The variety of products is almost never ending, including such examples as alcohol for colognes and perfumes, soap bars and liquids, laundry products, shampoos, lotions, candles, and more. The name alludes to the early practice of humankind of releasing pleasant odors from fragrant materials by heat or burning. In modern perfumery, the Perfumer has access to a vast repertory of specialty materials synthesized in the laboratory. These materials may or may not occur in nature. Among the naturals, a perfume may contain plant extracts, resins, concretes, absolutes, or essential oils.
Essential oils are oils derived from various parts of plants.
They are relatively volatile oils that give plants their characteristic odor, for e.g., lavender, bergamot, eucalyptus, clove leaf oil etc. The common processes of extraction of these essential oils from plants include steam distillation, and volatile solvent extraction. Literally, Eau de Cologne means Water of Cologne, a town in Germany. Cologne as we know it, was created in 1695 by Giovanni Paolo Feminis in Cologne, Germany. Since 1716, it was sold under the name Eau de Cologne and has become a family of perfume notes.