I have quite a bit of perfume and always wondered exactly how it was made. All of my questions were answered at our first stop along the French Riviera, where we toured the famous Galimard Perfume Factory. This factory has done business with a lot of high end labels in the past and currently the present. Some of those names include Chanel, Dior, Dolce & Gabanna, and more.
The tour guide took us through the factory and explained all of the steps in creating a scent. In the photo below, you'll see a wooden box with a glass lid. Inside there are jasmine flowers and cleaned animal fat (or as the tour guide said, jazz-man). The essential oils from the fresh flower petals infuse the fat. The flowers stay in the box for so many days and then the old ones are taken out so that new ones can be put in. As you can see there aren't many jasmine flowers in this box, but I think she said those had just been changed to the 2nd batch. This fat is later mixed with alcohol and then what's left at the end is the intense scented alcohol part of the perfume. The percentage of scented alcohol you receive in each bottle varies, but if you have 12% then that's how much scent you have and the rest is water with maybe one or two other main ingredients.
Of course I couldn't step foot into this place and leave empty handed, so I settled for a vanilla soap and an exclusive perfume. What do I mean by exclusive? This was they're newest ladies perfume and it won't even be available on the market for at least 2-3 more years. Why? She was telling us that they haven't marketed it out to designers yet and I guess that process takes a while. So whatever brand, very possibly a high end label, will decide they want this perfume with their name on it and it will be triple the price (maybe more) once it hits store shelves. I tried looking on their website for the exact one so I could share it with you, but I guess it's not up yet. But if you click HERE it will take you to the ladies perfume page so that you can browse. I enjoyed all of the ones we smelled at the factory, but some of the men scents weren't appealing to me. Although that could be due to the pregnancy hormones as well...lol.
If there's a perfume factory anywhere around you, definitely schedule for a tour. I find this type of stuff pretty intriguing and would love to find one in the states to visit. Or if you've been to one let me know about your experience. I will be posting more about our trip along the French Riviera as well, just didn't want to make this post forever long. :-)
The tour guide took us through the factory and explained all of the steps in creating a scent. In the photo below, you'll see a wooden box with a glass lid. Inside there are jasmine flowers and cleaned animal fat (or as the tour guide said, jazz-man). The essential oils from the fresh flower petals infuse the fat. The flowers stay in the box for so many days and then the old ones are taken out so that new ones can be put in. As you can see there aren't many jasmine flowers in this box, but I think she said those had just been changed to the 2nd batch. This fat is later mixed with alcohol and then what's left at the end is the intense scented alcohol part of the perfume. The percentage of scented alcohol you receive in each bottle varies, but if you have 12% then that's how much scent you have and the rest is water with maybe one or two other main ingredients.
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| Jasmine flowers infusing cleaned animal fat |
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Older machines used to make perfume |
At the end of the tour we were taken to the factory shop and I was in perfume heaven. Everywhere you looked in 2 big rooms there were cute bottles of perfume, soaps, lotions, body washes...it was the French Bath & Body Works, but so much more than that. There were 4 ladies standing at the counter spraying on samples to anyone that wanted. I will say that it did begin smelling like a French whore after about the 3rd go round. But I was smart, I only tried one scent on myself and I'm pretty certain my 5 year old had like 4 different kinds going on.
Of course I couldn't step foot into this place and leave empty handed, so I settled for a vanilla soap and an exclusive perfume. What do I mean by exclusive? This was they're newest ladies perfume and it won't even be available on the market for at least 2-3 more years. Why? She was telling us that they haven't marketed it out to designers yet and I guess that process takes a while. So whatever brand, very possibly a high end label, will decide they want this perfume with their name on it and it will be triple the price (maybe more) once it hits store shelves. I tried looking on their website for the exact one so I could share it with you, but I guess it's not up yet. But if you click HERE it will take you to the ladies perfume page so that you can browse. I enjoyed all of the ones we smelled at the factory, but some of the men scents weren't appealing to me. Although that could be due to the pregnancy hormones as well...lol.
If there's a perfume factory anywhere around you, definitely schedule for a tour. I find this type of stuff pretty intriguing and would love to find one in the states to visit. Or if you've been to one let me know about your experience. I will be posting more about our trip along the French Riviera as well, just didn't want to make this post forever long. :-)
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