Ingredients

• Fragrant flora and fauna is collected.Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Swaminathan
  
  Initial ingredients brought to the perfume factory consist of flowers, spices, wood, balsams and leaves. They are prepared for removal of their oils, which contain the highest concentration of scent.
  
  

Process

• Extracting the oils from these natural ingredients is administered by steam distillation, solvent extraction, enfleurage or expression processes.
  
  

Formula Determined

• Developed oils are given to the scent master, who blends them to come up with a signature fragrance. Repeat testing, evaluation and modifications ensure that the correct scent has been achieved before attempting the final mixing.
  
  

Mixing

• Mixing the final solution with alcohols dilutes the ingredients. The ratio of alcohol used determines when a perfume becomes cologne, with colognes containing 3 percent to 5 percent oil diluted in 80 percent to 90 percent alcohol, with water making up the 10 percent balance.
  
  

Contemporary Method

• Lab chemists can recreate scents through synthesized ingredients.Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Umberto Salvagnin
  
  In laboratories, perfume chemists create new scents or recreate the familiar ones with a less arduous and faster process. Aromatic chemicals become synthesized ingredients and are fast becoming the preferred method in developing cologne scents.