Since the dawn of civilization, man always have this quest to be at his best. It is for this reason, that even in the past, perfumes have been pretty much a part of history with archaeologists finding that the oldest perfumes dated back 4,000 years in Pyrgos, Cyprus. And there is enough reason to believe that it existed way before that time.

Perfumes are a mixture of aromatic and fragrant essential oils and solvents. This is used to give a pleasant smell to humans and objects. And there are common instances when we're going to spray some fragrance in living spaces too.

The art of perfumery was started in the ancient civilization of Egypt and Mesopotamia. In fact, the world's first chemist was considered to be a perfume maker. Perfume making in those times involves the distillation of several natural materials like, flowers, coriander, almond, spices, herbs and other aromatics found in nature. The process got further refined through the years. And today, synthetic aromatics are widely used to achieve a consistent fragrance.

And it is largely to this new and sophisticated process of perfume making that we now know of several categories to describe modern scents. For example, there is this aquatic or oceanic scent that's most common in men's perfume. It contains a relatively newer synthetic scent called calone. Another example is the fruity scent which is also very common in women's perfumes. Most often, it features a combination of scents from many fruits like peach, apple or passion fruit. Gourmand, on the other hand, features a scent that makes you think of food. It has this characteristic edible fragrance. It can have a smell of vanilla, coumarin and other synthetic aromatics is also be used to resemble a food aroma.

Concentration of the aromatic substance in a perfume is also one way to categorize the different variety of perfumes we have nowadays. The main category would include: Eau de Parfum, Eau de Toilette, Eau de Cologne and body sprays.

The price of a perfume is often determined by its level of concentration. Eau de Parfums for example, has the highest concentration at 20%. Its fragrance is more intense and generally lasts longer than the others. Thus, it commands a higher price than an Eau de Toilette or Cologne. Of course, name brands are also a factor in the prices of perfumes these days.

Perfumes certainly has its own value in our society nowadays. And it doesn't take a perfume user to appreciate the pleasant smell of a nicely dabbed fragrance.