The history of perfumes…
Once upon a time in a
land far away there lived a wise and wonderful woman. Her name was
Tapputi-Belatikallim, or Tapputi for short. She worked within the palace with
flowers, oils and balsam. She, relying on her skills as a chemist, made
perfumes from these natural wonders that were available to her.
Tapputi lived around 3000
years ago in Mesopotamia and her work was referenced on a cuneiform tablet – a
clay tablet into which messages were impressed or engraved. Tapputi is the
world’s first recorded chemist.
Also long ago, in another
land not too far away and around the same time, there was an enormous perfume
factory on the island of Cyprus. Amazingly, this factory covered 4000m2,
which suggests that it was being made on a large scale.
Clearly, men and women
have used perfume throughout the ages and there has always been a close
interplay between chemistry and perfumery.
During the first millennia, Jābir ibn Hayyān (known as Geber) and Al-Kindi (known as Alkindus), two
Iraqi chemists established the perfume industry – and developed techniques that
are used today. These include distillation, evaporation and filtration.
Al-Kindi extensively
researched perfumes and pharmaceuticals, and wrote a book (during the 9th
century) containing over one hundred recipes, “Book of the Chemistry of Perfume
and Distillations.”
During the 14th
century, a perfume was made for Queen Elizabeth of Hungary from scented oils in
an alcohol solution. This became known as “Hungary Water.” During this time, it
was mostly the royalty of the West that used perfumery.
As time went on, perfume
became more and more popular. The perfume industry responded to this demand,
ultimately finding ways to make large quantities of perfumes quickly, cheaply
and without relying on crops.
Predominantly, perfumes
today are made from chemicals, which are not so costly for the manufacturers
and provide a reliable source.
My history of perfumes…
When I was little, Mum
had a bottle of perfume that she would wear on special occasions – the bottle,
I think, lasted my whole childhood. It was precious and used to mark an event.
From a young age, I
recall knowing where Mum was taking us because I could identify the smell. As a
teenager, I retraced Mum’s steps and sniffed out the shop where she bought her
freshly-ground coffee – an aroma that I still cherish!
Scents are strongly
emotive and can cause the memories of places, thoughts, people, emotions and
more, to resurface quickly.
Being blessed with an
acute sense of smell, I have greatly enjoyed working with and blending
essential oils since I was 18 years old.
I feel honoured to be using more traditional methods in my
work. Using essential oils, to me, is using something as close to nature as
possible – as not only the fragrance, but also the energetic qualities are
captured through cold-pressing and distillation.
Now, with my allergies
and sensitivities, I am grateful that I am absolutely fine with anything
natural, but a waft of a chemical fragrance and the story is very different. In hindsight, Mum's sparing use of perfume probably kept my tolerance at a decent level... Hilariously, the only perfume that I was given, and I was 17 at the time, was "Poison"!! (I gave it away to a friend!)
Wishing you all the best of health!
