The Use Of Scents, Perfumes And Fragrances Through History
The first actual era of perfume was in the late 19th century. It was the time when new scents were produced due to the advancements in knowledge of organic chemistry. As certain ingredients were very expensive or even rare to find, they were replaced by synthetic products. Simultaneously, there was development in chemical knowledge taking place in the field of textile printing dies too.
At the center of the perfumery industry, herbs and flowers were grown in Grass in Provence, located in France. In that area, people who treated and worked with leathers found it difficult to accept the aroma from the natural leather. Thus they began to perfume the leather as well as themselves. They gained knowledge regarding the production of botanical essences.
In the 20th century, designer perfumes and scents were produced on a large scale. Before that, there were very few names in this industry, the main ones being Coty and Yardley. They made scents with light and familiar fragrance.
For many centuries, products that are useful in enhancing the feel of skin and smell of the body have had great value. With the advent of trading routes, spices reached different parts of the world which resulted in a greater spectrum of scents that were produced from these spices.
In the past, for creating home made aromatherapy products, people used their own potions and mixed them together thus forming a suitable oil. At that time, the houses used to have a still room that was a place where essence of herbs and flowers were steeped.
While some specific animal products are also used in making perfumes like male musk deer’s musk and civet cat’s civet, sperm whales’ ambergris etc. For sure, these products impart a kind of mystery to the fragrances.
Please have a look at the great range of women’s perfume. Its the perfect website to find perfumes for women to meet every taste!
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Beauty Gift Sets For Your Special Valentine
Valentine’s day is approaching us in a few weeks time. Now, it may be the best time to look for the most ideal gift set for each of your loved ones before the stocks run out.
Based on the latest marketing research and gift buyers’ behaviour studies, beauty gift sets are still the best selling gift types during every Valentine’s day. Fragrance gift sets for women and men will be still the top choice among the various beauty products. Nice looking packaging, great sensational experiences and personality enhancement are the benefits which one can think of in buying a fragrance gift set for he or she loves.
Most people may want to get the best bargain especially during this economic downturn. But for fragrance as a gift, no good fragrance is cheap. A good fragrance should last at least fifteen hours even if only a small amount is applied. But it may not be easy to buy a quality fragrance gift set at discounted prices.
For those who are looking for best prices in fragrance gift sets, try not to consider home-made perfume. This is because they are usually not of good quality. Quality but expensive fragrance often come in a small and elegant bottle after putting through various chemical processes in the factory. Quality fragrance also can last longer till fifteen hours even when a small amount is applied. The cheap home-made perfume can never do the same. Instead of buying cheaper homemade fragrance or shopping at retail stores, you can consider to shop online for the best discounted quality fragrance.
Another advantage of online shopping is that you are not prone to impulse buying on the spot due to the sales person’s pitch. You can take your time to evaluate online and search conveniently at home for your best fragrance gift set. Ideally, the web store can provide tons of users’ reviews to help you making the right decision. If the product is widely reviewed by many people with positive comments, then the likelihood for you to make the wrong decision for your fragrance gift in this Valentine’s day is minimal.
Before you buy anything online, make sure you check this beauty gift web store. It has a special product review section which can be very useful to you. You can find also other fragrance gift sets at great discounted prices as well for your valentine’s day.
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Acqua di Parma perfume
Launched almost a century ago, the first Acqua di Parma perfume, Colonia, with its citrus, orange and lavender notes, caused a wave of fresh air at a time when “heavy” perfumes were predominant. In the 1930’s, with colognes being all the rage, the brand soars and benefits of a glamorous image up until the 50’s, thanks to the likes of Ava Gardner, Gary Grant and Audrey Hepburn. Between the 60’s and the 90’s, the brand isn’t nearly as successful and is only worn by connoisseurs.
In 1993, three Italian friends from the luxury industry (Tood’s, Ferrari and la Perla) decide to relaunch the brand. They open stores in Milan, then here and there around the world, they diversify the brand’s products and sales start booming. The brand starts to revolve around a few main products: Colonia and it’s variation being Colonia Assoluta, Profumo, Iris Nobile for women, Lavanda Tonica for men and Blu Mediterraneo. They also start selling candles and various hygiene related products.
In 2003 the brand was bought out by LVMH (Louis Vuitton).
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Chanel Fashion 2010
Chanel Fashion can be tagged as one of the most notable houses around the fashion world and are well-known for a coy and innovative design. The most recent product of Chanel Fashion to be in demand from the previous month across the Chanel boutiques has been the custom-made evening bag.
The domination of Chanel Fashion for decades has been due to the distinctive heritage that their products possess. If people require knowing the popularity of Chanel Fashion, pay a visit to Paris Fashion Week.
