Fragrance
Describing a perfume
Shelves of perfumesThe precise formulas of commercial perfumes are kept
secret. Even if they were widely published, they would be dominated by
such complex chemical procedures and ingredients that they would be of
little use in providing a useful description of the experience of a scent.
Nonetheless, connoisseurs of perfume can become extremely skillful at
identifying components and origins of scents in the same manner as wine
experts [1].
The most practical way to start describing a perfume is according to its
concentration level, the family it belongs to, and the notes of the scent,
which all affect the overall impression of a perfume from first
application to the last lingering hint of scent[2][3]
[edit] Concentration levels
Perfume oil is necessarily diluted with a solvent because undiluted oils
(natural or synthetic) contain high concentrations of volatile components
that will likely result in allergic reactions and possibly injury when
applied directly to skin or clothing.
By far the most common solvent for perfume oil dilution is ethanol or a
mixture of ethanol and water. Perfume oil can also be diluted by means of
neutral-smelling lipids such as jojoba, fractionated coconut oil or wax.
The concentration by percent/volume of perfume oil is as follows:
Perfume extract: 20%-40% aromatic compounds
Eau de parfum: 10-30% aromatic compounds
Eau de toilette: 5-20% aromatic compounds
Eau de cologne: 2-5% aromatic compounds
As the percentage of aromatic compounds decreases, so does the intensity
and longevity of the scent created. Different perfumeries or perfume
houses assign different amounts of oils to each of their perfumes.
Therefore, although the oil concentration of a perfume in eau de parfum (EDP)
dilution will necessarily be higher than the same perfume in eau de
toilette (EDT) form within the same range, the actual amounts can vary
between perfume houses. An EDT from one house may be stronger than an EDP
from another.
Furthermore, some fragrances with the same product name but having a
different concentration name may not only differ in their dilutions, but
actually use different perfume oil mixtures altogether. For instance, in
order to make the EDT version of a fragrance brighter and fresher than its
EDP, the EDT oil may be "tweaked" to contain slightly more top notes or
less base notes. In some cases, words such as "extrême" or "concentrée"
appended to fragrance names might indicate completely different fragrances
that relates only because of a similar perfume accord. An instance to this
would be Chanel‘s Pour Monsieur and Pour Monsieur Concentrée.
Eau de cologne (EDC) was originally a specific fragrance of a citrus
nature and weak in concentration made in Cologne, Germany. However in
recent decades the term has become generic for a weakly concentrated
perfume of any kind.