In the antiquity, perfumes were produced from natural resources in the form of oils and lotions. Only kings and the wealthy citizens had the privilege to use the expensive oils.

The Greeks thought perfumes were created by Aphrodite- the goddess of beauty, but one day her servant stole the secret recipes and gave them to people.

The Egyptians believed that perfumes were created by the god of wisdom called Thot. Thot was known as the guardian of magic and doctors. He shared the knowledge of perfumes with his priests. At that time only the priest had the right to produce perfumes and that was why they enjoyed great respect.

In the Old and New Testament the perfumes are mentioned as well. For example Queen Saba gave perfumes to King Salomon, and the Magi from the East offered the myrrh to newborn Christ. Also sinful Mary Magdalene washed Christ's feet, and then wiped them with her own hair and unction them with aromatic oils.

In Egypt fragranced pomades were put on hair, Assyrians perfumes their beards, Romans had the habitude of sparkling perfumes on almost everything: their bodies, even on animals. They also bathed in scented water.

The smells were also part of funeral rites. Dead corpses were embalmed with aromatic substances. Sumerians used the fragrances and oils as medicine 5000 years ago. That was the beginning of aromatherapy.

The perfumes have always had the erotic and love appeal. Egyptian Queen Cleopatra just before Caesar's visit had a bath in milk and rose petals so that her body was fragrant. Cleopatra understood that beautiful scent is the best aphrodisiac.

When Christianity was developing the perfumes were prohibited by Church as being too seductive. However Muslim world had different approach to fragrances at that time.

At the beginning of 11th century Persian physician Awicenna (Ibn Sina) invented the distillation. This process allowed the perfumers to produce the fragrances much more quickly and efficiently.

Only at the end of 14th century the perfumes got back to Europe, to Hungary. In 1370 Hungarian alchemist created for Queen Elizabeth an alcohol based tonic, the mixture of lavender marjoram, orange flower, lemon and mint. The tonic was not only perfumery success but also medicinal success.

15th and 16th century discoveries of the New World by the Portuguese and the Spanish were also beneficial to the fragrance makes. The new ingredients such as cocoa, vanilla tobacco, pepper and others were brought from America and Africa.

Then in the 16th century in Italy, in Venice, the perfumes were put into beautiful bottles. This increased the price and value of perfumes. Catherine de Medici married Henry 2nd from France and brought her perfume maker to Paris.

In the 17th century the main centre of perfume making was Paris, and Versailles was called the best smelling court in Europe.

The actual revolution in perfume-production happened in 19th century thanks to fast progress of chemistry. At that time some natural ingredients were replaced by substances from chemical synthesis. The names of Francois Coty and Jacques Guerlain became legendary. Then at the end of 19th century the fragrances became linked to the world of fashion. Well-known fashion designers such as Paul Poiret or Coco Chanel offered to their clients not only beautiful clothes but also beautiful fragrances.

Nowadays thousands of people work all over the world so that we could spray ourselves with our favourite perfumes. They gather flowers; seek new fragrance notes others are chemists, creators, marketing specialists and distributors.

The perfumes have and will remain magical and mysterious forever.

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