The perfume is an antidote developed by Sunagakure to break genjutsu cast through speech by stimulating the users' sense of smell. The research unit was led by Kankurō. Its main ingredients are the Desert Orchid and Flare Grass, the rarity of the first making mass production unfeasible.
Gaara deemed that shinobi with long-distance fighting styles were to receive it, being less likely to fall under genjutsu themselves, and thus in a better position to help their team-mates. Temari in particular was picked, able to quickly spread the perfume across the battlefield with her Wind Release.