Ah, perfume. You have to sometimes wonder what women do without it. It seems they can't help but spritzing that smelly stuff all over their bodies. Not that men mind very much. Let's face it, a man LOVES a woman who smells nice, but who determines exactly WHAT a nice smell is? One of these days somebody is going to invent a perfume that smells like, well, you know.

So what's the deal with perfume? Why so mesmerizing to the opposite sex? And what in the world is the stuff made from anyway? For all we know it could be made from chicken gizzards.

Fortunately, it's not. Perfume is made from about 78% to 95% of specially denatured ethyl alcohol and a remainder of essential oils. The perfumes that are made up of the 22% oils are the most expensive, going for as much as $100 an ounce or more. I'm sure a little too rich for most people's blood. These perfumes are called perfume, literally. The next costliest on the ladder are the ones called Eau de Parfum, which are made up of between 15 and 22% oils. After that comes Eau de Toilette, which is made up of between 8 and 15% oils. Next on the totem pole is Eau de Cologne, which is made up of about 4% oils. And finally the bottom of the barrel, for those who really like subtlety, is Eau Fraiche, which is made up of about 1 to 3% oils.

Then of course there are fragrance categories, a TON of them.

Here is a listing.

Floral, Oriental, Floriental, Chypre, Green Marine and Fruit. Typical plant products include anise, bay leaf, bergamot, cardamom, cedar wood, eucalyptus, frankincense, gardenia, geranium, iris, jasmine, lavender, lemon, lilac, lily, lily of the valley, magnolia, moss, neroli, orange, orris, patchouli, pine, raspberry, rose, sage, sandalwood, tuberose, vanilla, violet and ylang-ylang.

I wonder how many guys can really tell the difference between one and another. It probably doesn't matter since perfumes are a 10 billion dollar a year industry. Not bad for smelly water.

So when did perfume use start? Actually it started thousands of years ago in Greek and Roman civilizations. It wasn't a big commercial industry back then. The first real commercial use of perfume didn't start until the early 20th century. One of the earliest famous perfumes that is still made today Chanel No. 5 created by Ernest Beaux for Coco Chanel in 1921. It is essentially made from ylang-ylang and neroli, with a heart of blends of jasmine and rose all above a woody base of sandalwood and vetiver. How much of each is a secret and something that any perfume manufacturer would give anything to get a hold of. Perfume manufacturing is extremely competitive and formulas are carefully guarded secrets. But getting back to Chanel No. 5, today a bottle of this stuff is sold every 30 seconds. You can only imagine what that comes out to in income for a whole year.

Today there are many perfumes, the most popular being Chanel No. 5, Charlie, Chantilly, Elizabeth W. Magnolia, which is actually the most popular perfume for women today, and the list goes on and on. There are new perfumes coming out everyday to keep up with the demand for the next great smelling toilet water.

Isn't life great?

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Perfume