Perfumes have been known to exist in some of the earliest human civilizations, either through ancient texts or from archaeological digs. Modern perfumery began in the late 19th century with the commercial synthesis of aroma compounds such as vanillin or coumarone, which allowed for the composition of perfumes with, smells previously unattainable solely from natural aromatics alone. The world's first recorded chemist is considered to be a woman named Tapputi, a perfume maker who was mentioned in a cuneiform tablet from the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamia. She distille...

Chrysopogon zizanioides, commonly known as vetiver is a perennial grass of the Poaceae family, native to India. In western and northern India, it is popularly known as khus. Vetiver can grow up to 1.5 meters high and form clumps as wide. The stems are tall and the leaves are long, thin, and rather rigid; the flowers are brownish-purple. Unlike most grasses, which form horizontally spreading, mat-like root systems, vetiver's roots grow downward, 2–4 m in depth. Vetiver is most closely related to Sorghum but shares many morphological characteristics with other frag...

Styrax benzoin is a species of tree native to Sumatra in Indonesia. Common names for the tree include gum Benjamin tree, loban (in Arabic) kemenyan (in Indonesia and Malaysia), onycha, and Sumatra benzoin tree. There are two types of benzoin resin used in incense and perfumery, benzoin Siam and benzoin Sumatra Benzoin Siam is obtained from Styrax ton kinesis, found across Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Benzoin Sumatra is obtained from Styrax benzoin grown on the island of Sumatra. Both varieties are anti-pathogenic resins, which are exuded from the t...