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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Different types Of Perfume
Perfume fragrances were classified by Charles Piesse who was a perfumer from the 19th century. Charles had actually tried to classify each type of fragrance to a musical a musical chord. Unsurprisingly his system failed but the terminology stuck on. The current perfume fragrance pyramid was invented by William Poucher in the 1920’s. The fragrance pyramid is based on the instability of the perfume ingredients or how fast the fragrance fades away
The fragrance of a perfume is described as top note at the point when it just gives you a whiff and then passes on. The heart notes then follow where the fragrance actually has a chemical reaction with your skin; and finally are the base notes where the true essence of the fragrance is revealed when the highest molecular weight from the ingredients begin to surface.
There different categories of scents to describe perfumes meant for women and perfumes meant for men. Under the women’s category, we have the most common scent, which is floral. This is in fact the largest category and the primary ingredients are from flowers like rose, jasmine, carnation, violet and orange blossom. Some of the perfumes that come under this category are Paris and White Diamonds. Some of the sub categories for floral fragrances are like floral green (Bvlgari, Chanel 19); floral fruity (Baby Doll, Amarige) and floral woody (L’Eau D’Issey, Romance)
The next category is oriental. This means the scent is made to create warm, exotic impression because of its ingredients like balsams, spices, resins and musk. Perfumes that fall under this category are Royal Secret, Contradiction and Shalimar. Some of the sub categories of oriental are oriental spicy (Opium); oriental citrusy (Candies); floriental (Hugo Woman, Wings) and oriental gourmand (Angel, Casmir and Wish)
The other categories of perfumes are chypre, citrus, fougere and green. Chypre was first described by Francois Coty to describe the aromas from the island of Cyprus. This fragrance is generally sweet, soft and earthy with ingredients like oakmoss, patchouli, bergamot and citruses. Some of the well-known perfumes under this category are Paloma Picasso, Fendi and Femme. Citrus fragrances have citrus fruits like tangerine, lime, mandarin and lemon in them. These are very common in men’s fragrances. Examples of citrus scented perfumes are CK One and Jess. Fougere is French for fern, which relates to freshness and is best described in Cool Water. Green fragrances are from green plant parts like grass, pine and herbs. Safari and Bvlgari Extreme best describe this scent.
Now that we are familiar with the fragrances, what about the concentration? We frequently hear about edt and edp.
Actually, perfumes are the combination of fragrant oils that have been mixed in high-grade alcohol where 15 – 25% is oil and 90 – 95% is pure alcohol. This concentration is known as parfum. When the percentage of oil is lower then it is know as eau (water)
The strength of the eau can vary depending on the percentage of the pure perfume oil that is contained. EDC (Eau de cologne) has the least concentration with just 2 – 5% of perfume oil mixed in water and alcohol. EDT (Eau de toilette) has a bigger concentration of 4 – 10% of perfumed oil. EDP (Eau de parfum) has 8 – 15% perfumed oil and the most highly concentrated of all fragrances is Parfum or perfume, which has 15 – 25% of perfumed oil.
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How to apply perfume and cologne
Nobody wants to be one of people that apply way too much perfume and have other sneezing or holding their breath when they walk buy. When you apply perfume, don’t think of it as your favorite drive-thru and believe you absolutely need to get super-sized. Stick with the medium this time around.
So then, how do you apply perfume? Good question, thanks for asking. I’ll make this brief and to the point, kind of like the instruction for pop-tarts Here we go:
How to apply perfume for girls:
1. Grab bottle and spray a foot in front of you.
2. Walk in perfume mist/cloud and twirl/ballet move/360 your way to the other side.
3. Repeat once or twice at the most.
How to apply perfume for guys:
You can just walk through, spray behind you and back into it. But if your alone, go ahead and spin, you know you want to.
It’s not rocket science, it’s perfume, but it’s not that cheap deodorant you sprayed on because you were too lazy to take a shower, so please, do us all a favor and don’t be that guy.
Now If your problem is the complete opposite and it seems like your perfume just won’t stick to you long enough, then check how to apply perfume to make the smell last longer.
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Buying perfume and cologne online
Perfume and cologne have been in use since ancient times and now wonderful fragrances are available online at affordable prices. The World Wide Web is the marketplace to buy perfume and cologne. Exotic and simple fragrances are available at discounted prices. If you are a newbie to the world of perfume, all you need to do is log on to your favorite search engine and type the word perfume or cologne. And in a second thousand of websites selling perfume will become available.
1. Be a smart shopper and read up on perfumes and articles and tips written by famous people and fashion gurus on how to wear and select a perfume.
2. Browse through sites that specialize in perfume and cologne and check whether they send out small samplers for a cost.
3. Otherwise make a list of perfume brands that appeal to you and go to the nearest mall and view the brands first hand. Most malls have perfumery counters that allow customers to take a whiff of fragrances.
4. Think carefully whether your sense of style matches romantic, casual, or flowery.
5. Use online tools to find the kind of perfume you like. Compare costs for the brand at different websites.
6. Check whether your favorite perfume is on special offer at auction sites or other websites selling perfumes.
7. Find out whether shipping is free or extra and what kind of packaging they are offering.
8. Find out whether the website will ship from a local site or from abroad as this will usually make the price go up because of shipping costs.
9. Ask about return policies and guarantees. Find out whether they will give a credit for a returned perfume.
10. Make sure you use a secure payment method.
Whatever you do, make sure you know what you’re getting before you pay.
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Wearing perfume and cologne
When it comes to perfume and cologne, there are a few simple things people should understand. The most basic thing is the reason we use it. Next is how your smell can affect your identity, how people perceive you. And finally, these products are no longer luxuries they once were, even though they are often marketed as such. The goal here is to open up your mind a little to the impact perfume and cologne can have on a day to day basis.
While perfume and cologne has been used throughout history for various reasons, in our culture everybody obviously knows it’s simply to smell good. Smelling good is so basic it’s part of the overwhelming majority of people’s basic routine alongside looking good. The main reason for this is confidence. And truthfully, smelling good, and knowing it, is a bigger confidence booster than good looks. This leads us to our next point.
Think about how a good looking person instantly becomes less attractive, even repulsive, the moment you detect a bad smell emanating from that person, but how the opposite isn’t true at all. By this we mean that a person you may not find physically attractive, but smells good, can suddenly become more attractive than a good looking person. That’s the power of scents. The nose has more influence over judgment than the eye. So why do people spend so much more on beauty products?
Granted, you could spend a lot on one bottle of scented liquid. But over the past century, the varieties of brands that have emerged have created a natural decline in price. Of course, as with any line of product, there will always be that upper class fragment. But with perfume and cologne, this doesn’t mean better quality. Each person can have a different reaction to each fragrance. Not only that, as individuals, we are all different. Therefore, what we wear should reflect who we are or how we feel, not how much we have.
So next time you search for that perfect smell, remember to find something you will feel comfortable wearing, knowing it describes your true self. And if that perfect one is out of your budget, understand there is probably something very similar for less. And hopefully, wearing something expensive isn’t part of what makes you feel comfortable and confident.
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