It’s a known fact that everybody is unique in his / her own way and, if we take into consideration the worldwide population, we’ll draw the logical conclusion: there’s a lot of people out there, with a lot original ideas, ways of life, even each one having his own reality, and so on and so forth, yet, still we continue to live together. This means that, although we may not be alike, there are things that bring us together, which may very well be the small things in life – movies, music, books – or much more important things in life (and I leave you to decide what would be important for you).

Due to this great variety of people it would be hard to give a recipe for a beautiful day, but we can try to get there in a logical way. The most important condition should be that what we perceive with at least one of our 5 senses (or 6, in some cases), should bring us joy, should make us feel we’re alive, even for a moment. That is why even a small thing can change a person’s day – a picture of your family that reminds you you’re the lucky one going home to them at the end of the day, a note that triggers memories linked to your favorite song, a scent of a perfume you just have to have.

I think the key ingredient to a beautiful day is perfume, because this incredible product has the most unexpected effects on us as well as the others. Perfume has a very similar effect on the human psyche to clothes – you feel the way you dress. For instance if you wear a sexy outfit, you’ll undoubtedly feel sexy and confident in yourself, whereas if you wear something you’re not comfortable in, it will most likely show. Well, it’s the same thing with perfume. If you wear a perfume you like, you’ll surely feel confident of yourself and often, this is the most important thing.

Perfume, just like clothes, can be adjusted to just about every occasion. For instance, if you need to stand out from the crowd, you can wear a strong scented perfume, just as well as you can wear a good taste sweet perfume. With as many as 22,000 fragrances on the market, this industry offers a wide area of perfumes from which you’re bound to adore at least one. It can sometimes be hard to pick out the right perfume for you, but if you think about what you’d wear that perfume for (day to day use, special occasions and so on an do forth) and at your type of character, you should be able to make the best choice in the matter.

Another reason for which you should include perfume in your life improving recipe is the effect it has on others. It’s a very good thing when perfume gives you the feeling you were searching for – confidence, sex-appeal, calmness – but it’s an even better feeling when it has the wanted effect on others. For instance, if you want to impress a colleague at work, or a date, you’ll most likely wear a more special perfume to get his/her attention, whereas if you just want to wear something for yourself, you can go with your favorite perfume, something that best suites you.

To sum up, wear perfume for yourself more than for the others, wear it because it will surely brighten up your day and will give you the confidence, enthusiasm you need to win battles in your daily life.

For more information check out the whole package at www.makingperfumeyourself.com

The previous articles have exclusively treated of Wet Perfumes; the present matter relates, to Dry Perfumes,-sachet powders, tablets, pastilles, fumigation by the aid of heat of volatile odorous resins, etc.

The perfumes used by the ancients were, undoubtedly, nothing more than the odoriferous gums which naturally exude from various trees and shrubs indigenous to the Eastern hemisphere: that they were very extensively used and much valued, we have only to read the Scriptures for proofs: -  “Who is this that cometh….. perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all the powders of the merchant?” (Song of Solomon, 3: 6.)

Abstaining from the use of perfume in Eastern countries is considered as a sign of humiliation: - “The Lord will take away the tablets, and it shall come to pass that instead of a sweet smell there shall be a stink.” (Exod. 35: 22; Isaiah 3: 20, 24.)

The word tablets in this passage means perfume boxes, curiously inlaid, made of metal, wood, and ivory. Some of these boxes may have been made in the shape of buildings, which would explain the word palaces, in Psalm 14: 8 “All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.”

From what is said in Matt. 2: 11, it would appear that perfumes were considered among the most valuable gifts which man could bestow; “And when they (the wise men) had opened their treasures, they presented unto him (Christ) gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.”

As far as we are able to learn, all the perfumes used by the Egyptians and Persians during the early period of the world were dry perfumes, consisting of spikenard (Nordostachys jatamansi), myrrh, olibanum, and other gum resins, nearly all of which are still in use by the manufacturers of odors.

Among the curiosities shown at Alnwick Castle is a vase that was taken from an Egyptian catacomb. It is full of a mixture of gum resin, etc., which evolve a pleasant odor to the present day, although probably 3000 years old.

We have no doubt that the original use of this vase and its contents were for perfuming apartments, in the same way that potpourri is now used.
 

The fact that many original perfumes end up costing a lot of money, sometimes being so expensive that most regular people couldn’t even afford them, results in reasonable questions such as: Why are they so expensive? Are they worth it?

