Shopping for new perfume can be overwhelming with all of the scents available. Not only are there countless scents available, there are also different fragrance concentrations. Underneath the name of the perfume on a bottle will normally be the fragrance concentration.
A fragrance concentration refers to the strength that a fragrance has. Perfumes with a higher fragrance concentration contain more perfume oils and less alcohol.
Fragrance concentrations are broken into categories including parfum, eau de parfum, eau de toilette, eau de cologne, and eau fraiche.
Parfum
Parfum has the highest concentration of perfume oils (between 20 – 40%) and because of this has a longer staying power than the weaker variations. Due to this, Parfum generally is the most expensive but can usually last on the skin for six to eight hours.
Eau de Parfum
Eau de Parfum has the next highest concentration of perfume oils normally around 15 – 20%. Lasting slightly less on the skin at around four to five hours.
As the oil level drops then there is more alcohol added therefore making EDP less expensive than pure Parfum. This variation is one of the most popular as is often used for fragrances that are worn during the evening or a night out.
Eau de Toilette
Eau de Toilette is slightly cheaper than Eau de Parfum due again to the drop in perfume oil (5 – 15%) and the increase in added alcohol.
The lasting power of EDT also drops and on average is somewhere between three to four hours (depending on skin type). It is one of the most popular strengths and is often the favourite strength that is worn during the day.
Eau de Cologne
Eau de Cologne, also known as EDC has a lower level of concentration than that of Eau de Toilette at around 2 – 5%, because of this it’s lasting power drops to somewhere around two hours.
Eau de Fraiche
Eau Fraiche has a perfume oil level at around 1 – 3%, lower than EDC, however it doesn’t contain a larger amount of alcohol instead this additional ingredient is mostly water.
Fragrant Notes
The perfumes that you can purchase will generally be composed of various ‘fragrance notes’. These notes are layered within the perfume by the experienced perfumer to create the distinct ‘bouquet’ of the fragrance.
Most perfumes will be composed of three distinct notes;
Top – This is the scent that is apparent immediately upon spraying the fragrance. This has the least longevity.
Middle – Also known as the ‘heart note’ becomes more apparent as the top note dissipates. This note makes up the basis for the fragrance as a whole. The most notable part.
Base – Finally after the scent has been worn for a while the base note, a more richer scent will appear – often mentioned as the scent that appears during the ‘dry down’ of the perfume.
After this, you are all set to choose which types of perfume that are suitable for your usage.
Source: ScentStore
