Preparation of Perfumes
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Ingredients
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Perfumes are usually a combination of ingredients from synthetic, man-made materials, plant extractions and animal extractions. Most flowers don't create essential oils, so man has to recreate their scents in a laboratory using chemicals. Animal extracts are drawn from the fat of the animals, and are used as fixatives. These are the ingredients in perfume that allow it to evaporate slowly and smell better longer.
There are other fixatives such as mosses, resins and synthetic chemicals. Alcohol and water are then added to cut the strength of the perfume, and depending on how much is added, will determine whether it's cologne or perfume.
The Plants
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The plants used for fragrances are usually steam distilled, where the steam passes through the plant, turning its essential oil into gas. The gas gets purified, cooled and liquefied. Another way that plants are extracted is through a process known as enfleurage. During enfleurage, glass plates inside frames are covered with odorless animal fat (or sometimes vegetable oils).
The plant to be extracted is laid down on glass plates, where they are then pressed together and held between the glass for days. The process is repeated until the fat is saturated with the right amount of floral essence required for the perfume.
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The Blend
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Once the the proper oils have been extracted for production, they're blended many times (possibly hundreds) until the right scent is found. Once the scent is determined, it's combined with alcohol and water to make the final product we recognize as perfume.
Aging It
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Occasionally, with finer perfumes, the perfume creators allow the oils, alcohol and water to age for a designated period of time, when they will again smell it to make sure it has the proper amount of top notes, central notes and bottom notes. If it doesn't have the right amount of each one, more blends are created until they get the desired product.
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