The
various published recipes contain from six to a dozen ingredients,
chiefly the oils of neroli, rosemary, bergamot, lemon and lavender
dissolved in very pure alcohol and allowed to age like wine. The
invention, in 1895, of artificial neroli (orange flowers) has improved
the product.
French perfumery, like the German, had its origin in Italy, when
Catherine de' Medici came to Paris as the bride of Henri II. She
brought with her, among other artists, her perfumer, Sieur Toubarelli,
who established himself in the flowery land of Grasse. Here for four
hundred years the industry has remained rooted and the family formulas
have been handed down from generation to generation. In the city of
Grasse there were at the outbreak of the war fifty establishments making
perfumes. The French perfumer does not confine himself to a single
sense. He appeals as well to sight and sound and association. He adds to
the attractiveness of his creation by a quaintly shaped bottle, an
artistic box and an enticing name such as "Dans les Nues," "Le Coeur de
Jeannette," "Nuit de Chine," "Un Air Embaume," "Le Vertige," "Bon Vieux
Temps," "L'Heure Bleue," "Nuit d'Amour," "Quelques Fleurs," "Djer-Kiss.
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