perfumeThe Bergamot essential oil is used in the perfumery companies.

It is well-known that thanks to its freshness, it is the fundamental ingredient not only in the traditional Eau-de-Cologne but also in numerous other delicate perfumery products, in compositions such as "Chypres" and "Fougeres", of modem fantasy bases. and of cosmetics and soaps, etc; the oil must be used cautiously in the case of perfumed soaps because of its lack of stability with alkali.

Bergamot has a delicate and persistent odor which is in itself an excellent perfume. It has a specially fixing effect when used

in concentrated form, which distinguishes it from other citrus essential oils and because it harmonizes with almost all the other oils, giving the perfumes an indefinable sweetness and an exquisite freshness.
In fact, it plays many roles, it reinvigorates and gives vivacity to the lighter scents, highlights the hidden ones, and on the other hand it attenuates and improves those that are too strong.
To put it briefly, it is almost impos¬sible to prepare a good perfume without bergamot and for this reason it is so widely used all over the world.
Because nowadays very many alcoholic lotions of varied ingredients are sold under the name of Eau-de-Cologne, we would suggest a formula that best recalls the classical Farina Eau-de-Cologne:

Rose oil                                02 g
Jasmine oil                          40 g
Geranium oil                       40 g
Neroli oil                            120 g
Lavander oil                        40 g
Rosemary oil                      10 g
Petitgrain oil                     120 g
Bergamot oil                    240 g

The above composition is dissolved in 36 litres of alcohol 94° and 4 litres of orange-flower water. (that is about 16 grams of essential oils per litre).
In the concentration of the mixture of essential oils is considerably higher (from 15 to 20%). The perfume obtained after careful mixing, assumes the full characteristics of quality and fragrance after a "maturing" of two to three months.


The main technical qualities of a perfume can be summed up as follows:
1. A perfume must have strength and the right concen¬tration (with no false economy), it must be balanced so that it has both body and fragrance.
2. A perfume must be balanced and so homogeneous that no one part is prevails; it should not be a complicated mixture of pleasant smells but it must be the expression of a basic idea upheld and intregrated on a suitable background. The note of fragrance must be clear and characteristic.
3. A perfume must be long-lasting and keep: the characteristic note, it must not change and must continue to waft from its wearer for several hours.

Besides this, a perfume must possess "artistic" qualities: it must be pleasing (top quality of the ingredients used, harmony and concordance of the compound), smart and original (based on a new idea or on a new inter¬pretation of an already known fragrance-note).
Certainly the success of a perfume today depends much on the marketing media, on the improved distribution and on the smart presentation of packaging.

The better-launched perfumes have more success but the superior quality products have a longer life: selling the others requires continuous efforts otherwise their sales drop and cease altogether.
The doses used usually vary between 0.05 and 0.12% for soaps, 0.05 and 0.25% for creams and lotions, and between 0.20% and 3.00 for perfumes.

There are also many uses for the essential oil in aromatic fields (pipe-tobacco, candied-fruit, tea, etc).
In these last few years, bergamot oil has been used with great success in suntan creams, thanks to the presence of photodynamic substances (furocoumarine or psoralene) noted for their ability to stimulate melangenesis.

The bergamot oil is a powerful antiseptic on a par with phenol but without its drawbacks such as the smeli or the fact that it is caustic and so on.

The oil can be used for general body antisepsis or for the home, hospitals, meeting rooms etc. It would seem moreover that it is one of the most pleasant and effective antiseptics for the urinary, digestive and respiratory tracts.