How Perfume, Colognes & Fragrances are Made
Fragrance creation has been around for thousands of years. It’s a technique started as far back as ancient Egypt. It has been refined over the centuries to bring us to now and how fragrances are currently made. So we’re going to explore how perfume, colognes, and fragrances are made!
What Is The Manufacturing Perfume Process?
Creating perfumes, colognes, and fragrances is multi-layered and slightly complex. However, the process can be broken down into several steps:
1. Choosing and sourcing ingredients.
2. Extracting the oils
3. Blending the ingredients
4. Aging
5. Quality control
It’s almost like making fine wine. It’s not an easy or quick process by any means, but the end result is usually something that is worth the extra effort. Some of these processes are similar to how a perfume was made thousands of years ago. However, we’ve come a long way in fine-tuning the process and streamlining it to make perfumes faster without messing with the quality
Ingredients
The vast majority of perfumes are made through the extraction of scented oils from natural ingredients. Where these ingredients come from can vary. It might be from plants, woods, fruits, or in some cases, animal secretions.
When it comes to scents that don’t naturally occur in nature or perhaps don’t produce their own natural oils, we turn to science. Through a process of mixing synthetic chemicals, we use them to emulate certain scents.
Extraction Methods
When it comes to the extraction process, it differs between natural ingredients and essential oils. While natural ingredients have their oil extracted, essential oils have a variety of extraction processes such as solvent extraction, expression, enfleurage, maceration, or steam distillation.
Solvent Extraction
Solvent extraction is a process of putting plants in large tubs that rotate. Next, they cover the plants in benzene or petroleum ether, which eventually dissolves them. Left behind is a waxy substance which contains the oils necessary for perfumes.
Expression
Expression is one of the ancient extraction methods. It’s a simplistic process of pressing plants either manually or by machine. It’s complete when the last drop is squeezed from these plants. It’s common for citrus oils to go through expression extraction.
Enfleurage
This particular extraction process requires large sheets of glass that are coated in grease or plant material spread out. Next, these sheets are placed in wooden frames on the tiers. Finally, the flowers are placed, moved around, and replaced until the grease absorbs the scent.
Maceration
Similar to enfleurage, the process of maceration also uses glass sheets, but instead of grease, they use warmed-up fats. The fats are then taken to be dissolved in alcohol to obtain the essential oils.
Steam Distillation
This extraction process requires natural materials to be placed in a still where they sit till they’re extracted. Then, the substance that remains is passed through several tubes, which help cool and liquefy it. Alternatively, oils can be extracted by boiling the plants in water.
Blending
Once the extraction is complete, and the extracted essential oils are collected, perfumers choose their ingredients. This begins the process of blending the different ingredients together to make a perfume. Once they’ve created a fragrance, it becomes a recipe that is repeatedly replicated for consumers.
Certain ingredients come from places you might not expect. For example, things like musk come from the male deer or castor, which derives from beavers. When a perfume uses an animal substance, it’s because fixatives help enable the perfume to evaporate slower and have a sustained odour emittance.
Alcohol and, in some cases, water is often used to dilute the ingredients in a perfume. As we’re aware, different perfumes have different ratios of alcohol to scent. These differences not only determine the strength of the scent but also the cost of the perfume.
Aging
Once a perfume has been made, that doesn’t mean it’s ready to go to shelves around the world. While some perfumes are able to do just that, others are put through an aging process where they’re kept for months and, in some cases, years. Aging provides room for fragrances to better blend together and can completely change the fragrance of perfume from what it was directly after being blended.
Quality
Nobody likes receiving a scent they’ve been dying to try, only to be disappointed. So manufacturers of perfumes ensure the quality control aspect of their production is top-notch to avoid any potential issues down the line. It’s not just about brand protection but also consumer protection.
The last thing any company wants is the nightmare scenario of a perfume causing issues with people's skin or senses. Synthetic fragrances usually require less quality control than perfumes with predominantly natural ingredients. While all products, and elements of creating a perfume, go through quality control, there’s a difference in what the means for each item and finished product.
The Future Of Perfume
There’s a split future prospect for perfumes. On the one hand, natural perfumes and products, in general, are receiving greater attention than ever before. On the other hand, however, synthetic fragrances still reign supreme. It’s a combination of brand power and availability.
One thing that remains constant is the desire and need for perfumes, colognes, and fragrances. Consumers love to buy them, perfumers love to make them, and companies love producing them by the boatload. The evolution of fragrances is never-ending, and we’re not sure what the next step will look like, but don’t worry, perfumes are here to stay.
Conclusion
Now that you’re familiar with the process of perfume, cologne, and fragrance creation, you know how your favourite perfumes are created. It’s a fascinating process that’s been refined for thousands of years. Yet, regardless of how many machines are involved in the process, the creation of fragrances remains an art form.
There’s a perfume out there for everyone. If you’re someone who isn’t phased about synthetic ingredients, you’ve got a broad range of products ready to choose from. Even if you’re into more natural fragrances, there are a ton of options at your fingertips. Check out Catch marketplace to find your next fragrance.
Popular Questions Asked
How is perfume manufactured?
Making perfume is quite a process. It involves collecting ingredients, extracting oils, blending, aging and most importantly quality control.
What is the main ingredient in perfume and cologne?
The main ingredient in perfume and cologne is ethanol. Most perfumes are typically made from 80% to 90% of perfumes.
How and where is the perfume made?
Some perfume oils are manufactured in labs, while others are extracted from natural plants and flowers. Many big manufacturers use a variety of methods to make perfume that includes: boiling, extraction, steam distillation, solvent extraction, enfleurage, maceration, and, expression.