Perfume has been around a long time. The oldest written record of perfume comes from Assyro-Babylonian texts from around 1800 BC. That perfume was called qanu tabu. Canaanite texts from Ugarit, circa 1400 BC, speak of a perfume designated smn mr – a liquid myrrh. The Egyptian queen Hatshepsut had ‘white’ trees brought to Egypt around 1490 BC. From these ‘white’ trees, her perfumers made frankincense, which was the “perfume that deifies.” To the ancient Egyptians, perfume was the medium for wafting the soul to heaven and for putting demons and evil spirits to flight.
In the 1880s, Crown Perfumery produced a delightful fragrance distinguished by the image of Queen Victoria’s crown on the bottle. The crown was meant to convey British superiority.
Perfume fit for a queen is still around. Clive Christian has resurrected the concept of ‘divine essence.’ Christian is a British designer whose claim to fame resides in his designer kitchens, and in his perfume, called simply No. 1, which is the world's most expensive. According to British tabloids, Christian is a fan of the hit television show The Office, to which he is so devoted that he owns an exact replica of the green fisherman sweater from The Office's episode ‘The Boat,’ where Andy buys a sweater from a redhead on a boat.
The scent known as No. 1 emanates a complex bouquet of Indian jasmine, mandarin, and sandalwood. Clive Christian’s artistry permeates it. The fragrance has a structure that unfolds as evaporation takes place, revealing what are called ‘notes’ or facets of the fragrance. This unfolding process moves from the top note to the head note to the heart note to the base note to the deep base note. These notes leave olfactory fingerprints, which provide successive impressions. Collectively, the impressions coalesce into a unique perfume.
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