To extract fragrances from flowers, plants or other natural material as efficiently as possible and to fulfil the exponentially increasing demands of the market, perfume makers, throughout history, have developed a variety of extraction and conservation techniques to obtain the purest and most highly concentrated forms of raw materials.

Advances made in modern chemistry allow natural smells to be reproduced in laboratories.

Perfume making techniques

The distillation

The distillation technique is based on the ability of steam to capture essential oils. This technique was first used in Antiquity but was perfected by the Arabic civilisation in the 8th century AD and is still used today in traditional perfume making.… read more : the distillation

The absorption

The absorption technique is based on the ability of animal fat to naturally absorb odours. Depending on how well the plant matter withstands heat, this process can be conducted at either hot or cold temperatures… read more : the absorption

Extraction using volatile solvents

Extraction using volatile solvents consists of dissolving the fragrance-bearing part of the plant in a solvent which is then evaporated. This technique was practised in the 18th century using ether… read more : extraction using volatile solvents

Other Perfume making techniques

Supercritical carbon dioxide extraction consists of using a carbon dioxide by-product as a solvent. Since this solvent is much easier to eliminate production costs are lowered… read more : other Perfume making techniques

The raw materials

The raw materials of plant origin

The raw materials of plant origin used in the composition of perfumes come from all over the world and are selected for their quality and originality… read more : the raw materials of plant origin

The raw materials of animal origin

The raw materials of animal origin are considerably less well known than those of plant origin and are now almost systematically replaced by synthetic products so that no species are threatened. For ecological reasons Parfumerie Fragonard no longer uses any raw materials of animal origin… read more : the raw materials of animal origin

Synthetic raw materials

Synthetic raw materials form the basis of contemporary perfume making. Since the mid-19th century, modern chemistry has enabled the perfume industry to develop so as to fulfil the qualitative and quantitative expectations of the global market.… read more : synthetic raw materials