Perfumes has been pretty much a part of man's history. It started in the earliest civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia. The Romans and Persians refined it further and the whole world caught on the habit of using perfume to take on a pleasant body smell.

It originated in the ancient times as a distillation process of a mixture of different natural ingredients like myrtle, herbs, almond, coriander and flowers. These are mixed in different portions to bring about a variety of fragrance.

These days, the process of making perfumes are so much more refined and sophisticated that we now have many variety of it. Perfumes are pretty much differentiated according to the concentration of the aromatic substance in a solvent. Ethanol or a mixture of ethanol and water are most often used as solvents. Using this differentiation, we have five main types of perfumes available in the market nowadays, namely:

Perfume extract: Most commonly labeled as "Extrait" has an average aromatic substance percentage of 20%.

Eau de Parfum : These are also known as Parfum de Toilette or "Millesime" has an aromatic compound percentage of 15%.

Eau de Toilette : This certain type of perfume has an ideal aromatic substance percentage of 10%

Eau de Cologne : This has an ideal percentage of aromatic substance of 5%

After shave : This the least concentration of aromatic compounds with 1-3%

The longevity of the perfume scent will depend on the concentration as well as the type of aromatic compounds used. The higher the concentration, the longer the scent will last and the more intense its fragrance.

There are many ways to buy a perfume these days. And there's never any shortage of name brands and signature smell. You can easily walk through a perfume shop and have your choice depending on your preference. Prices of different perfume varies and most depend on the concentration discussed above as well as the name brands that distribute it.

Aside from perfume shops and department stores, you also have the option of buying online. It is generally far more cheaper to buy it online as online shops generally have lesser overhead expenses to operate. Thus, they can offer it at a much lower price. You have to be careful, though and go to a trusted merchant as there are other online shops that sells fake perfume for the original price.

Whether out of habit or pleasure or an attempt to be at your best in any given event, perfumes are part of most people's beauty purchases. And rightly so, as it gives you a pleasant and luxurious smell.