Segment Information - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012 Customer Segment	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of segments	2
Number of fragrance categories	2
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%	$ 320,000,000	$ 297,000,000	$ 273,000,000
Property, plant and equipment	654,641,000	608,065,000
Net sales related to the U.S.	662,000,000	644,000,000	618,000,000
Net sales attributed to all foreign countries	2,159,000,000	2,144,000,000	2,005,000,000
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	162,000,000	163,000,000
Netherlands [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment	$ 97,000,000	$ 89,000,000