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The word “perfume” originated in the temples of Ancient Rome where handfuls of crushed flowers, leaves, wood shavings, spices and aromatic resins were thrown on burning coals as sacrificial offerings to the gods. The scent was released “per fumum”, meaning literally by the smoke. 

Some ingredients are incredibly costly, like jasmine from Grasse, which cost almost twice its weight in gold. Eight million flowers, each one hand-picked early in the morning, yield just one kilogram of Absolute. The extraction process is complex and expensive and that is before research, development, packaging, marketing, and advertising.

Yes, babies appreciate smells from birth. At two days old they already turn to their mothers’ smell. The sense is most acute between 20 and 40 and begins to fade after 50, which is why older people like stronger fragrances. Women’s sense of smell is more acute than men’s because we are taught to appreciate cooking and flowers. Sinus problems, air pollutants and tobacco smoke also affect the sense of smell.

The best places are where the skin is warm and there is good circulation. Apply to the pulse points: inside the wrists and elbows, at the temple, below (not behind) the ear lobes, at the base of the throat and behind the knees.

Each of us has a scent print that is the sum of our genes, skin chemistry, diet, medication intake, stress level and, most critically, the temperature of our skin. Then the number of pores per centimetre as fat layers are factors, too. If a favourite fragrance suddenly smells different, your lifestyle may have change. Hormone levels, especially in pregnancy; smoking and antibiotics affect the chemicals that come through your pores and interact with your fragrance.