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Olfaction is one of the oldest receptive channels in the human body, complementing and enhancing the information received from the environment by other perceptual systems. The sense of smell not only gives us an understanding of what smells like, but also plays an important role in the full functioning of the central nervous system. There are quite a few methods and techniques for studying olfaction. For example, olfactometry is a method of assessing the power of our sense of smell. The procedure is medical, and can prevent otolaryngologic diseases and pathologies. At the same time, the sense of smell is still one of the most understudied functions of our body, and this, accordingly, casts a certain shadow of mystery on our objective and subjective perception of the world. 

The history of perfumery goes back centuries, although it is rather difficult to name a specific date or even a decade. The sense of smell has served humans since time immemorial, and in each era the functionality has been quite different - from finding a mate and food before our era to identifying aromatic notes in a perfume, a dish or simply in a room today. Since time immemorial, people have used roots, flowers and fruits of plants, as well as many other ingredients to aromatize themselves, rooms, used in rituals at different stages of human life (and even after it),conducted rituals during holidays. One way or another, fragrances are always present and perform many different functions.

There are several starting points and iconic compositions that began the era of purposeful production of perfumes as an addition to the beauty of people's appearance, and that is the Middle Ages. It is worth mentioning that the creation of perfumery, as such, in our era originates from medicine and even alchemy. For obvious reasons, such pleasure was only available to kings and emperors, and the creation of fragrances was unique and dedicated to royalty. 

One amazing twist happened in Florence, Italy, where there was originally (and still is) a pharmacy at the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella. The pharmacists there created the world's first cologne Acqua Colonia Santa Maria Novella. The fragrance became the ancestor of all colones and perfumes in general. Despite its impressive age (the year of creation - 1533),it can be bought even today.

One of the royal fragrances is Josephine by the now little-known brand Rance. The fragrance born in 1795, which is still produced today, is dedicated to the wife of the famous Napoleon Bonaparte, Josephine, then the creator Francois Rance called it Empress. The Emperor himself was also a fan of perfumery and, according to some reports, had a small collection. The fragrance, a truly regal bouquet of all sorts of flowers that transitions into a delicate powder, is now fondly loved by keen collectors.

Around the same time, in 1792, a perfumer of Italian origin founded the world's first perfume manufactory 4711 in Cologne and created another cologne, which he dedicated to the city - Cologne Water. 

This is how perfumery was born. Today we will highlight the iconic, legendary perfumes that have already been created in full force, which have both historical significance and practical purpose, and which we believe everyone should be familiar with.

Chanel 5

The famous five recently celebrated its centennial, and people all over the world still consider this perfume a work of perfumery art - and for good reason! Chanel perfume 5 is the standard of femininity, strength and tenderness in one bottle, the founder of the aldehyde trend - all this about the composition, which among many chose Coco herself. The story began when Chanel turned to her good friend and famous royal court perfumer Ernest Beau. She wanted to have a fragrance that fully reflected a woman's essence and that women would wear it. And Ernest succeeded. With the help of synthetic chemical compounds - aldehydes, which were invented in the late 19th century - the perfumer was able to achieve a sound of purity and freshness, while adding elegant flowers, sweetened with peach and planted on a stable base of moss, patchouli and vetiver (you probably often meet this trio of base notes). Coco chose the fragrance intuitively and she was right: Chanel n 5 parfum has been an immortal hit for 103 years.

Guerlain Samsara

The famous dynastic perfume house is famous for many masterpieces. The French family of perfumers was often inspired not by European trends in the world of perfumes, but by Oriental trends. Samsara by Guerlain perfume is a work of art is a dedication to the favorite woman of the then perfumer of the house Jean-Paul Guerlain. It is true what they say - masterpieces are created because of love. The perfumer's wife could not find a fragrance for herself, and at that time the choice was already wide enough. Then Guerlain decided to create a personal fragrance for her and took as a basis her favorite notes - peach, sandalwood, jasmine. The Samsara fragrance was liked not only by the lady of the heart, but also gained popularity in the society, thanks to which we can enjoy it even today.

J'Adore Dior

The standard of floral-fruit compositions, the J adore by Dior fragrance from Dior, who adored making women beautiful, accurately conveys all the greatness of the female sex. The golden bottle with Jador parfum that rushes upwards and the beautiful sound of sweet fruits mixed with transparent flowers creates a unique Diva effect.

