French Perfumes Dominate the Market Today

France does have a place in perfume development historically, there's no doubt about that, but the history of fragrances goes back many thousands of years actually. There is plenty of evidence of its use in Ancient Egypt and nearby Cyprus has the earliest site that shows it being created locally. The Romans of course wandered all over that area and further refined the production process. They were quite famous for their standards of sanitation and general cleanliness, when not engaged in battle! The Arabs developed fragrances along similar lines, but their version was based on incense which of course needs to be heated or burned to release the fragrant odours.

So when did French perfume start to make its mark in this sector? Well it is largely Louis XV that gets the credit here. Ruling in the 18th century he encouraged the liberal use of fragrance at Court. The ensuing Royal patronage ensured that the nobles and other social climbers were quick to take this up too and so it gradually spread outside the Royal Courts. France can count itself lucky to have both a moderate climate in the South of the country and soil there that is particularly suited to growing aromatic plants. The town of Grasse, even today, remains the source of the French perfume oil concentrate that is used in ladies perfumes around the world - men's colognes too!

If you visit Grasse the first thing that strikes you is the abundance of flowers and aromatic herbs that populate the hills around the town - an amazing splash of every colour under the rainbow. The companies that produce the oils are called 'perfume houses' and to some extent that IS descriptive, because they are often small family-run businesses with production methods that have not changed much over the centuries. The difference is that French perfumes now find their way around the world and not restricted to France or nearby European countries any more.

Once the plants and flowers have been harvested they are put through a fairly unsophisticated process to render them into a liquid form. After filtration to remove stalks and other debris, they are quality checked in the laboratory to maintain the high standards expected of these (by now) expensive perfume oils.

The French perfumes you may buy are actually a combination of many of these essential oils, often a hundred or more are used to make just one fragrance - the perfumer needs to know his art! He is called a 'nose' in the trade and has to come up with the right combination of oils to ensure consistency and keep costs under control too. The right balance of ingredients vs cost is what leads to a top selling fragrance that makes lots of profit for its makers. Only by sourcing wholesale perfumes, maybe at an out-of-town perfume outlet, can the retail prices of ladies perfumes be brought down to an affordable level.