Did The Egyptians Invent Perfume?

By Author: Emma Sowden
Total Articles: 6
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Smell has a powerful way of evoking feelings and bringing back certain memories that you associate with certain people, places or moments. In this way, perfume plays a large role in each of our lives, reminding us of things that have made a significant impression on us.

To completely understand perfume though, we must look back to the time of the ancient Egyptians – the originators of perfume.

Where did it start?

Many people falsely believe perfume originated from France due to the many famous brands of today being based there. Others even more wrongly believe that the dawn of perfume started with things like Calvin Klein aftershave, Hugo boss or other designer brands. However, Egyptians were actually responsible for the origin of perfume.

As well as other famous traditional and practices that we associate with this fascinating civilisation, we now know that they utilised scents in everything from religious ceremonies to burial preparations, as well as more casually for daily activities.

Those who held positions of authority and status in Egyptian society, such as the rich and elite segments ...
... of society, would wear certain aromas and scents. While expensive bottles are still a symbol of status today, many mainstream perfume products are widely used today by all classes and types of people. However, this is only a recent occurrence…

Even the Persians who later adopted the use of perfume used it as a sign of political status and it wasn’t until later when the Greeks and Romans adopted the practice that it became a more widely available luxury, with various aromas and scents created on mass scale so that the public could also enjoy it.

Today, perfume exists across the globe as an affordable luxury, but its roots are ancient and the scents we take for granted today came at a much higher price.

How is perfume made?

In the past, Egyptians created ointments and balms with essential oils mixed in to provide scent. There are still traces of this basic principle in today’s perfume manufacturing processes, but due to advances in technology and the high demand for large volumes of perfume, the way we now make it has changed drastically.

Today, various scents, sometimes derived from essential oils and sometimes synthetically created, are combined with either ethanol (alcohol) or ethanol and water. This has an impact on the strength of the scent and how long it will last.

When people talk about ‘true’ or ‘pure’ perfume, this is probably much more like the perfume of ancient times – undiluted and pungent. Today however, there are many different types of perfumes you can buy, which vary in their concentration levels and price.

Scent types

The most common fragrance families are floral, bergamot, citrus, fruit, and gourmand. While original ingredients may be used in some perfumes, many brands also use synthetic scents either to save money in manufacturing or to achieve unique aromas that can’t be created from the essential oils of plants or animals.

Some have argued whether synthetic creations are a bad thing or not, but this is ultimately down to the induvial buyer and personal taste. Would it matter if your favourite Calvin Klein aftershave was purely synthetic? For some, it really would. For others… not so much.

More than just a beauty product

True lovers of perfume may be interested in Egyptian history as it tells the story of perfume as being more than just a beauty product with a rich and interesting history. There was in fact a god of perfume if you can believe it, known as Nefertum.

While the tradition of perfume creation and usage spread throughout the ancient world, with Romans, Greeks and more using it as a precious item to be valued much like jewellery or other luxuries, it was in fact Egyptians who were the creators of the most prized perfumes in the ancient world.

Specific perfumes based on things like lily, myrrh, cinnamon, cardamom, and southernwood were at the time probably worth as much as any car, jewellery or attire that we put a high price tag on today.

Perfume Plus Direct is a leading retailer of affordable perfumes with a wide selection of products that range from top end designer brands like Calvin Klein aftershave to other household cosmetic names.