Perfumes - Ethanol-based Aromatic Compounds Blend, Ancient Art Of Perfumery Mastery

PerfumesPerfumery,
or the art of making perfumes
began in ancient
Egypt but was developed and
further refined
by the Romans and the Arabs.
Knowledge of
perfumery came to Europe as early
as the
14th century. During the
Renaissance period,
perfumes were used primarily by
royalty
and the wealthy to mask bodily
odors resulting
from the sanitary practices of the
day.
Perfume usage has been documented
as far
back as the 6th century in the
Islamic culture
and its usage is considered a
religious
duty. The Prophet Muhammad said,
"The
taking of a bath on Friday is
compulsory
for every male Muslim who has
attained the
age of puberty and (also) the
cleaning of
his teeth with Siwak (type of twig
used
as a toothbrush), and the using of
perfume
if it is available." (Recorded in
Sahih
Bukhari)
Perfumes Types
Perfumes oils, or the "juice" of
a perfume composition, are diluted
with a suitable
solvent to make the perfume more
usable. This
is done to since the resulting mixture
is less
sensitive to people since the volatile
components
of the perfume oil is not as
concentrated. Although
dilutions of the perfume oil can be
done using
solvents such as jojoba, fractionated
coconut
oil, and wax, the most common solvents
for perfume
oil dilution is ethanol or a mixture
of the
ethanol and water. The percent of
perfume oil
by volume in a perfume are listed as
follows:

Perfume extract: 20%-40%
aromatic compounds
Eau de parfum: 10-30% aromatic
compounds Eau de toilette: 5-20% aromatic
compounds Eau de cologne: 2-3% aromatic
compounds

As the percentage of aromatic
compounds decreases,
the intensity and longevity of the
scent decreases.
It should be noted that different
perfumeries
or perfume houses assign different
amount of
oils to each of their perfumes. As
such, although
the oil concentration of a perfume in
eau de
parfum dilution will necessarily be
higher then
the same perfume in eau de toilette
form, the
same trends maynot necessarily apply
to different
perfume composition much less across
different
perfume houses.
A mixture of alcohol and water are
used as
the solvent for the aromatics. On
application,
body heat causes the solvent to
evaporate quickly,
leaving the fragrance to evaporate
gradually
over several hours. The rate of
evaporation(vapor
pressure) and the odor strength of the
compound
partly determines the tenaciousness of
the compound
and determines its perfume note
classification.