Samourai (Alain Delon)

2007-05-15T22:41:00.000-07:00

Samouraï
- It is to a woman, the young perfumer Christine Nagel, that this innovative fragrance is owed.Happily blending the most varied essences into perfect harmony, this perfume holds special fascination.Samouraï reflects the passion that a man can have for action, contact and adventure, without losing its natural elegance.- Again designed by Thierry Lecoule, the Samouraï bottle conveys energy, power and sensuality by its lines, which are artistically sculpted in crystal revealing the subtle blue of the fragrance.

History Of Perfume.....

2007-05-02T21:20:00.000-07:00

Perfume: Your Scent as a Woman

Perfume is one of those wonderful gifts of nature that women can truly enjoy. There are so many scents and unique bottle shapes. If you took a moment to glance at your dresser or bathroom counter, your favorites are likely located within easy reach. I keep a variety of perfumes displayed on my dressing table. Each morning, I select the scent that fits my mood or perhaps the outfit I will wear for the day. One thing I do know – I just do not feel fully dressed without a spray of perfume.

Origin of the word "perfume".
The word "perfume" is Latin for "through smoke." During ancient times, incense was used in worship for prayers to the gods.

With each splash of the fragrant liquid, I more fully appreciate this marvelous benefit of being a woman.

Eastern Cultures

As one can see perfume has played a major part in religion. But this did not just belong to the African and European cultures highlighted above. Mohammed, centers his religion on the enjoyment of material pleasures, including perfume. He promised his believers the Garden of Paradise where the most exotic perfumes are to be found. The Koran speaks of those who make the journey across the razor-edge thin bridge of Al Sirat will drink from waters that are "whiter than milk, more perfumed than musk".

It was an Arabian doctor, Avicenna, who was the first to obtain the oil from flowers, known as attar, by distillation. Before this revolation, perfumes were derived from the bark of twigs and shrubs in the form of resins. His works were faithfully followed by other chemists, soon becoming general practice.

Visitors to Arabian homes would be sprinkled with rose water as a mark of esteem. Their coffees would be flavored with the otto of roses. A bowl of charcoal would be passed around after the meal and sprinkled with incense in which the guests garments would be wrapped. When the guests left, they would have their beards and garments sprinkled with incense as a parting gesture.

In India, perfumes also play a major role in their culture. Plants have always abounded in their country and the Hindu have adapted their scents in their religion. The flames meant for sacrifices would be sending out sweet scents of ointment and herbs. A huge bull in the temple at Tanjore in Madras is rubbed each day with perfumed oil until he gleams.

In Hindu marriages, the bride is rubbed with ungents by her handmaid and later the married couple will sit beneath a silk canopy enveloped by the smells of sandalwood and other delicious fumes. The god of love, Kama, is always shown carrying his cupids bow and his five arrows which are each tipped with a fragrant blossom. The scent of patchouli was used later to scent Indian shawls. When the British began to copy them, the shawls could not be sold unless accompanied by the fragrant scent.

In China, incense is also used in religious ceremonies such as the death of family. The body would be washed and perfumed and incense would be lit in the room. The mourners would carry lighted sticks scented with incense during the processional. China is also known for its vast appreciation of flowers. Chi Han was the first to record flowering plants and we can see the presence of the fragrant jasmine, which may have been spread to China by India. Chinese women wore their hair in buns that were wrapped with flowers whose fragrance would last until dawn. Appreciation of scents such as sandalwood spread also into Japan. The Japanese religion Shinto uses the burning of incense and other gums during ceremonial occasions. The appreciation of ylang-ylang and ambrette also was popularized here.

It has also been said that oriental women, known for wanting to please their men, found their toilet one of their most "urgent occupations". They frequently paid attention to their appearance, extreme in their cleanliness, and massaged all parts of their bodies with perfumed oils. Sonnini in his travels to China stated, "nowhere are the women more unifomly beautiful, nowhere are they better skilled or more practiced in the art of arresting or repairing the savages of time."

Into Modern Times

As the world grew bigger and religion became more wide spread and technology advances became faster occuring, perfumes found their way into modern day culture. For a long time scents were kept by the houses of religion by priests and such. Catholicism, once the religion of almost all of Europe helped increase the acceptance and use of aromatic scents. Improved transportation methods and the printing press allowed the world to experience cultures as never before. The world became more focused on travels and conquests, as expansionism became popular. Great Britain had colonies in India, the far East, Africa, and the Americas, as did also France and Spain. From ancient hyroglyphics to Socrates to Shakespeare, perfume?s presence is documented in great works of art and literature. In 1190 the first record of perfume sellers was recorded in Paris by the first registered letters of patent granted by Henry VI of England and France. Perfumes continued their ascent into cultures because, since the beginning of time, man has been a vain creature, one that wants to create his own history, his own image. Perfume has remained an important cosmetic, a snake that charms the nose. It is for these reasons and more that it has managed to preserve its allure into the world we are familiar with today.

The First Great Perfumer

What inspires one to create? How does one become great? These two things do not always come hand in hand. It takes genious and entrepreneurism to make ideas successful. Francois Coty had both of these. It was his perfumes, his creations, that were his inspirations, but it was his ability to market these products that brougt him the success he knew. Here is the history behind the making of the perfume industry that we know today.

Although born in 1873 in the birthplace of Napoleon, Francois Coty made his way to Paris at a very early age. Noticing that all the fashion houses covered their floors with ostrich feathers, he proved himself to be a quick entrepreneur when he became a salesman of these lavish floor ornaments. However, it was a neigbor who sparked in him the idea that would soon become his legacy. As he watched his young friend chemically composing toilet waters, he began to realize that he could make his own and present them in artistically-designed containers. Coty moved to Grasse spent two years training himself in the growing and harvesting of flowers and the extraction of their scent. With a little money from his grandfather, Francois Coty set up his first business in the Rue de la Boetie in Paris. A small stroke of luck made him the rage of Paris almost overnight when one of his French crystal bottles, made by the famous Jacques Lalique, fell upon the floor and broke. The five hundred bottles sold within days due to the in intoxicating and life-like smell of the rose perfume. Coty?s Rose perfume was followed by the internationally successful fragrances of L?Origan, Chypre, and L?Aimant. Within three years of his first opening, Coty was so successful that he was able to move his premises to the more fashionable Bois de Bologne, where the factory still presides today. By the time he was forty, Coty had made his mark upon the world with his philosophy which is still applicable today, ?Give a woman the best product you can compound. Present it in a container of simple, but impeccable taste, charge a reasonable price for it, and a great business will arise such as the world has never seen.?

See figure (350k) of two of the famous crystal bottles designed by Rene Lalique for the Coty perfumes Styx and Ambre Antique from The Art of Perfume

Honey Zul...

Samourai (Alain Delon)

History Of Perfume.....