Cosmetics and Perfumes are closely related. Powerful women in both east and west, such as Queen Cleopatra and the Chinese Dowager Empress Yang Guifei, used fragrances to their advantage. 

Large amounts of spices etc were used by the Egyptians in embalming mummies. During the medical period when the Americans were "discovered", voyagers were attempting to monopolize the products of the Asian Spice Islands. Consequently, it is true to say that perfumes have been linked to the activities of mankind throughout history.

In the present age, perfumes are used both to beautify the wearer and to give attractive scents to cosmetics thereby creating an internal feeling of beauty. At the same time as making people nearby feel good, the person using the perfume also has a sense of inner well-being.

Olfaction
Roles of olfaction
Olfaction has two roles;

1. Protection from Enemies: Olfaction plays a major role in the lives of all animals. It helps protect animals from enemies and also helps them find food. For example, human beings are easily able to detect danger signals such as the unpleasant smell of gas and burring, and olfaction plays a fundamental role in determining whether something is good to eat. Furthermore, in the animal kingdom, olfaction is very important in helping males and females find mates. The substances sensed, in this case, are called pheromones.

In the animal kingdom, there is no doubt that olfaction protects life and facilitates the propagation of the species.

2. Psychological Role: In human beings, the psychological role of olfaction has become more significant than the basic role. Pleasant fragrances can have a calming effect, enrich the spirit and create a pleasant feeling. Conversely, unpleasant smells can dampen the spirits. As a consequence, coming into contact with pleasant fragrances in everyday life is important for invigorating the spirit and mind.

Nature of Olfaction
1. Adaption: If the same odor is smelled continuously, the ability to sense the odor drops. This is called adaption. A typical example is the loss of the ability to detect the odor of city gas. Similarly, when the same perfume is used continuously, the wearer's sensitivity to the perfume gradually becomes dulled. However, people around her still perceive the fragrance strongly.

2. Memory: A characteristic feature of the sense of smell is the ability to remember smells and associate them with events.

3. Individual Variation: There are individual variations between people's ability to perceive strong and subtle odors. In general, women have a more sensitive sense of smell with the highest sensitivity being from the mid-20s to mid-30s.

4. Keenness: Human Beings are said to obtain most information via the sense of sight, but other animals obtain large amounts of information via olfaction. The domesticated dog has one of the keenest senses of olfaction which is believed to be over 100 times more sensitive than that of human beings.

5. Strength and Quality: When absolute jasmine is analyzed, it is found to include indole. When this compound is smelled at high concentrations, it appears to smell like feces. However, at lower concentrations, it appears to smell floral making it a very useful compound. Consequently, like pharmaceutical agents, it is very important to use perfumery raw materials at appropriate concentrations.

6. Olfactory Mechanism: Although there have been many theories concerning the olfactory mechanism, the current concept is that the odorant is drawn in by breathing and stimulates the olfactory sensory neurons in the mucous membranes on both sides of the upper part of the nasal cavity.

This chemical stimulation is converted to an electrical stimulus that passes via the olfactory neuron axons to the olfactory bulb and then to the central nervous system where the signals are interpreted as smell.

7. Body Odor: Body odor is both genetically determined and modified through lifestyle. It can also vary with the disease. Food, in particular, has a large effect on body odor - meat eaters have a "meaty" odor while fish eaters have a "fishy" odor. 

People who eat food containing large qualities of strong-smelling spices such as garlic have a garlic odor on the breath and in the body odor.