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Big and Small Moments of Modern Perfumery

From the Search for the Blue Flower and the Atlantis of Perfumery—How Perfumery Became What It is Today

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Abstract

In this chapter we discuss the second revolution of perfume and see how it came to the first scent of emancipation. We also examine the ups and downs of perfume from different perspectives. So we illuminate the important role of Charles Baudelaire for the development of modern perfume. But we also see that not a few of the famous classical philosophers have expressed themselves disparagingly about the sense of smell and the effect of scents. I therefore introduce you to the “Godfather” of perfume—Friedrich Nietzsche—who has contributed a great deal to the image enhancement and fascination of the sense of smell and smelling. The romantic era also contributed a lot to the positive image of perfume. But we also get to know another side of perfume, which stigmatizes, excludes and spies out the olfactory. Pheromones in humans are a controversial topic in research and have caused a rise and fall of the perfume image with perfumes that did not keep their promises. Although the existence of pheromone receptors has now been discovered in humans, which can be activated by the fragrance Hedion (a synthetic fragrance with a floral character), one is not really sure whether the receptors are involved in sexual readiness. After reading this chapter, the reader can weigh up good arguments for why he belongs to the pheromone believers or unbelievers.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Translated by the author from Guernes, 7 https://christian-0-guernes.blogspot.com.

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  1. Miami Beach, FL, USA

    Joachim Mensing

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Mensing, J. (2023). Big and Small Moments of Modern Perfumery. In: Beautiful SCENT. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-67259-4_8

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