Over the years, fragrances have been worn to enhance fashion, to seduce and during religious ceremonies.

Pre-History: Fragrant materials were burnt during rites and ceremonies

Ancient Egypt: Purification, hygiene and seduction were the reasons for the popular use of perfumes/perfumed materials. (The first recorded association of perfume with sexual seduction was made as far back as 750BC.) Cleopatra helped raise awareness of perfumes and it reached its zenith during her time of ruling.

Ancient Greece: A religious and artistic culture that used perfume for religious ceremonies.

Ancient Rome: The use of perfumes for seduction, entertainment and religion.

During Middle Ages/Renaissance periods: Leather goods were widely perfumed.

9th -12th Centuries: The Greeks taught the Arabs the art and science of chemistry and an Arab physician called Avicenna discovered distillation.

13th Century: A more developed and highly advanced perfume culture was brought to Europe by the Arabs which included fragrance oils and aromatic spices.

14th Century: Through the distillation of aromatic plants and wine the first alcohol-based perfume was made for the queen of Hungary. It swept through Europe and was known as Hungary Water.

16th & 17th Century: The French court commissioned perfumes for their royalty and nobility. The uses of fragrances were to counteract odours. This was to be the beginning of a long and continuing relationship in France’s culture which began to embrace the beauty of fragrance. This is where the perfume/fragrance capital was born and retains its roots to this day.

Before the middle of the 19th century fragrances and perfumes were used largely by the wealthy, royalty or nobility.

The turn of the 20th century brought with it a time of rapid advancement. Fashion and science has turned the exclusive designer fragrance market into the exciting, fast moving and creative thing that it is today.