The use of perfume is often associated with mystery, fantasy and imagination. People wear perfume to please others, to leave a good impression, to surround themselves with a pleasing, lingering scent. Although perfume does have a long history, it has not always carried a hint of romance. The word perfume comes from the Latin phrase, “per” meaning “thorough” and “fumus” meaning “smoke”. The French later gave the name “parfum” to the smells produced by burning incense. Indeed, the first form of perfume was incense, made by the Mesopotamians about 4000 years ago. Ancient cultures burned a variety of resins and wood at their religious ceremonies. Incense made its way to Egypt around 3000 B.C. but until the beginning of Egypt’s Golden Age, perfumes were used only in religious rituals. They became available to all Egyptians as the priests gradually relinquished their exclusive rights. The ancient Greeks can take credit for the first liquid perfume. But it was the development of distillation by the Arabs that made perfume manufacture viable. Perfume enjoyed huge success during the seventeenth century, especially in France. Hygiene in those days was pretty spotty and fragrances were used to mask the unpleasant body odors. In England perfumes were used extensively during the reigns of Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I. All public places were scented during Elizabeth’s rule because she could not tolerate bad smells. Perfume underwent profound change in the nineteenth century. Changing tastes and the development of chemistry laid the foundations for modern perfumery. At the turn of the century, perfume usually was derived from a single-flower fragrance. Today, perfumes are extremely complex, made up of many natural and synthetic chemicals, often referred to as “notes” or “overtones.” Chanel No 5 was the first perfume created by applying modern chemical principles and the first to contain synthetics. Today, both synthetic and natural ingredients are used in perfumery. Natural components include extracts of flowers, leaves, roots and citrus fruit. Animal extracts derived from musk, whales or beaver are also used. Chemists have become very adept at producing synthetic versions of many natural compounds, greatly facilitating perfume manufacture. There are many nuances to fragrance. Like a musical composition, it has different notes. The top note is what you smell when you first sample the perfume. This lasts only for 5 to 10 minutes. The middle note is the scent that begins to emerge after the fragrance blends with your own unique skin chemistry. It usually takes about 20 minutes for the middle note to develop fully. The base note is the final expression of your perfume, that is, the scent produced when the fragrance has dried. It’s the smell that lingers. Because we all have different skin types, the same perfume can smell differently on different people.