A perfume is a material which produces an aromatic odor. It is a volatile liquid that is either created by making use of flower extractions or manufactured synthetically. Whichever the way of manufacture, perfumes have always been a favourite of mankind down the ages and is considered to be in a heady world of its own. Worn to impart a pleasant smell to the body, perfumes are an infusion of fragrant oils, solvents and aroma compounds in specific proportions.
The word perfume is a derivation from the Latin word “per fumum” which simply means ‘smoke’. Although the creation of perfumes, or perfumery as it is known, originated as an art in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, it became more refined and underwent great development in the hands of the Romans and Persians, and to a certain extent, the East Asians too.
Today, perfumes have formed an integral part of our daily life and we all tend to use it in one form or the other. Some of the most common perfumes that are extremely popular today are:
Creed perfumes- this is a special favorite among the male world. Most of the fragrances targeted towards the males, make use of this making it the most well-liked male fragrance at the moment.
Chanel perfume- this is considered to be one of the best perfumes at any time. Its popularity has never ever decreased and even today, it can be seen that it is really sought after by the world market.
Forever perfumes- This is one perfume that is well known for its meticulous quality, value and style, thanks to its creator, Alfred Sung who is known for his clean and straight creations.
Curious perfumes- This is a perfume which has been rapidly gaining grounds over the years and is considered as an innovation from Elizabeth Arden and Britney Spears. It is expected to grow in popularity in the future chiefly due to its heady scent that is sure to attract women.
Blueberry perfumes- These perfumes are considered to be very popular among its consumers. The main perfumes catered to by this are brut, weekend, London and Touch. The brut perfume especially, is considered to be a great favorite among people.
Guerlain Perfumes- Founded by Pierre-Francois Guerlain in 1828, this is a well known perfume house which has over 300 perfumes to its credit. ‘Jicky’, Mitsouko, Shalimar, Samsara, etc are some of the most famous fragrances brought out by this perfumer.
Molinard- This is a famous French perfume house which has been in the limelight since 1849. Its clientele included Queen Victoria and several other dignitaries. One of the famous fragrances brought about by this prestigious perfume house was Habanita and Molinard de Molinard.

Tim Walt – Jan.2009

Essential oils are a very important part in the creation of perfumes. They are concentrated and highly volatile compounds which are either extracted from parts of the plant like the leaves, flower, stem, roots, bark, wood, etc or manufactured synthetically. Aromatherapy essentially makes use of naturally extracted compounds and as a result the method of extraction plays a very important role in the manufacture of quality fragrances. There are various methods of extraction of odorants from the raw materials, like maceration, cold pressing, solvent extraction, etc. But it remains to be said that a very popular and effective technique to this effect is the process of distillation. This is a process that is normally employed to extract aromatic compounds from roses or orange blossoms.

There are various processes of distillation by which odorants are obtained from aromatic plants. Of these processes, the most popular and effective ones are the method of Steam distillation and Water distillation. Steam distillation definitely has an edge over water distillation and it is sometimes opined that this is a better method in the extraction of essential oils for the purpose of aromatherapy.
Process of steam distillation:

Steam distillation is considered to be extremely popular to this day. The basic procedure involves using steam to heat the required part of the plant, thus resulting in extracting its oil. These even in this techno- savvy age. This process uses steam to heat the part of the plant, from which the oil has to be extracted. The vapors and the essence of the plant are then collected and bottled.

The procedure employed in steam distillation is as follows. The selected part or part of the plant is placed in a pressure cooker like utensil and is constantly heated by steam. This process releases the molecules from the plants which forms vapors. These vapors are passed through a cool pipe, which results in the vapors being transformed back into liquids. It is at this stage that the oil from the liquid gets separated and floats on top of the water molecules. This oil is collected as pure essential oil. Although the process of steam distillation may sound easy, it is very much complicated in nature. The whole procedure has to be done with meticulous care and attention and requires a lot of expertise. That could be the reason why oils extracted in such a manner is quite expensive.

Another method of extraction of aromatic compounds from parts of the plant is the dry or destructive distillation. This is a process by which the raw materials used are directly heated without any carrier solvent being present. This procedure results in the release of fragrant compounds which undergoes anhydrous pyrolysis and again forms different other fragrant compounds. Such a procedure is mainly used for obtaining essential oils from fragrant woods and fossil amber, which results in a ‘ burnt’ or ‘toasted’ odour.