Christianity's rise is accompanied by a decline in the use of perfumes and cosmetics. However, the presence of baths in the monasteries and palaces attests to the survival of hygienic codes introduced during antiquity.

Similarly, the use of medicinal plants subsists : in gardens, especially those belonging to the convents, plots are reserved for the "simples".

With the Crusades (1096-1291), exchange between the Orient and the West develops, bringing the improvement of trade routes. The Crusades bring back new scents and spices from the Orient and revive the use of perfumes as accessories for washing.

In France, apothecaries, herbs-men and tanners sell spices and aromatic substances. To limit the competition a corporation uniting spice-vendors and apothecaries is formed ; but, the latter are more powerful and quickly assume the roles of medical assistants and perfumers.

The use of violet, lavander, and orange-flower perfumes spreads among noble and wealthy women and women of tuck bags of perfume into their clothing or underwear. Precious objects like pommanders which contain perfumes in the form of scented cakes composed of several resins, make their appearance. Flasks, the most sumptuous hailing from Venice, but also from Bohemia, contain scented waters.
To purify and perfume the home, laurel and rosemary are burned in the fireplace and odoriferous herbs are scattered on the floor.

At this time, Grasse is already renowned for its tanneries. In the 12th century it establishes trade links with Genoa and above all Spain, from which it buys its pelts. Grasse's peasants already distill plants and sell their substances on the markets, but the town has yet to widen its distribution.

With the Renaissance's rediscovery of Greco-Latin antiquity and the invention of the printing press, numerous technical works in Italian and French reveal their recipes for scented waters to perfume garments, the body, and the home, as well as dry perfumes for making fragrance-balls and "Chypre oiselets". These perfumed substances are also used to scent gloves and belts. Brought to France from Italy and Spain, this fashion trend contributes to the rising prosperity of Grasse's tanneries. Animal based raw materials, praised for their aphrodisiacal and persuasive powers, come to figure in the composition of countless recipes.

The Renaissance's scientific spirit allows the art of perfume making to advances considerably : chemistry replaces alchemy and improves distillation and the quality of the essences.

In the 16th century, Venice manufactures the first flasks in blown glass, using oriental methods known in Murano for over a century : milky white glass, filigrane glass, added-on ornaments.

Glassmakers venetian emigrated to Germany and Bohemia introduce their glassblowing techniques. The quality of the quartz allows for the obtention of a glass hard enough to be cut, engraved, tinted in its mass or decorated with gold. These glassmakers are quick to free themselves from the Italian tradition in favor of altogether original forms.

This technique is adopted in France where countless flasks are produced "in the Venetian style".

The first mention of "oyselets de chipre", without any further indication, dates back to 1668. According to Lemery or Charas, they are "some kind of troschisque that one throws into the fire so as to produce a pleasant odor and freshen stale air. Their name comes from the fact that when they burn, they fly off a little at a time in a manner reminiscent of birds".

According to Lemery, the recipe for these "Oiselets de Chypre" includes Willow charcoal, gum tragacanth, rose water, labdanum, musk, civet, gray amber, storax, benzoin, Rhodes wood and essence, cinnamon, clove, and "elemi".

According to Denis (1721), the oiselets are composed of willow charcoal, chypre roots, labdanum, mastic, incense, marjoram, cinnamon, clove, citrine sandalwood, and red roses.