Gibson 1

Sofia Gibson

Mrs. Stevens

Physical Science

12 December 2018

What Brand of Perfume Lasts the Longests Throughout The Day?

Did you know that the first of the Modern perfumes was created in 1370? The maker of

this perfume was a woman named Tapputi. Tapputi made the perfume for Queen Elizabeth of

Hungary (X). This perfume was made out of ​scented oils, mixed in with an alcohol solution.

Throughout time more ingredients have been added to the ingredients list of perfume. I thought

that ​if ​ten people smell Body Fantasies Signature Cotton Candy Perfume, Gale Hayman

Delicious Crazy Cotton Candy, Eau de Toilette Pink Sugar, then only half will be correctly

guessed.

When Were Perfumes Invented? And Why?

Perfumes have been around for over a thousand years. Ancient Egyptians were the first to

start using perfume. Around 1000 BC was when the use of perfume was earliest. Perfumes were

invented to make people smell more delightful, when deodorant was not invented yet. Did you

know that, during the dark ages, around the time that Christianity was rising, perfume bottles

were least in use. However the muslims kept the tradition alive. Clothing designers began

making their own scents of perfume in the 20th century. The word “perfume” means “through

smoke” in latin. As you can see, perfumes have been a thing for a long time (Bellis).

What Do Companies Do To Make Their Perfumes Last Longer?

Obviously perfumes are not all going to have the exact same ingredients. But there are a
 Gibson 2

few main ingredients, that are almost essential in perfume. For instance, essential oils are one of

the main ingredients in perfumes because it's what gives the perfume the scent that it has. Since

oils are absorbed into the skin fast, scientists had to come up with a way to make perfume stay on

top of the skin instead of being absorbed into the skin. Therefore they added chemicals to

perfume, which helps make the perfume stay on top of the skin instead of being absorbed.

Mostly synthetic chemicals are in perfumes. In almost all perfumes, they will have ingredients

such as acetone, ethanol​, ethyl acetate, limonene, and things of that sort. As you can see most

perfumes share the same ingredients as one another (Bellis).

What Ingredients Do My Brands of Perfume Have in Common?

Many different brands of perfume are made out of similar ingredients. For example, most

brands of perfume are likely to have essential oils, alcohol (Denat.), musk xylene, and benzyl

acetate. But some perfumes are also made out of different ingredients. For example, the brands I

have chosen do not share a lot of common ingredients. The Gale Hayman Delicious Crazy

Cotton Candy perfume, has a lot less chemicals and more essential oils. ​Bergamot, Orange, Fig

Leaf, Muguet, Licorice Blossom, Red Currant, Spun Sugar, Vanilla, Caramel, Musk,

Clementine, Lily of the Valley, brown sugar, strawberry, plum; are the essential oils/ ingredients

in the Gale Hayman perfume. The ​Eau de Toilette Pink Sugar cotton candy perfume has more

chemicals then the Gale Hayman perfume. ​Alpha Isomethyl Ionone, Limonene, Linalool,

Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Hexyl Cinnamal, Benzyl Benzoate, Coumarin, Benzyl Salicylate,

Citral, Amyl Cinnamal, Geraniol, Citronellol; are the basic ingredients in the Pink Sugar cotton

candy perfume. Just like the Pink Sugar perfume, the ​Body Fantasies Signature Cotton Candy

Perfume also has a lot of chemicals. ​Ethylhexyl Salicylate, Alcohol (Denat.), Butyl
 Gibson 3

Methoxydibenzoyl Methane, Propylene Glycol, Water (Aqua), Ethyl Hexyl Methoxycinnamate,

BHT, Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Fragrance (Parfum); are the basic ingredients in the Body

Fantasies perfume. ​The Pink Sugar and Body Fantasies perfumes have a lot more chemicals in

the ingredients section than the Gale Hayman perfume. As you can see, the Delicious perfume,

has a lot more flowery type fragrances and less chemicals. In conclusion, even if perfumes smell

similar, their ingredients list could look completely opposite ​(Subbaraman).

What Type of Perfume Smells Are Easily Recognized By the Human Nose?

There are a few categories that scents belong in the perfume industry. Scents like sweet,

minty, toasted/ nutty smells, fruity and floral type of fragrances. In the sweet category are scents

like carmel, chocolate, and vanilla. In the minty category are ​eucalyptus and camphor type

smells. In the toasted/ nutty smells are popcorn, peanut, butter and almonds. In the fruity

category have more citrus like fruits, other fruits are put in a different category. Last but not least

is the floral category, in this category there are scents like roses and other flowers. As you can

see there is a wide variety of perfume fragrances (Subbaraman).

