History of Perfume & Fragrance

· 3 min read
History of Perfume & Fragrance


Perfume is one particular products which could influence our emotions. People`s sense of smell influences behavior and sets different moods. It could even talk about memories of days gone by. As a marketing tool, perfume is also present in our daily lives and it are available in lots of consumer products. Besides  Michel Germain  that perfume is indeed popular, perhaps you have wandered how it came into being what it is today? What`s the history of perfume?

Some anthropologists say that perfume was used by primitive man through the burning of gums and resins for incense. Eventually from 7000 to 4000 bc, richly scented plants, animal and fatty oils of olive and sesame are thought to have been combined with fragrant plants to generate original ointments.

Three thousand years ago in ancient Egypt, historians think that perfume was first used in rituals, as part of their religious ceremonies, developing a pleasant smell. These scents came from gums, resin trees, oil and from a variety of plants resulting in a perfume unguent that has been rubbed in to the skin. More than 100 years later, women of Egypt were using perfume for his or her cosmetic qualities. It is believed that Egytptian queen Cleopatra had her own exclusive balms and scents used as cosmetics and aphrodisiac, which helped her to conquer Julius Caesar and later Mark Anthony. Also out of this same era, it really is believed that perfume was found in Mesopotamia for ritual ceremonies. And farther east, in China, aromatic herbs were useful for medicine purposes.

Later on as trade routes expanded, perfume became extremely popular and demand for scent products increased trade among different civilizations. Africa and India began to supply Middle Eastern civilization with spikenard and ginger. Syrians sold fragrant goods to Arabia. Mediterranean civilization began buying cymbopogon and ginger from South Arabia. So the trade of scent goods kept on, and as it continued to swell, fragrance perfume was eventually introduced through time and energy to several civilizations such as Hindus, Israelites, Carthaginians, Arabs, Greeks, Romans and finally reintroduced hundreds of years later in Italy and France.

By the 13th century Italy was doing major trades of spices and perfumes with Eastern civilizations. Portugal and Spain were also attempting to establish important trades of spices insurance firms exclusive routes to the East. That`s the way the " new world " of America got to be discovered.

As Italian perfume influence swept over neighboring countries, France began expanding the usage of perfume by first offering perfumed gloves, that have been most often perfumed with neroli or animal scents such as for example ambergris and civet. After that, French perfume is becoming famous worldwide now sets the typical for excellence.

Also France played a significant role in reestablishing the utilization of perfume for therapeutic purposes under western culture. It has been reported that during Word War II, therapeutic perfume had been used in the treating wounds and burns, and later in the treating psychiatric problems.

Perfume has brought different people together during the past through the trade of aromatic scents. In addition, it played a major deal, since its trade meant economical power for the nations. And so the history of modern man has been greatly influenced by this special product, enabling new worlds to be discovered. On a personal level, perfume is capable of influencing people`s behavior and that by itself sets perfume in class alone. Perhaps that`s why is it so desirable by all of us.