On Perfume: A luxury? Guilty pleasure? A non-negotiable?
I wrongly assumed that perfume originated in France, but the ancient civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia were the first people to make perfume, followed by the Persians and Romans. They made balms to use in religious ceremonies and to anoint their bodies. The word perfume is derived from the Latin word “per fumus” which means “through smoke”.
In the Mediterranean, the Italian and Spanish perfumers used what was available in their areas to make perfume. The development of sea trade with the East brought vanilla, cinnamon, cocoa and ginger to the Western world and these ingredients were added to widen the fragrance scope of perfume aromas. After Spain and Italy, the industry moved to France where it eventually became the most famous perfume industry with Grasse and Paris at the centre.
Upper class ladies used to wear lavender and violet essence or hid fragrant linen bags under their robes. Another popular device was the pomander, a small metallic container hung around the neck which spread natural aromas such as lavender and nutmeg. Fragrance was mainly used to mask bad hygiene, but it was also believed to keep away the plague that came to Europe in the 14th century.
The art of making perfume made huge progress during the Renaissance due to increased knowledge in the chemical field and improvement of distillation techniques. Coco Chanel launched her famous Chanel no. 5 in 1921. She was the first to use synthetic molecules, aldehydes, as well as floral materials in perfume producing a unique, complex fragrance. To this day Chanel no. 5 remains a worldwide top seller.
Women through the ages were known to have a signature fragrance. Givenchy made the perfume, L’Interdit (Forbidden) exclusively for Audrey Hepburn in 1957. Grace Kelly’s wedding day perfume, Creed Fleurissimo, was commissioned by prince Rainier to match her bouquet.
Today, few people can afford to have their own exclusive perfume, but all of us can have a signature scent. Women are spoilt for choice as there are so many fragrances to choose from. A lesson I have learned, among many other, is never to buy perfume because it is someone’s favourite or it smells devine on another person, you have to test it on yourself before buying.
Ever since I started working, perfume was on my list of must haves and I have tried some lovely ones, but nothing was good enough to buy twice. When I was still at school, my cousin’s wife Frances, whom we all loved very much, told me the most wonderful perfume she ever used, was Femme by Rochas. On my wedding day, I wanted to wear something extra special and remembered what she told me so I bought the perfume and kept it for the big day.
The day of the wedding dawned. I remember that for some reason there was no hot water, so I bathed in cold water with Badedas bubbles. To make up for my not so ideal bath experience, I sprayed myself with Femme in gay abandon. Oh, my goodness, I hated the smell! According to Google, “Femme represents a real masterpiece, capturing the warmth of a woman’s skin combined with dense notes of plum. The composition is based on the harmony of aldehydes, fruit, wood and musk notes.” To this day I do not like Badedas and I certainly never bought Femme again. (In spite of these unfortunate smelling faux pas, we celebrated our 44th anniversary this year.)
Through the years I have build up a list of favourites, but Chloe Perfume by Chloe, is my favourite for summer and in winter I like Chanel no 5. Perfume is expensive and of course I can live without this luxury, but without a dab of this magic liquid, I feel quite underdressed.
Sources: www.fragrancex.com
Perfume Wikipedia
