The century of lights 1700 – 1789

Hairstyles, make-up and perfume ... During that era, women painstakingly followed the codes of seduction and discovered the tyranny of fashion.

The Court of Louis XV was named the "perfumed court". It was mandatory to use a different fragrance every day. Toilet vinegars were starting to appear. It was a time of carefree happiness and celebrations, with Marie-Antoinette its focal point. Magazines and newspapers published the canons of feminine elegance which were followed painstakingly.

Hygiene became fashionable again. The olfactive taste evolved to embrace more subtle fragrances, thus contributing to the wealth of the first famous Parisian fragrance houses. The Grasse chemists were prospering. They had succeeded in improving the techniques of enfleurage and distillation. In Cologne, Jean-Antoine Farina launched the "Eau de Cologne".