Perfume vs. Deodorant

Main Difference

The main difference between Perfume and Deodorant is that the Perfume is a mixture used to produce a pleasant smell and Deodorant is a substance exerted in the groin or armpits to lessen the smell of body odour

• Perfume

  Perfume (UK: , US: ; French: parfum) is a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds, fixatives and solvents, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agreeable scent.

  It is usually in liquid form and used to give a pleasant scent to a person’s body.

  Ancient texts and archaeological excavations show the use of perfumes in some of the earliest human civilizations. Modern perfumery began in the late 19th century with the commercial synthesis of aroma compounds such as vanillin or coumarin, which allowed for the composition of perfumes with smells previously unattainable solely from natural aromatics alone.

• Deodorant

  A deodorant is a substance applied to the body to prevent or mask body odor due to bacterial breakdown of perspiration in the armpits, groin, and feet, and in some cases vaginal secretions. A subclass of deodorants, called antiperspirants, prevents sweating itself, typically by blocking sweat glands. Antiperspirants are used on a wider range of body parts, at any place where sweat would be inconvenient or unsafe, since unwanted sweating can interfere with comfort, vision, and grip (due to slipping). Other types of deodorant allow sweating but prevent bacterial action on sweat, since human sweat only has a noticeable smell when it is decomposed by bacteria.

  In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration classifies and regulates most deodorants as cosmetics but classifies antiperspirants as over-the-counter drugs.The first commercial deodorant, Mum, was introduced and patented in the late nineteenth century by an inventor in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Edna Murphey. The product was briefly withdrawn from the market in the US. The modern formulation of the antiperspirant was patented by Jules Montenier on January 28, 1941. This formulation was first found in “Stopette” deodorant spray, which Time magazine called “the best-selling deodorant of the early 1950s”.There is a popular myth that deodorant use is linked to breast cancer, but research has shown no such link exists.

• Perfume (noun)

  a fragrant liquid typically made from essential oils extracted from flowers and spices, used to give a pleasant smell to one’s body

  “musk-based perfumes”

  “I caught a whiff of her fresh lemony perfume”

• Perfume (noun)

  a pleasant smell

  “the heady perfume of lilacs”

• Perfume (verb)

  give a pleasant smell to

  “just one bloom of jasmine has the power to perfume a whole room”

• Perfume (verb)

  impregnate with perfume or a sweet-smelling substance

  “the cream is perfumed with rosemary and iris extracts”

• Perfume (verb)

  apply perfume to

  “her hair was oiled and perfumed”