Chanel Fashion collection contains a range of exquisite sunglasses, perfumes, and beautiful bags going along with a complete wardrobe for everyone. So even if you are extremely selective when it comes to fashion, there wll be something available for you.
The stylish collection of Chanel Fashion has a design that is inspired of the culture and color of the Parisian Region. The style of their products is sensual and cheerful that makes it a must have for both men and women of the modern world.
Every Chanel Fashion collection has amazingly sexy and fetish approach that gives a vision of grace and grandeur. Rich animal designs, unconventional use of underwear for an outerwear, suits having pinstripe and unique use of black as a color to extract the real you through an upbeat approach makes Chanel Fashions the toast of the fashion world.
Fragrances of Chanel Fashions have a supremacy over most others used around the globe. In fact, the female fragrance of Chanel Fashion has been a past winner of the coveted ‘Perfume Academy International Prize’.
The distinct visions of the Chanel line are clear through the products that they come up with each year. Their passion to portray a common person and not a model in their clothing products makes the product even more attractive and glamorous.
Some say that Paris Fashion Week is the second home of Chanel Fashion. Paris Fashion Week 2009 has seen the new winter collection of Chanel and the new themes has been given another thumbs-up.
Where to buy Chanel:
There are several net shops that offer deals that are usually much better than what you would pay at your local shopping mall. So when you are ready to buy, it is highly recommended that you take a few minutes and do a search on the web first.
Doing a search on the net allows you the chance to easily and quickly compare prices, thus you can be sure in getting the best available deal for your hard earned money.
The benefit of net shopping is that you are able to locate those hard-to-find and rare offerings of Chanel accessories and clothing that are sold out or not available in your area.
Find more about Chanel, including where to find an authentic Chanel purse online at our website.
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Difference between perfume and cologne
If you are wondering what the difference between perfume and cologne is, then you’ve come to the right place. There are three fundamental differences, which are: the strength of the smell, the complexity of the smell and the aromatic sources. Once we’re done you will see clearly how perfume and cologne differ and why bottles are labeled with one or the other.
The strength of perfume and cologne has to be the easiest way to distinguish the two. Perfumes are a lot stronger than colognes. The reason for this is dilution. Both are composed of aromatic compounds in a solvent (typically ethanol or a mix of water and ethanol), but the concentration by percent/volume of those aromatic compounds is higher in perfume than it is in cologne. An average perfume will have 20% aromatic compounds whereas cologne will only have 5%.
The next difference is the “complexity”, or the components of the scent. Perfume is more “complex”, not because it has more components, but because the “notes” of a perfume unfold over time. The top notes are your first impression and they evaporate quickly letting the middle notes come through. Middle notes sort of ease the transition to the base notes which would seem unpleasant at first but become more pleasant with time. The middle and base notes are really what the perfume is all about.
With cologne on the other hand, the first smell is pretty much what you get even though it is composed of multiple scents, which is what we will discuss next.
Aromatic sources, whether natural or synthetic, are the essence of perfume and cologne and they are usually classified into different categories. Now these categories will never be totally objective and they change with time as new perfumes are created. But the point here is that while perfume can be created using many different categories, cologne is traditionally composed of citrus scents such as lemon, orange, grapefruit etc…
Those are the main differences between perfume and cologne in a nutshell. Perfume is stronger and scents unfold making it more complex. Cologne is lighter which also means it doesn’t last as long, but the smell is uniform and traditionally citrus based. So from now on you can target your search a little more and maybe save some time, even though we understand you enjoy those smelling sessions…
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How to choose a perfume
When most people go out to buy perfume and cologne, they simply sample different perfumes and go with the one they happen to enjoy the most at that moment. This is a big mistake. Other than the fact that your nose will become saturated after the third sample, there are a few things you want to consider before making a decision. First of all, your own biochemistry, your natural body odor, will alter the fragrance. Then, when will you be wearing the fragrance? And who is it for? The buying process may take a little longer, but that new bottle will not go unused.
You must understand first that the sample is different than what it will smell like on you. Your body produces odors that will mix with the fragrance. This is the part where compulsive buyers will have a hard time. Sample three at the most. Choose the one you prefer. Spray it on your wrist. Walk out, and wait a couple hours! You need to give your nose some rest. That store is probably overloaded with scents. Not only that, if you are thinking about buying perfume, you need time for the base notes to appear because that’s what the perfume really smells like, and more importantly, what is smells like on you.
Now the next couple things you need to ask yourself apply not only to when you’re buying perfume, but also when you are trying to decide what you should put on at any given time.
