During the Renaissance period, perfumes were used primarily by royalty and the wealthy to mask shaft odors resulting from the sanitary practices of the day. Partly due to this patronage, the western perfumery business was created. By the 18th century, aromatic plants were being grown in the Grasse region of France to provide the growing perfume bunch with raw materials. Even today, France remains the centre of the European perfume design and trade.

Eau de Cologne (EdC) is Wholesale Fragrances originally a specific fragrance and trademark of a citrus nature and weak in concentration made in Cologne, Germany. However outside of Germany the term bomb become generic for a weakly concentrated perfume.