What Is the Difference Between Perfume and Body Spray?

People often get perfume and body spray mixed up, or say they are the same thing. But

they are actually very different. Body spray is a bit milder than perfume. Body spray is basically

a mixture of water and alcohol, (with the exception of fragrances to make the spray have a

scent.) Which is why the scent is normally not as strong as perfume. Perfume is often very

strong, because it is a mixture of different aromatic extracts and oils in them that make perfume

stronger and longer lasting. Perfumes have multiple types of oils and aromatic extracts, and body

spray basically just has water and alcohol. Body spray also does not nearly last as long as
 Gibson 4

perfume. In conclusion, “Body spray is basically perfume just with a more mild scent.” (​S,

Prabhat).

How Does the Human Nose Detect Smells?

The sense of smell is a lot more confusing and complex then the eyesight and hearing

senses. Colors can be recognized by the eyes easily, and sounds can be heard by the ear also

very easily. But scents being recognized by the nose, is a more complex process. Scents like

mints, and sweets, and even sour things can all be easily recognized by the nose. But there are

more than 1 trillion scents that are easily recognized by the nose. Finishing the sentence of “The

sense of smell is a lot more-” And here is why. First humans have to inhale the air, which

contains odor molecules. Then receptors inside the nose grasp onto the odor molecules,

communicating to the brain which then distinguishes the scent. Someone that was born not easily

able to smell scents apart of the 1 trillion different categories recognized by the human nose; is

still able to recognize 80 million different scents. Everything has molecules, therefore everything

you smell has molecules which is why it is super easy for the human nose to detect smells. In

your DNA if there is ever a gene that is broken, or missing. It can cause you to be unable to

smell some types of scents (Subbaraman).

I thought that ​if ten people smell Body Fantasies Signature Cotton Candy Perfume, Gale

Hayman Delicious Crazy Cotton Candy, Eau de Toilette Pink Sugar, then only half will be

correctly guessed. ​I found out that less than half was guessed correct. For the Eau de Toilette

Pink Sugar perfume, none were guessed correct for the first trail. For the first trail everyone said

it either smelt like sharpie or hand sanitizer. In the second and third trial a few people got closer

to a more sweeter scent, yet no one guessed cotton candy. Out all of the three perfumes, no one
 Gibson 5

said any of them smelt like cotton candy. For the Gale Hayman Delicious Crazy Cotton Candy,

people said this one smelt the second most sweetest out of the three. More than half got close too

cotton candy, yet no one specifically said cotton candy. The Body Fantasies Signature Cotton

Candy Perfume was said to be the sweetest out of the three. The average guesses was 33. In

conclusion, My hypothesis ended up being incorrect because less than half of the perfumes were

guessed close to cotton candy.

 Gibson 6

Works Cited

Bellis, Mary. “The Long, Smelly History of Perfume.” Thoughtco., Dot Dash, 9 Apr. 2017

Contributors, HowStuffWorks.com. ​“How Does the Sense of Smell Work?” HowStuffWorks,

HowStuffWorks, 1 Apr. 2000,

health.howstuffworks.com/mental-health/human-nature/perception/question139.htm.

Subbaraman, Nidhi. “What the Nose Knows: Humans Can Sense 10 Basic Smells.” NBCNews.com,

NBCUniversal News Group, 18 Sept. 2013

www.nbcnews.com/sciencemain/what-nose-knows-humans-can-sense-10-basic-smells-4

B11187604.

S, Prabhat. “Difference Between.” Difference Between Similar Terms and Objects, Difference

Between, 31 May 2018

www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/fashion-beauty/difference-between-perfume-a

nd-body-spray/.

Vethamuthu, Ashland. “Making Fragrances Last Longer.” American Chemical Society, 19 Mar.

2018,

www.acs.org/content/acs/en/pressroom/newsreleases/2018/march/making-fragrances-last

-longer.html​.

Williams Mar, Sarah C. P., et al. “Human Nose Can Detect a Trillion Smells.” Science | AAAS,

American Association for the Advancement of Science, 10 Dec. 2017,

 Gibson 7

X, Fragrance. “The History and Evolution of Perfume Bottles.” Discount Perfume, 2001,

www.fragrancex.com/fragrance-information/the-history-and-evolution-of-perfume-bottle

s.html.