The magic of fragrances

'Perfume is like a new dress, it makes you quite simply marvelous', said Estee Lauder. Simply, fragrances make us feel pleasant. I was quite intrigued from childhood about fragrances. Whenever I smelt a good fragrance, it not only made me feel good but also it associated a nostalgic feeling to that particular event/time. I remember when I was about 9-10 years old and I went to a concert at night and I think my brother or someone else was wearing a fragrance perhaps versace blue jeans that just smelt amazing and it made me enjoy the concert even more. Now I think, if I smell that fragrance again, I will be transported back on the nostalgic train to that time of the concert and enjoy those memories.

Each fragrance is different, but all of them help us associate memories of our happy and important times. When we go on a trip or someplace to enjoy, we always take our cameras. They help us capture our timeless memories. But our brain is far more advanced and much better at reliving those memories by itself. Fragrances help us achieve that. Applying a favorite fragrance on the trip while enjoying helps us associate those long-lasting memories with it. Whenever we smell the fragrance again, we relive those times like just a second ago.

Each fragrance is unique in terms of the aroma, color, consistency and comes to fruition after a laborious but meticulous craft which takes atleast 1-2 years. A fragrance is mainly formulated by a Perfumer, a master of mixing different ingredients(natural and synthetic) to come up with amazing, intoxicating aromas who often learn and practice this art in formal institutions before gaining enough experience to work as an independent perfumer. Some natural ingredients for fragrances include Bergamot, Iris, Cinnamon, Neroli wheras synthetic ones include Ambroxan, Vanilin and Aldehyde and expensive ingredients include Oud(Agarwood), Rose, Ambergris.

There is something special about fragrances when they are applied, how they make you feel like you are home even if you are in a foreign land, how they cheer you up no matter what mood you are in, how they can make a person irrestible even if they are a stranger, until they dry off and your feel yourself reaching towards its bottle. There is a fragrance for every occasion, season and setting and when one realizes the huge number of different ingredients and the vast number of permuations possible to make a different fragrance by utlizing those ingredients, it truly is mind-boggling.

If you want to learn more about fragrance, join Fragrantica, the largest worldwide community composed of fragrance enthusiasts, perfumers sharing their own take on fragrances. You can see the best perfumes manufactured by brands, delve into the science of fragrances or post your own review of fragrances and much more. Surely this is not the last time, I write about fragrances, there is so much to explore about them. We will meet next time, where I will come up with new, significant content, maybe a fragrance buying guide, the science of fragrances or something else worth catching up on!