MAKING PERFUME

During the 1960s, for our summer holidays we sometimes stayed in Grasse on the French Riviera.

Grasse is famous for it's perfume.

After a ferry ride from Dover, we would drive south from Dunkirk on the north coast of France and eventually cross over the Alps. Almost as soon as we passed the highest point and started our descent towards the Mediterranean, we could smell the fragrance of the flowers, which grew in profusion there.

Of course we could not stay in Grasse without visiting a perfume factory. Now I cannot recall which one we visited, but is was one of either Molinard, Galimard or Fragonard. The smell in the factory was unexpectedly disgusting.

As we toured, the production process was explained. Fresh flowers were laid out on large trays of rendered animal fat, which absorbed the scent from the petals. The flowers were changed regularly. The frequency they were changed depended on the type of flower and the quality of the perfume to be made. In some cases this went on for weeks, in other cases for years.

The duration of this part of the production and the rarity of the flowers used, was the main criteria, which dictated how expensive the resulting perfume would be.

The foul smell, it was explained, was on account of so much fat, which ranged in odour from being merely rancid, to being totally fetid for the more costly perfumes.

Eventually the fat was dissolved in heated alcohol and most of the fragrance was transferred out of the fat into the alcohol. The scent-laden alcohol was then separated from the fat to become the main ingredient for the perfumes.

The separated fat, which still contained some residual scent, was then apparently used for making soap. Either my concentration must have lapsed for a few minutes or a few trade secrets were withheld, because I’m sure this must be only part of the process. I can’t really see how rubbing scented fat into ones skin, would be a particularly cleansing experience.

I visited again in the late 1970s. This time the unpleasant part of the process was viewed from behind windows, which protected visitors from the foul smell. The odour was now very pleasant, since it mainly emanated from the factory perfume shop where the tour concluded.