What most people who ask themselves such questions don’t realize is the amount of work invested in that tiny bottle they take off the self and put it back (or in a very special place, at home). Of course, it would be unfair to say that a certain percentage in that price isn’t there just because of the name on the bottle, that the Hugo Boss perfumes would cost and sell the same if they didn’t have a famous name on the bottle, but to assume that it’s just the name that gives the price is just as wrong. Thus, although people’s tastes in this area differ a lot, they should know that price and brand usually speak volumes about the quality of the product and that if they have the opportunity to buy that product, they will most likely be satisfied with their choice.

Although it may be try for somebody to imagine how hard it is to make a successful perfume, try and think about it. If you have experience in any product making it should be easy enough. Try thinking about how hard it would be to make something to suit your own tastes. Thinking of a real product, preferably a complex one as perfumes are, you should have plenty of characteristics in mind that have to fit your preferences. Well, imagine having to match the preferences of 10 people, then 100, then 1 billion. Imagine all the work, all the market oriented research that should be done before and after a beta version is produced. Imagine all the struggle to find the right bottle, the right way to promote it and so many other marketing tasks that must be performed before you buy that one bottle of perfume.

Still, people will wander why they should pay for all that marketing stuff, when all they’re interested in is the perfume itself. That is a very good question, one that only each person can answer. Depending on how important is perfume to them will say yes or no, but let’s take a better look at this issue.

Let’s assume you buy a $300 perfume that you can use for a month. If you use your math skills you’ll soon discover that you spend $1200 / year just for perfume. If you think about it, that is indeed a pretty large amount of money if you had it all at once. You could pay the rent with that money; start paying installments for a better car, a better house and so on and so forth. However, if you use your math again, you’ll conclude that by buying a $300 bottle of perfume / month, you spend $10 on perfume / day, the same $10 you could be getting hot dogs, gum, tickets to a really bad show and so on and so forth. Suddenly, perfume doesn’t sound all that expensive, does it?

What you need to do in order to decide whether the perfume is worth the money or not is to do the math and see if the price you wind up paying per day is worth the confidence, the drops of pleasure it adds to your life.

For more information check out the whole package at how to make perfume

People who want to make perfumes, whether they’re for personal use or for marketing purposes need to have two key elements: a little knowledge, which at times may be replaced by a good nose) and imagination, accompanied by the will to try out something new. With enough time and patience, these two elements combined guarantee you’ll obtain the perfume you were looking for.

Let’s assume you don’t know anything about perfume making, chemistry or anything else that may help in the matter and start with the basics. First, you need to know that, every perfume needs:

• plant extracts (be they organic or non-organic), fragrance oils, essential oils or whatever you may want to use for your perfume; the more you know about them and their characteristics, the more you’ll be able to use them faster and more efficient to get your dream perfume, so get ready to google your way to every essence you can think of; if you don’t know all that much about essences, go to any perfumery, read the ingredients written on your favorite perfume’s bottle or anything that may help you enrich that plant extracts list; resourcefulness will most definitely help in this matter;
• pure grain alcohol (vodka), to help with the preservation, dilution and application of the perfume;
• water – also used for dilution of the perfume; specialists argue that it’s better to have fresh water, from a mountain spring for instance, rather than regular water because the purer it is, the better; another hint would be to use cold water when adding it to the mixture.

Next comes the essence lesson. You should know that there are three types of essences, which will determine the characteristics of your perfume in time because some evaporate sooner than others, some are stronger and some, more discreet. Here are the three types of essences:

• base notes – which last the longest; they are usually added to the mixture first and left, either by themselves or with other notes to blend and form a homogenous mixture;
• middle notes – also with a long lasting smell, but not as much as the base notes; they’re added after the base notes in the mixture;
• top notes – these are the most responsible ingredients for the fragrance of the perfume when it is applied, while also the first ones to evaporate; that’s one of the reasons they’re added lastly to the perfume.
• As a bonus, you can also add binding ingredients to the perfume to add to the homogeneity of the mixture and of the fragrance.

Knowing all of this, what you need now is a list of ingredients. You should take each one of them and either surf the net for more information or go to the nearest store and buy them or check them out on the spot, if possible, as they are the most common perfume ingredients and should be available in just about any store:

• base notes – sandal wood, vanilla, cinnamon, mosses, lichens, ferns;
• middle notes - – lemongrass, geranium, neroli, ylang-ylang;
• top notes – orchid, rose, bergamot, lavender, lemon, lime.

Last, but certainly not the least, you need a perfume bottle if you want to really impress everybody with your new discovery. Depending on whether you’re going to market your perfume or not, the standards for the bottle will be set higher or lower. In any case, your perfume deserves a worthy “package”. So, start thinking of a name for it and try to find a design to suit both the name and the characteristics of your perfume, another good time to let your imagination go wild. With this last step taken, you should feel proud of yourself because you just gave birth to another perfume! Congratulations!

For more information check out the whole package at how to make perfume