Senior Fashion Editor Sarah Cristobal is on assignment this week in France to discover what goes into creating the world's top fragrances. Read her daily blogs as she travels to perfumeries in Paris and Grasse, and dutifully observes the ooh la la of French culture.

As European cities go, there really is nowhere in the world like Paris. From the impressive architecture to the warm baguettes, Paris emits culture from the essence of its being. I am lucky enough to be here thanks to a co-worker who (unfortunately) had to pass on the trip, and at the behest of the Axe team, who is acting as the gracious host for an assortment of editors.

Before you raise a suspecting brow as to why StyleList, a site that caters mainly to a female audience, needs to learn the ins and outs of a unabashedly testosterone-driven brand like Axe, consider this: Axe is a Unilever brand, whose products are created in some of the world's top fragrance houses.

Yesterday we visited the laboratories of International Flavor & Fragrances, Inc. The IFF is responsible for some of the most iconic fine fragrances in the world. Perhaps you've heard of Calvin Klein's Eternity or Lancome's Trésor? Yup, IFF can lay claim to those. More recent releases include Estée Lauder's Beautiful and Viktor & Rolf's Flowerbomb. Overall, there's a 40 percent chance that any of your go-to perfumes were created by this particular manufacturer.

The once closely guarded secrets of the fragrance industry will be revealed on this blog in the coming days, so stay tuned! StyleList is among a small group of editors from Elle, Star, Maxim and Playboy; we are the first members of U.S. media to ever tour the IFF's laboratories and harvesting fields in the south of France.

Got something that you want to know about fragrance creation? Ask now, while French operators are standing by!