Perfume is a powerful tool to express our personality, build our self-image and engage with others.
Fragrances, in fact, accompany us in everyday life and tell something about us, raising memories and feelings.
Origins of perfume
The history of perfume is definitely not recent.
The origin of perfume is commonly attributed to the ancient Egyptians.
They utilized scents to celebrate prayers and religious ceremony by burning essential oils, resin, and perfumed unguents.
This practice had several functions. First, the oils and unguents burned were necessary to ensure divinities’ protection and benevolence.
Besides, scents were also used to convey messages and prayers to the dead, to purify the body and to conduct embalming ceremonies.
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Over time, scents were not only confined to the sacred aspects, but they were also introduced in daily hygiene.
Already at the time of the ancient Egypt there was an intense trade of spices, aromas and resins that were abundant in Egypt but also imported from distant lands such as the Middle East, Arabia and the Indians lands.
From these trades were imported fine woods, scented resins, myrrh and incense that made up some of the main ingredients of the scents of the time.
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The sacred function of the scent is not lost in time though, and it goes on together with the secular one through the centuries.
The Book of Exodus gives a precious testimony of the use of perfume as sacred offerings in the Jewish religion.
The same adoration of the Magi narrated in the Bible demonstrates the importance of the gesture of offering sacred essences such as incense and myrrh.
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Perfume was born as an expression of the rite and prerogative of an élite but over the centuries undergoes a gradual democratization.
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It went then from a sacred element to a luxury accessory, from a seductive instrument to a precious therapeutic remedy.
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Nowadays, perfume is not a trait of the wealthy class anymore, but it accompanies everyday life as a unique and original expression of our identity.