Perfumes have become an unavoidable part of our final ‘touch up’. Smelling good automatically translates to ‘feeling good’ too and the sort of confidence that a good perfume can impart is indeed noteworthy. Today, a wide range of fragrances are manufactured by different perfume houses and their number keeps increasing by the day too. These products make use of various ingredients and flavors according to the trend of the day or according to the needs of the various clienteles. Due to the increasing influx of perfumes that are available today, it has become increasingly difficult to choose the perfect fragrance that compliments a person.

Perfumes should be chosen with the utmost care and attention. What suits one need not necessarily be suitable for some other person. That is because of the difference seen in their skin and sweat conditions. Therefore, the ideal way to choose the right perfume would be to try it on the skin before making a purchase so that the person gets know if the smell suits them or not.

Today, we find that just about any toiletry or cosmetic for that matter contains fragrance in them. Soaps, lotions, creams, deodorants, after shaves etc come with their own individual stamp of fragrance and they are able to attract a whole lot of consumers. It is very important that you select a fragrance which goes well with your personality and in fact, enhances it considerably. Perfumes are an excellent way to create your style mantra and are very effective in leaving a lasting and lingering impression on others too.

Today, we find various types of perfumes in the market. There are lighter fragrances for day or office wear and heady scents for party occasions. There are fruity scents, citrus scents, floral scents, and a wide range of other combinations which may leave one totally confused. Identifying your type of scent comes out of a lot of trial and error and it is ideal that you try it on your wrist and wait for some time before making that payment.
Perfumes and deodorants helps in keeping the human body cool, fresh, relaxed, sexy and confident all day long. So it is very important that the right fragrance be selected to enhance these qualities. A pleasant smell leaves a lasting impression on people and care should be taken to select a fragrance that suits your personality and increases your confidence. Select the lighter and delicate scents for day wear and leave the stronger and heavier fragrances for that evening party or night out.

Perfumes should be stored carefully so that it lasts for a longer time. Perfumes can retain their freshness and quality for longer times if preserved in the right conditions.

Tim Walt

Base notes, or the longest lasting elements of perfumes, are usually dominated by the scents of wood. There are many different kinds of woods used for perfumes including cedar, rosewood, juniper, pine and agarwood. The oils and distilled essences from these and other woods are very important even to perfumes where you don’t detect their fragrance. In many scents, the woods are used to accentuate other aromas.

Sandalwood, perhaps the best known of all these fragrant woods, grows in India and other parts of Asia. Synthetics are often used for sandalwood, as the forests have been severely decimated from over-harvesting for perfumes and many other wood products. It not only serves as an important note in perfume, it is an excellent fixative that can anchor other scents. B-United by Benetton uses sandalwood as a base note as well as elements of citrus and floral notes.

B-UNITED BY BENETTON (EAU DE TOILETTE SPRAY 3.4 OZ)
Price : $12.01

Agarwood is another Asian tree that grows mainly in Laos and produces a very fragrant oil and resin that perfumers love. Only the smallest bit of the oil is necessary to scent a room and it can take up to twelve hours to unfold. It will last on a person’s skin for more than a whole day and when applied to a porous material such as wooden boxes or cloth the scent can actually last for months. It is also said to have spiritual qualities and to improve access to hidden memories. Perfumers prize its deep and complex aroma. Yves Saint Laurent and Amouage perfumers both use agarwood as a base note in their premium fragrances.

Oudh oil resin, from the Aquilaria tree in Asia, is produced from trees infected with a parasitic fungus. The growth causes them to produce a resin in the heart of the tree over a period of, sometimes, hundreds of years before the infection kills the tree and leaves the resin behind to be chipped away. This resin, called Aloeswood, is very rare and considered the most sacred oil on earth. Its delicious aroma is used only in the finest, most premium perfumes. The lower quality resin is shredded and distilled then dried and used for incense. 

Cedar is another wood valuable in perfumery. Besides the wood’s decay-resistance, its aroma is so fresh and rich that it was used in building the famous temple of King Solomon. Onyx by Azzaro combines spices with citrus and apple, using cedar wood ad juniper to give the scent a refreshing, carefree aroma with delicious lingering signature.

ONYX BY AZZARO (EAU DE TOILETTE SPRAY 1.7 OZ)
Price : $16.63

Without aromatic woods, perfumes would lose much of their personality. Synthetic versions of some of these woods have seen increasing use as the forests become decimated from harvesting. Synthetics are often longer lasting than natural oils and give forests time to regenerate, allowing us to enjoy the fragrance of our favorite woods.

Tim Walt

Creating a perfume can actually be described as an art. It can be said that the job of a creator is to portray the current social motion and attitude in an extremely precise manner and highlight each personality types with related scents. A perfumer has to make use of smells to induce mental imagery and has to make the wearer feel confident.

It is the perfumer or ‘Nez’ as they are fondly called who are responsible for creation of fine scents. The customer or fashion house or corporate house who wants to create a perfume relies upon the perfumer’s fine sense of smell and composition skills to bring out a product. According to the client’s requirements, the perfumer blends the required smells and composes a version which may be approved for further manufacture.

It must be said that there are no hard and fast rule in the creation of perfumes. The general pattern followed is to go by some guidelines which could help in formulating the end product. A perfume is generally born out of a concept and the ultimate product may be achieved out of mixture of many ingredients along with the required coloring, anti-oxidants, etc to add to the shelf life of the perfume.

The first step in the conception of a perfume starts with the creation of perfume oils which can either be from a plant source like flowers, barks, fruits, leaves, etc., animal source like civet, honeycomb, musk, etc., other natural sources like lichens or seaweeds, or synthetic sources. Perfume oils are made up of a variety of ingredients which can be grouped roughly into four: Primary scents, modifiers, blenders, and fixatives. One or a few chief ingredients can be combined to form a primary scent such as ‘rose’ or ‘jasmine’. Sometimes a blend of primary scents can give rise to an abstract primary scent too. Modifiers give character to the primary scent like bringing about a change in its behavior. For example, the cherry scent in cherry cola can be considered as a modifier. Blenders are responsible for the effective blending between different layers or bases. Linalool and hydroxycitronellal are commonly used as blenders. Fixatives have the responsibility of strengthening the primary scent. Common fixatives that are in use are wood scents, amber bases, resins, etc.

Ethyl alcohol and water are blended in with the perfume oils and are stored in tanks for aging. After a minimum of fourteen days, they are processed and filtered in suitable equipments to remove any impurities or sediments and particles. The perfume is now ready for filling into perfume bottles.

Tim Walt