacco smells.
You often choose a certain fragrance category based on your character and personality.
Do\'s and don\'ts when testing perfume
When testing a perfume, do not (only) smell the bottle, because then you will only smell the alcohol and the top note of the perfume.
The best way to test a fragrance is to apply it to your skin. If you prefer not to do that, there are of course always those paper test strips available in a perfumery that you can use, but the scent really comes into its own on your own skin. It is of course also best to test a scent when you do not wear perfume yourself, otherwise you cannot smell the scent objectively.
You see many people rubbing their wrists together when testing or applying perfume, but you shouldn\'t do this because you damage the scent molecules and change the scent notes of a perfume.
The best place to test a fragrance is to apply it to the inside of your wrist or the back of your hand.
At the end of the day, your sense of smell is at its best, so it\'s best to go to the store near closing time to test a perfume.
When you stand in front of a shelf with wonderful scents, you naturally want to smell and test almost all of them, but our nose can no longer distinguish the aromas from each other at a certain point. Therefore, never test more than three scents, if you still want to smell more than one, you can neutralize your nose by smelling coffee beans or breathing in some fresh air.
How do you apply perfume?
Do not exaggerate
Perfume serves as a subtle scent accent, so it is not the intention to wrap yourself in an overpowering cloud of perfume. You probably pass someone on the street who has a whole perfume smoke around her that makes you almost nauseous and you shouldn\'t want that. Moreover, you choose a scent that you like, but someone else may find this same smell very nasty and even bothered by it.
Skin types
A perfume lasts longest on a skin that is not too dry because with a somewhat oily skin the perfume mixes with the skin fats and therefore adheres better to the skin. If you have dry skin, you can apply some body lotion so that your hydrated skin retains the perfume and scent a little longer. It is best to use an unscented body lotion or a body lotion that has the same scent as your perfume. In any case, it is best to apply a perfume after you have taken a bath or shower, because then your skin pores are open and the perfume will be better absorbed and spread faster.
Where do you apply perfume and where not?
It is best to apply perfume on the places where you can see or feel your heartbeat, so on your wrists, the inside of your elbows, the backs of your knees, your neck and your décolleté. In those places your veins are just under the skin and these places get warm first and therefore spread the smell. It is recommended to choose only a few of these points and not all of them, because then it will be a bit too much. When you start spraying your perfume, keep your perfume bottle about 15 to 20 centimeters away from your skin, so that the scent is distributed over a larger surface of your skin. What you can also do is spray some of the perfume into the air and then run through it, so you get a slightly more subtle scent over you.
Never spray perfume directly on your clothes as this can cause stains and fabrics can react quite differently to the smell.
Let your perfume withdraw
Give the scent time to absorb into your skin and do not put on your clothes immediately after application.
Your clothes will absorb some of the perfume before it has absorbed into your skin.
Be careful with all kinds of smells mixed up
Your shampoo, shower gel, body lotion and deodorant often all leave behind different scents and if you use perfume with it, it can become a mixed bag of scents. What you can do is use shower gel, body lotion and if present deodorant from the same line of your perfume so that everything has the same scent.
Warm or cold weather
When it\'s warmer, your perfume will last longer and the scent will be stronger than when it\'s cold. On hot days, a heavy perfume can therefore often be a bit too intense and it is better to use less of it or opt for a lighter scent. You can also choose to use a lighter perfume in the summer and a heavier one in the winter.
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