Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agreeable scent. Perfumes can be defined as substances that emit and diffuse a pleasant and fragrant odor. They consist of manmade mixtures of aromatic chemicals and essential oils. The 1939 Nobel Laureate for Chemistry, Leopold Ružička stated in 1945 that "right from the earliest days of scientific chemistry up to the present time, perfumes have substantially contributed to the development of organic chemistry as regards methods, systematic classification, and theory."
Guerlain is a French perfume, cosmetics, and skincare house which is among the oldest in the world. Many traditional Guerlain fragrances are characterized by a common olfactory accord known as the "Guerlinade".
Maurice Roucel is a French perfumer who has worked at the companies IFF, Quest, Dragoco and presently Symrise. Roucel began his career in perfumery on February 19, 1973, while working as the head chromatography chemist at Chanel for 6 years. He commenced his apprenticeship under Henri Robert, Chanel's house perfumer at the time. He joined Quest International and for 12 years developed his craft as a perfumer before switching to work for Symrise in 1996. Most of the fragrances composed by Roucel have his signature scent of Michelia longifolia.
Chypre is the name of a family of perfumes that are characterised by an accord composed of citrus top notes, a middle centered on cistus labdanum, and a mossy-animalic set of basenotes derived from oakmoss. Chypre perfumes fall into numerous classes according to their modifier notes, which include but are not limited to leather, florals, fruits, and amber.
Chanel No. 19 perfume was first marketed in 1971. The number 19 was chosen to commemorate Coco Chanel's birthday, 19 August. The perfume was launched a year before she died. The scent was created by Henri Robert.
Jean-Claude Ellena is a French perfumer and writer. He served as the in-house perfumer at Hermes from 2004 and 2016, prior to the appointment of incumbent Christine Nagel.
Fougère, pronounced[fu.ʒɛʁ], is one of the main olfactive families of perfumes. The name comes from the French language word for "fern". Fougère perfumes are made with a blend of fragrances: top-notes are sweet, with the scent of lavender flowers; as the more volatile components evaporate, the scents of oakmoss, derived from a species of lichen and described as woody, sharp and slightly sweet, and coumarin, similar to the scent of new-mown hay, become noticeable. Aromatic fougère, a derivative of this class, contains additional notes of herbs, spice and/or wood.
Lacoste Essential is the name of a men's cologne produced by high-end apparel company Lacoste. The original Lacoste Essential for men contains aquatics citrus, tomato leaves, cassis, black pepper, rose, patchouli, sandalwood and “wood accord.” The popular fragrance is recognized by its distinctly shaped glass container, bearing a brushed aluminum atomizer and the trademark Lacoste crocodile emblem engraved into the glass, as well as the liquid's warm yellow-green tint.
Francis Kurkdjian is a French perfumer and businessman of Armenian descent. He is best known for creating the men's fragrance Le Male for Jean Paul Gaultier in 1995, which has become one of the world's best-selling perfumes. He has since created a further 40 fragrances for major companies worldwide, including Elie Saab Le Parfum for Elie Saab; My Burberry for Burberry; L'extase for Nina Ricci; and Narciso Rodriguez for Her for Narciso Rodriguez, Green Tea for Elizabeth Arden.
Nicolas de Barry is a French perfumer.
The Osmothèque is the world's largest scent archive, a leading international research institution tracing the history of perfumery, based in Versailles with conference centers in New York City and Paris. Founded in 1990 by Jean Kerléo and other senior perfumers including Jean-Claude Ellena and Guy Robert, the Osmothèque is internationally responsible for the authentication, registration, preservation, documentation and reproduction of thousands of perfumes gathered from the past two millennia, archived at the Osmothèque repository and consultable by the public.
Kouros is a perfume for men produced by Yves Saint Laurent. The perfume was introduced in 1981. It was created by perfumer Pierre Bourdon. It is also known as "The Scent of the Gods."
Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud is a French perfumer formerly with the Swiss fragrance and flavor company Firmenich, who currently works for Louis Vuitton of the LVMH Luxury Group.
Poison is a perfume for women introduced by Parfums Christian Dior in 1985. The popularity of the scent made it become a brand in its own right and resulted in the subsequent release of five flanker fragrances: Tendre Poison, Hypnotic Poison, Pure Poison, Midnight Poison, and Poison Girl.
François Demachy is a French perfumer. He trained at Charabot. He was succeeded as Dior's House Perfumer by Francis Kurkdjian, but he remained a perfumer under the LVMH umbrella brands.
Chanel Chance is a line of fragrances for women from Chanel that was introduced in September 2002. It was created by Jacques Polge, who has created every Chanel fragrance launched since 1978, including Coco Mademoiselle, Allure, Bleu de Chanel and Chanel No.5 Eau Premiere.
Miss Dior is a 1947 perfume released by Christian Dior.
Narciso Rodriguez for Her is an eau de toilette-strength perfume launched in September 2003 by fashion designer Narciso Rodriguez and created by perfumers Christine Nagel and Francis Kurkdjian. It has won Fragrance Foundation awards in France and the US, both at its original launch and retrospectively. The original eau de toilette is primarily a musk, amber and orange blossom scent. Narciso Rodriguez subsequently released an eau de parfum version and many other versions, known as flankers, that include other notes.
Miss Dior Chérie was a fragrance created by Christine Nagel for Christian Dior. At the time John Galliano served as Dior’s fashion designer and creative director, overseeing Nagel’s development of the unusual, youth-oriented strawberry-and-popcorn eau de parfum. Miss Dior Chérie was available from 2005 to 2011: after perfumer François Demachy joined Dior, Miss Dior Chérie was reformulated and renamed Miss Dior.