The first question can be answered with common sense and is simply: what time is it? The same way you wouldn’t mix certain colors when choosing clothes, you don’t want to wear certain fragrances at different times of the day or different times of the year. For example, it would be ideal to wear something sweet or floral in the morning, especially during the summer, and something a little spicier in the evening or during the winter.
The second question may require some intuition. Who are you wearing it for? Of course you want to smell good because it makes you feel comfortable. But maybe you have an important meeting with a client you want to impress, or you’re just going to a social gathering and there’s a special someone you want to get to know better. Whatever the situation is, do the best you can to figure out what they might like the most. Remember, smells are extremely powerful, they bring back old memories, they grip us at the core.
And that should do it, just remember not to rush yourself when buying, take a few days, that store isn’t going anywhere. Use common sense when deciding what to wear and put that intuition to work if there is someone you need or want to impress. Now get out there and let them smell who you are.
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How to make perfume and cologne last longer
When it comes to perfume and cologne, one thought keeps coming back: “I wish the smell would last longer!” Well, there are steps you can take to help. Do not spray perfume and cologne right after taking a shower. Apply the fragrance at certain areas. Try using a stronger perfume. You can always carry some in your bag, but if you don’t really have time to freshen-up during the day then these tips can help.
When you take a shower, the heat and water dry out your skin. Perfume and cologne last longer on moist skin than they do on dry skin. So before you spray any perfume, use a body lotion, preferably unscented, to regain your natural skin moisture. If your skin is naturally very dry, use a moisturizing lotion or a lotion with more fatty acids as these are what slow down the evaporation of a perfume.
Once you’ve done this, apply perfume and cologne in specific areas known as pulse points. These are areas where your blood vessels are very close to your skin and therefore a lot of heat is generated, such as the wrists, the bend of the elbows, between the breasts, behind the knees and behind the ankles. Do not underestimate the lower parts of your body. Vapors always go upwards so that perfume on your ankles could last longer than anywhere else. You could also lightly spray your hair but if you do make sure your perfume doesn’t clash with your shampoo. If it does you can always find an unscented hair treatment.
Finally, if you aren’t using actual “perfume” or “parfum” in French, but are using eau de parfum, eau de toilette or eau de cologne, then you might want to find out if there is a perfume that matches what you are using. A lot of times you will find the exact same brand has the exact same product with various labels. Perfume is the strongest and of course the most expensive, it’s also meant to last a lot longer.
It’s as simple as that, use body lotion before perfume and cologne, spray your fragrance on key pulse points and if you have the wallet, use the “perfume version” of what you are using if you aren’t already. If you implement these few tricks you will be well on your way to smelling good all day with little to no unpractical freshening up breaks.
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Perfume and cologne origin
Perfume comes from the Latin “parfumes” meaning “through smoke”. The first fragrances came about by burning, which produced smoke that carried the essence of the item being burned. When they thought about perfume it was a term which applied to anything that gives off a fragrance when burned, but we use the term to anything that gives off fragrance.
The ancient Egyptians are generally credited with being the first people use perfumes, and perfume oils. The fragrances they used came only from natural sources such as flowers, wood, aromatic plants and leaves, etc. The Egyptians are also credited with being the first to use perfume and oil for skin care. They are also credited for being the first to use aromatic spices to preserve and give bodies a pleasant smell at death.
Scented oil fragrances can be made from many substances. A finished scented oil product is a composition of a wide variety of substances, not all of which are used to produce scent. Perfume and cologne are a mixture of fragrant scented oils, aromatic compounds, fixatives, and solvents. Fragrance oils are used to give the human body, animals, objects, and living spaces a pleasant aroma. The reason for this is to evoke a pleasant reaction from either the person who applies the perfume or others who will be effected by the aroma.
The ancient Greeks were the first to use stills to create and use liquid perfume (not oil). They used herbs, spices, and flowers to create these first liquid perfumes. Oils were actually used long before perfume and cologne were even thought of.
Some natural ingredients used to create fragrances are: plants such as cinnamon; flowers and blossoms such as rose and jasmine; the rinds of citrus fruits; leaves such as lavender and patchouli; resins such as frankincense, myrrh, and pine; roots such as ginger; and seeds and woods such as sandalwood. You can list just about any compound that produces a fragrance.
Some animal sources of fragrance are honeycomb, amber, which is derived from the sperm whale, and musk sacs which are used in musk fragrances. Most animal sources of fragrances have been replaced in modern times with synthetic compounds.
You can see that extracting and creating fragrance is a science and must be done very carefully. People will always use fragrance because it plays such an integral part of our everyday lives. The perfumer views his or her job of creating fragrance as a fine art. Finished products are hard to duplicate because there are so many ingredients and variations of technique that can be used. These are known only to the perfumer who has created the fragrance.
