History of Perfume

Once upon a time, long, long ago, in a land far away, people used flower extracts, spices and herbs for perfume. Can you imagine? And they didn't even bathe back then. I swear I was born in the wrong century! Perfume used to be very expensive because it was difficult to make as it took time, skill and natural, quality ingredients.


The chemical boom started right around World War II and that's when everything went artificial, including perfume. I wouldn't be surprised if the deadly nerve gas developed during the war ended up as one of the ingredients in perfume. Perhaps the premise is if you can't attract a man with your fake stink, you can kill him as the alternative?

Toluene is in every perfume. It's also in furniture stripper, gasoline and explosives. It causes cancer along with a host of other health issues such as brain damage, memory loss, muscle control issues, numbness, tremors, headaches, and asthma. That's just one of at least 800 toxic chemicals used to make one perfume formula.

Perfume is still expensive, but chemicals are cheap. What consumers now pay for are the trade secrets (formulas) and the brand names.  What a rip. To protect these trade secrets, perfume manufacturers are totally unregulated by any government entity and are not required to list specific ingredients on labels. (Of course, that isn't to suggest any government entity regulates anything anyway!) This is excellent for sales because if people knew what they were putting on their bodies, they might decide it wasn't worth the health risk.  Someone once said wearing perfume is like covering yourself in paint...except you'd be a prettier color.

The use of the word fragrance is interesting to me. It's such a pretty word, but all it means on a label is a chemical that rearranges your brain cells so you think you are smelling a particular scent. When you see fragrance on a label, think toxic poison. Not so pretty now, is it? Also, stay away from any product with the ingredient "masking fragrance."  This is a chemical designed to shut off your brain so you can't smell it and it's used in many unscented products.


I read a study that discussed the horrors of chemical scents and how they affect our ability to make good choices when selecting a mate. We have been conditioned to believe our natural scents are repellent to others and it scares the hell out of us. Have you ever dated someone who's natural smell was so bad it made you gag? They would be classified as  "chemically incompatible" with you. The next person who comes along might think that person smells wonderful! This aspect of matchmaking is impossible to detect if one or both parties are bathed in artificial stink. Yet we are afraid someone might smell us so we cover  up our own scent with perfumes, colognes, and body washes. Unfortunately, if we can't properly smell the opposite sex, how do we select a compatible mate? Maybe this is why divorce rates are so high?  The study went on to say that perfumes don't attract the opposite sex and often disgust them. Scents that do attract are vanilla for women and cloves/cinnamon for men. Our ancestors knew what they were doing.


People are slowly starting to recognize the health ramifications of perfumes. Many businesses, schools and government offices are implementing fragrance-free policies. Even whole cities! Someday we will see fragrance bans in public places like we see smoking restrictions.  That will be a time of celebration.