Segment Information (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of segments	2
Number of fragrance categories	3
Number of customers that accounted for more than 10% of consolidated net sales	1
Net sales related to customer that accounted for more than 10%	$ 297,000,000	$ 273,000,000	$ 251,000,000
Property, plant and equipment	608,065,000	538,118,000
Net sales attributed to all foreign countries	2,144,000,000	2,005,000,000	1,758,000,000
Net sales related to the U.S.	644,000,000	618,000,000	568,000,000
Maximum percentage of total consolidated net sales attributed to any non-U.S. country	7.00%
United States [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment	163,000,000	158,000,000
Netherlands [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment	$ 89,000,000	$ 82,000,000