Handmade glass perfume bottles were used during ancient times in many areas, including Rome, Greece, Egypt and the Middle East. Glass bottles had the advantage of being light and non-porous, when compared to some types of pottery. In addition to that, painted or colored glass could still protect the perfume against the negative effects of sunlight. Handmade glass perfume bottles had often a long and slender shape in ancient Rome but were also made with molds to shape them into such figures as a human head. Some ancient Egyptians used small glass perfume bottles hung as necklaces.
From the 15th Century B.C, alabaster and semi-precious stones were use to make perfume bottles in ancient Egypt. In addition to blocking the sunlight that shortens the perfume's life expectancy, stone bottles also helped to preserve the perfume by keeping it cooler than other materials. Expensive perfumes were sometimes kept in bottles handmade with a mixture of materials, such as translucent calcite, gold and silver.
In addition to glass, pottery was also very popular to make perfume bottles and scent jars in ancient Greece. The black-figure style was a popular technique used during the 6th century B.C., which depicted black silhouette reliefs on ceramic perfume bottles. A century later, the black paint started to give place to the red hues. Greek pottery perfume bottles from this period are similar to spherical jars with wide mouth rims and narrow necks and are often called aryballos.
Precious and non-precious metals have been used to make perfume bottles since ancient times. Hatshepsut, the pharaoh-queen of Egypt who ruled during the 15th century B.C., used to keep her own perfume in a metal bottle, according to Msnbc Digital Network. Egyptian metal bottles from that period are often slender.