PERFUME BOTTLE

Radio Record, 26 June 1936, Page 54

PERFUME BOTTLE

| 7 Flowers By The Ton For Their Fragrance O you know ‘that British women spend about £20,000,000 a year on perfumes and cosmetics? These per- — fumes and cosmetics vary enormously in price. For instance, synthetic scents are much cheaper than natural scents. And many of the synthetic scents have a remarkable similarity ic natural perfumes, and they never yo stale. There are seventy tiousand acres devoted to the growing of flowers in the perfume-making district of Southern France. From the time when the violets bloom in early spring to late autumn, these fields of flowers never cease to feed the faccories of Grasse. Men, women and children gather the precious blossoms in baskets; then they are sent by wagon to the factories. A perfume factory is by no means an enchanted palace. It is a plain, unromantic building. At sight of it, lovers of flowers are ay. co feel a little bit sad. . It takes about five hundred pounds of petals to make one ounce of perfume. So it is not surprising that the annual flower productisoa of Grasse is something like 2000 tons of roses, 3000 tons of orange blossom, 1000 tons of violets, and vast quantities of mimosa. jasmine, carnations and many other flowers. Various processes have to be @m- ‘ ployed to remove the fragrance frém ew the flowers. The two principal methods of scent extraction ure the hot and the cold. In the hot method:the flowers are put into boilers and the essential oil drops through a glass tube into a vessel beneath. In the cold process tue odours are absorbed by fat. Lard or some other fat is spread on two glass plates, and the petals of flowers are laid between them. The. petals are removed every six hours until there is enough fragrance in the fat. Then the fragrance is taken out of the fat with alcohol, and evaporation and condensation finish the job. Ambergris and musk aie used in the making of synthetic scenis. Ambergris is a secretion of the intestines of the sperm whale. Musk is a substance like honey. obtained from the musk-deer. It is a powerful and enduring perfume. Every perfumer likes to create new perfumes, and the formiuias for these perfumes are closely-guarded secrets. Nearly every year.fascinating new perfumes with alluring naines are put on the market. And as they can be bought in small quantities quite cheaply there is no reason why every woman should not indulge her fancy Points to remember ‘when using perfume:-" Choose a perfume that suits your personality. Use cosmetics and soap with the same perfume, Don’t put perfume on:your clothes. Dad a little on your chin, behind your ears, and on your hands. Spray it on your hair with an ial miser. | 4 |

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"Hitchcock wished the same thing ‘too, a few weeks back," I told her. "Could he? Would he?’ she said, eagerly, with very bright. eyes. . "Ts there really any chance of his doing it? T should love to work with Hitchcock again, because hé never seenis to direct . you, and yet you, know alj the time just what he’s wanting,. I think he’s a splendid director" Boy