Perfumes, aftershaves, deodorants and other fragrances are made from a mixture of scented oils, usually dissolved in an alcohol. The fragrance oil is extracted by a process of distillation e.g. orange oil can be extracted from the peel of an orange by boiling the orange skin in water and using distillation to separate the gaseous orange oil from the water vapour. Fragrance oil manufacturers use distillation to extract the scented oil from the plant.
Fragrances are designed to evaporate slowly from the body. You usually apply your fragrance or aftershave as a liquid that sits on (or you rub into) your skin. Throughout the day the molecules that make up the perfume/aftershave gain enough heat from your body to turn into a gas vapour. This vapour diffuses into the space around you and is smelt when it dissolves in the mucous lining of the nose where it triggers receptors that detect smell. If you wear a scent all day, you stop smelling it because your brain only responds to new smells for a limited time.
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