“By definition, our craft as perfumers is deeply linked with nature,” [perfumer Aurélien] Guichard says. “It’s in our philosophy to preserve what inspires us and provides us with our ingredients.”

He feels “it’s the perfumer’s responsibility to carefully source the ingredients that will enter the formulas”. Ergo, Guichard both grows his own perfume plants using organic, cruelty-free and sustainable methods of production, and collaborates with partners whose social and environmental behaviour is on par.

— Read more in Sustainable perfumes: What sustainability in fragrance really means – and how to shop for scents consciously at Harper's Bazaar.

Also, some cups and bowls had scent profiles that corresponded to fruits and plants, which explains the fruity aroma inside their display cases in the museum, although their markers were not specific enough to determine which specific fruits they contained. In an amphora, it was also possible to identify elements of barley flour, which was commonly used in Ancient Egypt to make beer, another staple of their diet. And in other containers, elements typical of oils, vegetable fats and beeswax were detected, all of which were frequent at the time.

— Researchers take a look at what items in the tomb of Kha and Merit (Theban Tomb 8, in the Valley of the Kings), smelled like. Read more in Fish, fruit and beeswax: What an Ancient Egyptian tomb smells like at El País, or see Ancient smells reveal secrets of Egyptian tomb at Nature.