Ever wonder how your favorite scent ends up in a beautiful fragrance bottle at the department store? You'd be surprised to learn that the early stages of fragrance production are not as glamorous as you might think. I experienced this firsthand while visiting Grasse, France, the "world's perfume capital" (most famous for its rose and jasmine production). In the next couple of posts, I'll share the scoop on how raw materials like jasmine become perfume.

Jasmine harvest happens every year between August and October in this region of France. During this time, jasmine flowers are picked from vines twice daily, weighed, then extracted and distilled.

I arrived at the fields early one morning and was immediately enveloped in the most amazing jasmine scent I have ever smelled. (If only we could bottle that very sweet, fresh scent the way it's experienced in nature; it's unreal.)

I didn't know what the jasmine would look like grown in a field because as you may know it's a vine like one you usually see growing along the side of a fence or wall. I had a feeling it might be grown the way grape vines are grown for wine, and I was right. The rows and rows of jasmine (see photo above) are only about three feet off the ground and are tied up specifically to grow along wires and string.

After a few moments of being intoxicated by the scent, I met Joseph Mul, above, who owns and runs the fields. He is the sixth generation to run the fields, which have been in his family for about 200 years. All of the jasmine that Mul harvests is used to create Chanel No.5 fragrance. It's only one of the 80 ingredients in the classic scent.

Find out what Mr. Mul had to say in the next post ...