Conférences publiques de l’IFM
Annick Le Guérer – LE PARFUM, DES TEMPLES ÉGYPTIENS AUX TEMPLES DE LA CONSOMMATION
Mercredi 18 novembre 2009

Before perfumes were created through extensive marketing studies they were a symbol of status, healing and religious powers. In the Pharaoh age perfume was considered the “oil of the gods“; in the middle ages it flourished as protector and masker of the plague.
In the 17th century men of knowledge like Nostradamus used to carry a Pomme de Senteurs a case in the form of an apple that held a mix of notes like amber and musk in a paste believed to help in the healing of ailments. It was through Louis XIV that the manufacturing of perfume became an industry.

The esoterism and mysticism that enveloped perfume is what seems particularly lacking in the market these days. Author and scholar scholar, specialist in odour and perfumes Annick Le Guérer believes, or at least hopes, that this increased desire for products produced organically will bring back some of the original formulas and ingredients. I hope so too, we had an opportunity at the conference to smell scents such as the original formula for the Pomme de Senteur and I have to say I was completely taken by it. LM