In this research work, we intend to analyze perfume diachronically. To this end, several key concepts will be taken into account, such as its definition and elaboration process, as well as the types of olfactory families into which it is divided. Subsequently, a brief historical overview of perfume will be presented, after which we will focus on the different perspectives in which perfume has been present during the 20th century, and is still present today. We will address the changing trends in its use by social classes and in turn, the paradigm shift that this has meant (democratization), its approach and expression both in the pictorial arts with the dual perspective that this has, through advertising. At the end of the corresponding section, there will be an analysis of what perfume has meant in culture, in terms of scent. Finally, in another crucial section, its use as aromatherapy will be addressed, already in the new paradigm of perfume.