i cannot possibly think of a better introduction to the chapter about natural fragrances than this excerpt

from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde:

And so he would now study perfumes, and the secrets of their manufacture, distilling heavily-
scented oils, and burning odorous gums from the East. He saw that there was no mood of the mind that
had not its counterpart in the sensuous life, and set himself to discover their true relations, wondering
what there was in frankincense that made one mystical, and in ambergris that stirred one’s passions,
and in violets that woke the memory of dead romances, and in musk that troubled the brain, and in
champak that stained the imagination; and seeking often to elaborate a real psychology of perfumes,
and to estimate the several influences of sweet-smelling roots, and scented pollen-laden flowers, or
aromatic balms, and of dark and fragrant woods, of spikenard that sickens, of hovenia that makes men
mad, and of aloes that are said to be able to expel melancholy from the soul.

Ancient Trade Becomes Hottest Trend

The art of making perfumes in the modern sense began in ancient Iran and Egypt. Persian doctor
and chemist Avicenna (AD 980–1037) introduced the process of extracting oils from flowers by
distillation and began to manufacture musk and rose water. The Persian poet, mathematician, and
astronomer Omar Khayyám (1048? –1132) related that Jamshid, one of the first ten mythological
kings of ancient Iran, discovered ambergris, myrrh, camphor, and saffron.

The art of distilling and blending aromas was refined by the Romans, but the first modern perfume,
made of scented oils blended in an alcohol solution, was made in 1370 for Queen Elizabeth of
Hungary and was known throughout Europe as Hungary Water. In the sixteenth century, France
became the center of the perfume art thanks to Catherine de Médi-cis’ personal perfumer, René le
Florentin. His laboratory was connected with her apartments by a secret passageway so that no
formulas could be stolen on the way. By the eighteenth century, aromatic plants were being grown in
Grasse, a town in the southeast of France, to provide the perfume industry with raw materials—rose
blossoms, orange flower petals, lavender flowers, and cypress cones.

In early days, perfumes were used primarily by royalty and the wealthy to mask body odors. Scents
were applied daily not only to the skin but also to clothing and furniture. Perfume substituted for soap
and water. Fragranced gloves became popular, and in the seventeenth century, a French duchess was
murdered when poison perfume was rubbed into her gloves and slowly absorbed by her skin. Could
this story be the inspiration for Poison perfume by Christian Dior?

In early days, perfumes were used primarily by royalty and the wealthy to mask body odors.
When Napoleon Bonaparte came to power, the fragrance industry thrived as never before.
According to historical documents, no less than two quarts of violet cologne were consumed by
Napoleon each month. Same time, he ordered sixty (!) bottles of jasmine extract for his personal use.
Venerable French perfume house Creed created a fragrance, Bois du Portugal, for Napoleon, a strong
blend of cedar, sandalwood, vetiver, and lavender.

The first completely synthetic perfume wasn’t created until the twentieth century. Coco Chanel is to
“blame” for the ever-present chemicals in fragrance bottles. Her Chanel No. 5, the first artificial
fragrance, relied heavily on synthetic aldehyde, which belongs to the same group of chemicals as the
carcinogen formaldehyde and hangover-causing acetaldehyde. It was a novel, avantgarde concept.