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Perfume
Language & Ecology 2007

Magic Romance: on Perfume, Language and the Environment by Michelle Gargan
Introduction
As I am writing this report, just before Christmas 2006, a bottle of Chanel No. 5 is selling every 30 seconds around the world. In the month of December, the high street chemist Boots, sells more perfume in this festive period than the rest of the year combined.1 A key question is this: do we actually need to wear perfume?
It is only in recent decades that perfume has been considered an essential for everyday wear; it was once reserved for luxury and special occasions. Since the demand has increased, new ways to produce scents have emerged; synthetic materials now replace what were once raw materials collected from animal and plant sources. In this article I will be investigating how language within the perfume industry is creating the idea that without perfume, women are unattractive and undesirable, creating a demand for a product that both harms the environment and has negative consequences for human health. To get an idea of the prevalence of perfume advertisements in lifestyle magazines, I analysed editions of three top-selling women’s magazines to determine the distribution of advertisements. I found that of all the advertisements within the magazines, perfume dominated over any other product:
Company magazine – Jan 2007
Advertisement analysis in 'Company ' (Jan 2007)

Makeup
Hair
Fragrance
Watches/jewellery
Clothing
Phones
Alcohol
Beauty products/ skincare Medicines
Other

Total pages: 200
Pages dedicated to advertisements: 51
Total of perfume advertisements: 12 = 23.7% of all advertisements

1

Karen Bowerman, “Christmas boosts perfume sales”, BBC News online, 2006, online
<www.bbc.co.uk/news > 03/01/07

1

Language & Ecology 2007

Glamour magazine – Dec 2006
Advertisement analysis in 'Glamour ' (Dec.2006)

Makeup
Hair
Fragrance
Watches/jewellery
Clothing
Phones/Electronics
Alcohol/ Food
Beauty products/ skincare
Medicines
Other

Total pages:


References: Betty Bridges (2006), Fragrance: emerging health and environmental concerns in ‘Flavour and Fragrance Journal’, p361-371, 2002, online <http://www.fpinva.org/FragranceReview.htm> 28/12/06 Betty Bridges (2006), Fragrances by design, online < http://www.fpinva.org/> Care Products in the Environment: Agents of Subtle Change?, (Environmental Health Perspectives Volume 107, Supplement 6, December 1999) online < Karen Bowerman (2006), “Christmas boosts perfume sales”, BBC News online, 2006, online <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news > 03/01/07 Key Note Report (2003), Cosmetics and Fragrances, A Market Sector Overview, 10th Edition, 1994; Ed Kress, G. and T. van Leeuwen (1996) Reading images: The grammar of visual design. Robert L Bronaugh & Howard I Maibach (1999), Percutaneous Absorption; Drugs Cosmetics – Mechanisms – Modelling, 3rd Edition, (Marcel Decker Inc., New York, US, 1999) in ‘Getting Lippy: Cosmetics, toiletries and the
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