The word perfume derives from the Latin perfumare, meaning “to smoke through.” Perfumery, or the art of making perfumes, began in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, and was further refined by the Romans and Persians.
The world’s first-recorded chemist is considered to be a woman named Tapputi, a perfume maker who was mentioned in a cuneiform tablet from the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamia. She distilled flowers, oil, and calamus with other aromatics, then filtered and put them back in the still several times.
The art of perfumery prospered in Renaissance Italy, and in the 16th century, Italian refinements were taken to France by Catherine de’ Medici’s personal perfumer, Rene the Florentine (Renato il fiorentino). His laboratory was connected with her apartments by a secret passageway, so that no formulae could be stolen en route. Thanks to Rene, France quickly became one of the European centers of perfume and cosmetics manufacture. Cultivation of flowers for their perfume essence, which had begun in the 14th century, grew into a major industry in the south of France.
Copied from the movie Perfume:
Now, pay careful attention to what I tell you. Just like musical chord, a perfume chord contains four essences or notes, carefully selected for their harmonic affinity. Each perfume contains three chords: The head, the heart and the base, necessitating twelve notes in all. The head note contains the first impression, lasting a few minutes before going away to the heart chord, the theme of the perfume, lasting several hours. Finally, the base chord (la note de fond), the trail of the perfume, lasting several days.
Mind you, the ancient Egyptians believed that one can only create a true original perfume by adding an extra note, one final essence that will ring out and dominate the others.
Twelve essences could be identified, but the 13th, the vital one, could never be determined.