A blend of pleasantly odorous substances (usually liquids) obtained from the essential oils of flowers, leaves, fruit, roots, or wood of a wide variety of plants, either by steam distillation or solvent extraction. Flower oils (rose, jasmine) are extracted with a nonpolar solvent to give a waxy mixture called a concrete; the wax is then removed by a second solvent (an alcohol), which is then in turn removed to form an absolute. It is necessary that all the solvent be eliminated to obtain the finest perfumes. The center of this industry has long been in Grasse, France. Perfume materials are also derived from animal sources (musk, ambergris) and from resinous extracts (terpenes and balsams); they are also made synthetically. Cologne and toilet water are weak alcoholic solutions (5% or less) of perfumes. Fine perfumes may contain as many as 30 ingredients, and their blending is an art rather than a science. The largest volume use of perfumes is in soaps, lotions, shaving creams, and cosmetics.See Fragrance; Odorant.
