Perfumery

Perfumery is the art and science of creating fragrances for cosmetics, personal care products, and household items. It involves designing scent formulas, selecting ingredients, testing blends, and ensuring safety, stability, and sensory appeal.

Perfumery blends natural extracts—essential oils, absolutes, and resins—with synthetic aroma chemicals to expand the palette. Scents are structured around top, middle (heart), and base notes, which combine to produce lasting impressions. Techniques include distillation, expression, solvent extraction, steam or CO2 extraction, and aging or maceration.

Perfumers work in fragrance houses or in-house studios, evaluating blends with panels and iterating toward a final formula. The field intersects chemistry, psychology, and marketing and is governed by safety regulations and allergen labeling to protect consumers.

Historically, perfumery began in ancient civilizations and flourished in medieval and Renaissance Europe. The modern industry emerged with advances in chemistry in the 19th and 20th centuries, enabling synthetic ingredients that broadened scent possibilities. Fragrance families commonly referenced in perfumery include citrus, floral, chypre, oriental, and woody.

Today, perfumery aims to create memorable scents that align with brands and markets, while increasingly emphasizing sustainability, ethical sourcing of materials, and transparent ingredient disclosure.