Fragrant Overture
The powerful messages that fragrances can convey with a subtle waft of air surely place it in a category all its own. Perfume can sing volumes about the person who has chosen to wear it, leaving no doubt as to why it is often described in musical terms, a lovely ballad that dances around in the air. Perhaps the link between scent and music is sensuality.
Perfumed Fugue
Perfume is composed of select essential oils and alcohol designed in an arrangement that will linger on the skin and surround the wearer in a cloud of luxurious scent. Much like a melodic arrangement, there are notes involved, notes of fragrance in various scents. After a perfume is applied to the skin it undergoes different phases. Each of these phases, or ‘notes' is designed to dissipate into the next, working together to create a scented symphony through careful calculation of the evaporation process.
The first impression of a perfume is called the top note and it only lasts about ten minutes from the time the fragrance is applied. The main scents of the perfume are referred to as the middle notes. They form the main theme of the composition and as the top notes fade, the middle notes blossom on the skin. The scents that linger on the skin the longest are known as the base notes and as the middle notes dwindle, the base notes remain, drawing the fragrance together. It is this enduring scent that is recalled when reflecting on the key fragrance of the perfume.
Scent Cadence
Beethoven was quoted as saying that "music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life.” The same can be said of fragrance; especially if the time is taken to explore the extensive uses fragrances have had over the centuries. Early civilizations have used perfumes for everything from sacrament to toiletry.
Sensuality is the dominant trait of perfumes from the time it is applied to the time it reaches the olfactory nerves. Fragrance is unrestrained indulgence. The simple application of a luxurious scent can be a corporeal experience; a caressing dab or a refreshing spritz. Even the suggested places for applying perfume, the pulse points of the body, can be sensual areas of attraction.
Although there is no scientific evidence proving that any one scent will increase libido, it has been suggested that the nose is more directly related to sexual stimulation than sight. Smell is closely associated with sexual attraction, just like when animals release pheromones to lure a mate. The same part of the brain that registers messages about scent also regulates certain emotional responses like desire, anger, fear and joy. Awakening carnal instincts as well as heightening arousal are definite byproducts of the confidence that is generated from an opulent blend of the right fragrance and natural body chemistry.