Perfumes you find available to buy may consist of just one scent whilst others contain a blend of a high note (the first scent that reaches you), middle notes (sometimes called heart notes, which is the personality of the perfume) and finally the base note which lingers on.

Always bear in mind that perfumes react differently with each person's body scent. This is why you should always try before you buy otherwise you could be disappointed. What perfume or cologne smells nice on your friend may not smell as pleasant on you. A good rule of thumb is to never test more than three perfumes at a time.

Fragrance falls into six basic groups:

Spice: cinnamon, ginger, cloves
Wood: pine, sandalwood, cedar
Fruit: lemon, orange, peach
Florals: jasmine, lilac, gardenia, rose
Herbal: lavender, bay, sage
Exotic: musk, ylang-ylang, vanilla

The perfume can have top, heart, and base notes all from one category or mix the notes from different categories.

Home made perfume can be fixed with glycerin or castor oil. Commercially perfume was often fixed with for a longer shelf life with civet oil, or musk. Today chemical replacements have been found.

The most internationally recognized of all perfumes has got to be Channel No. 5. Have you ever wondered why the number is 5? It's because during the testing period, a bottle was labelled "5". The fragrance consists of top notes: Aldehydes, Grasse jasmine Heart Notes: Rose, ylang-ylang, iris Base Notes: Amber, patchouli.

Modern perfume making has been taken over by Classic Designer houses such as Christian Dior which offers several perfumes including : J'adore, Diorella, Diorissimo, Dolce Vita fragrance and Miss Dior. While celebrities have always endorsed perfumes, they're now lending their name to perfumes like "Lovely," by Sara Jessica Parker.

To keep your perfume smelling beautiful for years to come make sure you keep the bottle away from heat and light as this will help prevent it from turning sour. The best bottles to keep perfume in are small ones and you should always apply it with a spray or stopper. This will prevent oil from your fingers contaminating the perfume.

The cost of perfume ranges from the least expensive colognes around $25 a bottle to $215,000 a bottle for Imperial Majesty, a Clive Christian signature scent. The fragrance is $2,150 per ounce. To warrant a price tag of $215,000, a Baccarat crystal bottle was filled with 16.9 ounces of perfume and a five carat diamond and gold collar.