On-Scent, everything you want to know about perfumes

The first form of perfume was incense. Incense was first discovered by the Mesopotamians about 4,000 years ago. Ancient cultures burned many kinds of resins, bums and woods at their religious ceremonies. They often soaked the fragrant woods and resins in water and oil, and rubbed their bodies with the liquid. They also embalmed the dead with these perfumes.

Incense made its way to Egypt around 3000 B.C. and with Queen Hatshepsut, it became very popular. She led expeditions in search of incense and other valuable commodities, and the results of which were later recorded on the walls of a temple created in her honor. In the temple was a botanical garden filled with incense trees recovered from these expeditions. Perfumes were found in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs. It is probable that the use of aromatics in mystic rites predated the burning of incense and sweet herbs in religious ceremonies.

Plants have long been used in perfumery as a source of essential oils and aroma compounds. These aromatics are usually secondary metabolites produced by plants as protection against herbivores, infections, as well as to attract pollinators. Plants are by far the largest source of fragrant compounds used in perfumery. The sources of these compounds may be derived from various parts of a plant. A plant can offer more than one source of aromatics, for instance the aerial portions and seeds of coriander have remarkably different odors from each other. Orange leaves, blossoms, and fruit zest are the respective sources of petit grain, neroli, and orange oils.

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