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".
Manfred Thierry Mugler was a French fashion designer, creative director and creative adviser of Mugler. In the 1970s, Mugler launched his eponymous fashion house; and quickly rose to prominence in the following decades for his avant-garde, architectural, hyperfeminine and theatrical approach to haute couture. He was one of the first designers to champion diversity in his runway shows, which often tackled racism and ageism, and incorporated non-traditional models such as drag queens, porn stars, and transgender women. In 2002, he retired from the brand, and returned in 2013 as the creative adviser.
A perfumist is an expert on creating perfume compositions, sometimes referred to affectionately as a nose due to their fine sense of smell and skill in producing olfactory compositions. The perfumer is effectively an artist who is trained in depth on the concepts of fragrance aesthetics and who is capable of conveying abstract concepts and moods with compositions. At the most rudimentary level, a perfumer must have a keen knowledge of a large variety of fragrance ingredients and their smells, and be able to distinguish each one alone or in combination with others. They must also know how each reveals itself over time. The job of the perfumer is very similar to that of flavourists, who compose smells and flavourants for commercial food products.
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.
The Demeter Fragrance Library is a Great Neck, New York company that sells over 200 different fragrances based on "everyday" scents, such as baby powder, dirt, gin & tonic, play-doh and tomato.
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.
Bertrand Duchaufour is a French perfumer. He has had a prolific career, beginning in Grasse at Lautier Florasynth and continuing for a number of fragragrance firms as well as working independently and as the house perfumer for L'Artisan Parfumeur. He has drawn praise for niche perfume creations as well as mainstream hits.
Lolita Lempicka is a French fashion designer and perfumer.
Annick Ménardo is a French perfumer who has worked for the fragrance firm Firmenich since 1991.
Mandy Aftel is an American perfumer. She is the owner and nose behind the natural perfume line Aftelier as well as the author of nine books, including four books on natural perfume and a cookbook on essential oils.
Heat is a perfume endorsed by American singer-songwriter Beyoncé. It was created by her alongside Claude Dir and Olivier Gillotin of the company Givaudan. The product, which was released on February 3, 2010, uses the tagline "catch the fever". The release was promoted with a cover version of "Fever" recorded by Beyoncé and a limited edition extended play (EP) also titled Heat. She also appeared at Macy's Herald Square to launch the perfume and on The Today Show where she discussed about Heat.
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.
A fragrance wheel also known as aroma wheel, fragrance circle, perfume wheel or smell wheel, is a circular diagram showing the inferred relationships among olfactory groups based upon similarities and differences in their odor. The groups bordering one another are implied to share common olfactory characteristics. Fragrance wheel is frequently used as a classification tool in oenology and perfumery.
Elixir is a women's fragrance by Colombian singer songwriter Shakira, developed in a collaboration with international fashion company Puig. After the release of her first two fragrances, Puig enlisted several perfumers to work on Shakira's third fragrance, which she claimed would capture her "most sensual and exotic side." The final product was Elixir, an amber perfume based on various spicy and woody sources. The flacon of the perfume is inspired by apothecary bottles and is made to resemble a magical potion, featuring a light golden colour scheme.
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.
Angel is a 1992 perfume from Thierry Mugler and the first modern gourmand perfume, with notes of patchouli, praline, red berries, and vanilla. The perfumiers were Olivier Cresp and Yves de Chirin. The design of its bottle is an irregular shaped star.
Miss Dior is a 1947 perfume released by Christian Dior.
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.
Christina Aguilera Fragrances is a perfume brand by American singer Christina Aguilera. It was founded in 2007 in a deal with Procter & Gamble (P&G), who manufactured the products until 2016, after its production and distribution rights were bought out by Elizabeth Arden, Inc. In addition to fragrances, the brand has also worked with the production and sale of other cosmetics, including body lotions, body sprays, bath gels, and deodorants.
