How the East Shaped Western Perfumery: A Forgotten Legacy

Christi Taban
Apr 16
5 min read

Note: This article reflects a cultural and historical perspective on the evolution of perfumery. It aims to foster awareness, not blame, and to honor the Eastern contributions to global scent traditions.

A Critical Revisit of Perfumery’s History and the Western Domination of a Fragrant Legacy

Introduction: It All Began with a Scent...

Since the dawn of civilization, humankind has lived with scent. Perfume has never merely been an accessory for the body—it has served as a bridge to the soul, nature, the divine, and memory itself. Long before names like European brands came to mind, fragrances were alive in Egyptian temples, Persian gardens, Buddhist rituals, and Ayurvedic medicine.

But how did this deeply Eastern art fall into Western hands? Why are most of today’s renowned perfume brands European, while the very soul and raw materials of the industry come from the East?

Let us retrace this fragrant journey through a more critical, honest lens.

Perfume in Ancient Civilizations: Between Ritual, Healing, and Beauty

In the earliest human societies—Egypt, Persia, Mesopotamia, India—perfume was not a luxury; it was an integral part of spiritual and physical life. In these cultures:

Fragrances were used in religious ceremonies
Essential oils were applied for healing and well-being
Perfume denoted status, power, and identity

From the burning incense of ancient Egyptian temples to the rosewater rituals of Persia, scent was an invisible language to communicate with the divine and transcend the mundane.

How the East Shaped Western Perfumery: A Forgotten Legacy

Up until the Middle Ages, Europe had limited exposure to perfume. It was only with the onset of the Crusades and the expansion of trade with Islamic civilizations that this began to shift. Returning crusaders and merchants brought the alluring aromas of the East back to their homeland.

Cities like Venice, Florence, and later Paris became gateways through which these fragrances entered Europe. But what followed wasn’t a simple cultural exchange—Europe stripped perfume from its spiritual roots and transformed it into a product: a commercial commodity.

Grasse, France, Europe: The Fragrant Empire Rises

By the 17th century, France—particularly the town of Grasse—had established itself as the perfume capital of the world. But this rise was far from organic:

It was powered by raw materials imported from the East and Africa
It relied on aromatic knowledge inherited from Islamic and Eastern traditions
It was boosted by colonial exploitation of natural resources and labor

The result? The birth of modern brands that now dictate global fragrance trends—often without a single mention of the spiritual, historical, or cultural roots they appropriated.

From Temples of the East to Palaces of the West: A Colonial Tale of Scent

Long before Grasse was known for lavender fields and perfumeries, the East was steeped in aromatic mystique. Civilizations like Persia, Egypt, and India had already mastered the distillation of floral essences, the art of incense, and the alchemy of scent.

Fragrance in the East was never "just a product"—it was part of the human soul. So how did Europe, once a distant consumer, come to dictate global olfactory standards?

How Europe Adopted—and Altered—Perfume

Perfume’s arrival in Europe was not a respectful cultural exchange—it was more of a misaligned adaptation. With the Crusades came contact, and with contact came replication—minus the philosophical essence.

From the 15th century, cities like Venice and Florence became key hubs for importing Eastern materials. But it wasn’t long before chemistry, colonialism, and commercialism in Europe reshaped perfume. Especially in France, Eastern materials were reformulated into prestige-centric Western products. What was once a sacred Eastern formula became a 100ml Eau de Parfum.

Europe: From Passive Consumer to Cultural Hijacker — Raw Materials from the East, Branding from the West: An Unjust Paradox

Raw Materials from the East, Branding from the West: An Unjust Paradox

Today, a glance at the ingredients of luxury fragrances reveals their undeniable Eastern roots:

Oud from Southeast Asia and India
Musk, long used in ancient Persia and China
Damask rose, a symbol of Iranian perfume heritage
Amber, neroli, saffron, and myrrh, all rooted in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia

And yet—who controls the branding, the pricing, the storytelling? Europe.

How did perfumery, once a cultural pillar of the East, become legitimate only when packaged in French or Italian branding? Has the art of scent been reduced to its Western packaging, leaving behind its deeper essence?

A New Generation Rekindles Ancient Fragrance

The last decade has seen a renaissance in Eastern perfumery:

Independent fragrance houses have emerged from Iran, Turkey, UAE, Morocco, and India
They focus on local botanicals and natural extractions
They emphasize personal, cultural, and spiritual narratives

The global olfactory landscape is changing. Scent is breaking free from gold-stamped bottles and returning to its roots—raw, evocative, and true.

A Forgotten Context: Filth, Fragrance, and the French Nobility

One often overlooked reason for the rapid rise of perfume culture in Europe—especially in France—was the continent’s notorious lack of hygiene. In the Middle Ages and well into the Enrtually absent. Streets of cities like Paris reeked with human waste, and the aristocracy famously avoided washing for fear of disease. Personal hygiene was so poor that even after using the toilet, many didn’t cleanse themselves.

In sharp contrlightenment, bathing was rare, sewer systems were nonexistent, and public sanitation was viast, ancient Eastern civilizations such as Persia, India, and the Islamic world boasted intricate bathhouse systems, developed sewer infrastructure, and cultural norms that emphasized cleanliness. These societies also had a longstanding tradition of using fragrances—like rosewater, oud, and musk—not merely to smell pleasant, but as spiritual, medicinal, and aesthetic practices.

Thus, when Eastern perfumes arrived in Europe, they weren’t adopted with reverence for their origin, but as a desperate solution to a very real problem. Fragrances became a sort of olfactory shield for the European elite, masking the odors of unwashed bodies and filthy environments. This practical need gave perfume an outsized cultural prestige in Europe—and yet, the sacred roots of the scents were rarely acknowledged.

Conclusion: Rewriting the Scented History

Perhaps it is time to rewrite the history of perfume—not as a purely European invention, but as a human art with deep, ancient roots in the soils of the East.

Is the world ready to hear the voices of forgotten fragrances in history?Or will it continue to believe only in scents that pour from French glass?

📢 Join the Conversation

📝 Do you believe Europe hijacked the story of perfumery?🌿 Do you know a scent from your own culture that deserves to be heard?Share your thoughts below, or join us on Instagram with the hashtag #AuthenticAroma.

This article was researched and written by Galbanum Oil Fragrance

The use of this article is permitted by citing the source.

Note: This article reflects a cultural and historical perspective on the evolution of perfumery. It aims to foster awareness, not blame, and to honor the Eastern contributions to global scent traditions.