This Saturday, the CEA group went to the city of Grasse. There, we went on a tour of the perfume factory Fragonard. The tour guide told us about the mixing of essences to get the scent of the perfume. She also told us the differences between Cologne, Eau de Toilette, Eau de Perfume, and Perfume. Cologne has 5% of essence and the rest is alcohol and water. Eau de Toilette has 10% of essence with alcohol and water. Eau de Perfume has 15% of essence with alcohol and water. Perfume has 25% of essence with alcohol, but no water. The tour guide showed us the old ways of getting the essence out of the plants, like how they used to use animal fat until the issue of Mad Cow Disease about twenty years ago. What I found interesting was that one bottle of perfume has about 250 different essences in it. The tour guide also showed us where they make soap, which is only sold at their boutique. She had us smell six different types of eau de perfume, which we bought on discount.
After we bought a few things, we went to rival perfume factory near-by (literally walking distance of 1 minute) to make our own individual perfumes. We had to start with the base notes, which is five essences that reveal themselves after a few hours, and mix them in certain quantities. After that, we had five heart notes, which were another set of essences. Then we added the peak notes, which is the scent you smell first. I didn't realize it at first, but I added cinnamon to mine. I didn't think I would add cinnamon. So we each had out own bottle of perfume special made by us. We could also reorder if we wanted to; they keep the recipe. They told us we made eau de perfume, and we received a perfume-maker certificate. After the perfume factories, we went to the villages of Gourdon and St. Paul de Vence. Here, we checked out the amazing views. We were one hour away from Antibes, but we could still see it from the mountain since we were up so high.
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Nicole JohnsonI am a college student studying abroad in France. This is my journal of all that I see and experience on my journey. Archives
December 2015
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