Parfum Miss Dior

We all know about Christian Dior's love for the beauty of women, so he wanted to further embellish their fragrance. It seems that all the elegance and femininity of the world are contained in this bottle of Dior miss Dior, which are expressed by the classic ingredients for those years: the bitterness of galbanum, narcissus and patchouli are softened by rose and neroli, and wrapped in a dense cocoon of leather, vetiver, amber and sandalwood. Since then, the original Miss has reformed, releasing countless variations of it, so you may well find your favorite version of Dior Girl.

Guerlain Shalimar

The history of the famous dedication Shalimar fragrance goes back a little over a century and has gone through several iterations, at the same time generating a fair number of flankers. None of this detracts from the beauty of the masterpiece and we highly recommend familiarizing yourself with it. The dramatic love story of the Emperor of India and his prematurely deceased favorite, for the sake of whom the most famous palace in the world - Taj Mahal - was created, deeply impressed Jacques Guerlain and was reflected in a soft and mysterious oriental fragrance. Today it is hard to surprise us with the classic combination of a large basket of citrus at the start, a trio of rose, jasmine and iris flavored with patchouli in the middle, and animalic notes with incense and vanilla at the end. At the time of its creation, however, parfum Guerlain Shalimar was a breakthrough in perfumery and set a definite trend for many decades to come.

Nina Ricci L'Air du Temps

Nina Ricci L air du temps edp is one of the most melancholic and at the same time enthusiastic compositions of the time. The post-war period deeply affected the moral spirit of society, and therefore in 1948 perfumer Francis Fabron created a real floral ode to restore women's faith in themselves and in the future. A bottle of Lair du temp with a cap of extreme beauty in the form of doves of peace contains all imaginable flowers mixed with aromatic herbs and oak moss, seasoned with spices and purified with aldehydes. It's a 20th century classic.

Yves Saint Laurent Opium

Scandalous iconic Opium edp fragrance of the house of Saint Laurent in the first years of its existence caused almost mass hysteria. First, the name of the fragrance caused violent indignation and thoughts of propaganda. Secondly, it was one of the pioneers of oriental perfumery, which was quite unfamiliar to European and American society, accustomed to other perfume profiles. The feminine composition of original Opium perfume does not sound soft and gentle at all, on the contrary, the pressure from spices and resins, sweet, almost overripe fruits and a lot of amber paint us an icon of femme fatale. Nevertheless, the fragrance has not only not disappeared, but is still very popular.

Christian Dior Poison

Christian Dior's famous Poison has gained a fatal and daring fame. The most complex composition has a magnetic effect, and the first releases were so powerful and concentrated that at some point prestigious restaurants and other establishments began to hang a banning sign No Poison - so the fragrance drew attention to itself and filled the space. Created in the 80s of the last century, it epitomized the liberation and sexuality of a woman's nature. The composition included the previously unknown tuberose, significant for its deceptively gentle and then predatory sound. The Dior Poison eau de toilette fragrance has several variations and every woman can find her own signature poison.

Paloma Picasso Paloma Picasso

The heiress of the famous artist Pablo Picasso also had a creative streak. In addition, her grandfather was a chemist and perfumer, so it is not surprising that the woman surrounded herself with all kinds of art and at some point decided that it was necessary to have a hand in creating perfume. So appeared the eponymous Paloma parfum and the brightest representative of the chypre direction. In those times compositions were created with the richest possible pyramid and we can say that this masterpiece is a reflection of a strong, temperamental and sensual woman thanks to a multifaceted combination of spices, flowers and animal notes.

Sisley Eau du Soir

Eau du soir Sisley eau de parfum is quite a young chypre, created in 1990, but it has earned the title of masterpiece and does not lose its popularity. It is the benchmark of the direction, this bottle alone is enough to understand the essence of the popularity of chypre perfumes. Refreshing, pungent and sour, it will be in place for business meetings and conferences, but it will also sound chic at a social event. The combination of a large amount of pepper, juniper, patchouli and oakmoss is perfectly balanced by rose, lily of the valley, ylang and labdanum. Wau du soir parfum Sisley is a composition that has not lost its relevance through the decades.