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Givenchy perfume
Hubert De Givenchy was born on 20 February, 1927 to a wealthy family in Beauvais, France. He founded his company House of Givenchy in 1952. The classic Givenchy style was represented by two famous women of their time; Audrey Hepburn and Jacqueline Kennedy. Givenchy wanted to be a fashion designer when he was very young. He had the opportunity to work alongside Pierre Balmain and Christian Dior, who were still unknown at that time.
Givenchy was the youngest fashion designer in the Paris fashion scene. As Givenchy designed almost all the wardrobe for the famous actress Audrey Hepburn, he went to introduce his first perfume collection in 1957 for her which was called L’Interdit and Le de Givenchy. Givenchy is an old perfume house with around 99 perfumes under its brand.
Le De Givenchy is a woody floral musky fragrance for women with an interesting blend of coriander, mandarin orange, tarragon, Brazilian rosewood, lilac, jasmine, lily, sandlewood, amber, musk and oakmoss with many other amazing notes. This fragrance is old-fashioned and conventional. Women who like floral scents will be delighted by Le De Givenchy.
Eau De Givenchy is a perfume perfect for summers. It has a fruity fragrance of grape, mandarin orage, rd fruit along with mint and bergamot. It has a very refreshing and sweet smell. You can get nostalgic with the fragrance of Eau De Givenchy which will take you to a romantic summer night at the beach.
The Very Irresistible Givenchy perfume featuring Liv Tyler is a one of the best perfumes from the house of Givenchy. Like the name, the fragrance is indeed very irresistible. There are many other Very Irresistible perfumes from Givenchy which includes Very Irresistible Givenchy Summer Cocktail, Very Irresistible Sensual, Very Irresistible Soliel d’Ete, Very Irresistible Givenchy Fresh Attitude for men and more.
Of the Very Irrestible collection, the Fresh Attitude for men was very popular. Launched in 2007, this is a new fragrance that caought the attention of many men. It has a fabulous woody and aromatic scent with the freshness of lavender and mint. The lovely smell of grapefruit makes you feel really fresh and it has an amazingly long lasting fragrance.
Some of the other Givenchy perfumes include Organza First Light, Organza Incedence, Organza Indian Jasmine, Pi Fraiche, Pi Leather Jacket, Pi Neo and Pi Metallic Collector. Many perfumes were launched under the house of Givenchy in the last couple of years.
No other perfume house has such a wide collection of fragrance as Givenchy. Each Givenchy perfume sets a different mood and there is a fragrance for every occasion. Both men and women have a wide range of fragrance to choose from the house of Givenchy.
The price of the perfumes from Givenchy are high, but then they are absolutely worth it. There is no doubt that the perfume lines have lived up to the brand name. You can be overwhelmed with the choice you have when it comes to fragrances from Givenchy. But once you own a classic Givenchy perfume, you’ll cherish it for the rest of your life.
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Perfume Allergies
Although in ancient times perfume was merely the distillation of floral essences, perfume of today is created with both synthetic chemicals and natural sources derived from animals and botanical.
Individuals can experience health issues when using or being around others who use perfume as well as those who suffer from perfume allergies. Since the formulas used to make perfume are industrial secrets, manufacturers are not required to list components of their perfumes, so they list them as fragrance on their labels.
Not knowing exactly what may be in any particular perfume leaves doctors lacking information they need to determine what is causing an allergic reaction or what may pose a health risk to some people.
Here is a list of some ingredients that may or not be in any particular perfume:
- Benzaldehyde
- Benzyl acetate
- Benzyl alcohol
- Camphor
- Ethanol
- Ethyl acetate, which is on n EPA Hazardous Waste list
- Limonene
- Linalool
- a-Pinene
- g-Terpinen
- a-Terpineol
Some of these chemicals can make people ill, and they may suffer from these symptoms or illnesses that can be caused by using or being in close contact with someone wearing perfume:
- Rashes
- Hives
- Dermatitis
- Eczema
- Sinusitis
- Asthma
- Sever headaches
- Nausea
- Central Nervous System disorders
- Fatigue
- Drowsiness
- Impaired vision
- Trouble concentrating
- Irritation of the eyes or upper respiratory tract
- Confusion
- Convulsions
- Uncontrollable coughing or sneezing
- any other numerous reactions depending upon the person and the chemical that is irritating them
Keep in mind when wearing perfume and cologne, especially a designer perfume , that it’s not the scent that’s triggering an allergic reaction, but a chemical in the perfume.
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