Introduction - Perfumes 101

Basic Information on Perfumes for Beginners

What is Perfume?

Composed of essential oils mixed with alcohol, perfumes (fragrances) are a combination of both science and art. Natural essential oils are derived from plants, flowers, fruits, bark, roots, and animal secretions such as musk. Synthetic or laboratory-created essences are often used as well and can provide greater staying power than some naturals or recreate scents that are elusive in nature.

Although some perfumes feature a singular scent, most are a combination of several different essential oils to create a pleasing and unique fragrance. The perfumer's art is creating this unique composition, which typically features: top notes, middle notes, and bottom notes.

To better explain this, have you noticed that when you apply perfume, the fragrance can change dramatically from when you take a first whiff from the bottle, to when you first apply it, and even to an hour later after application? These are the perfume's various notes in action. A perfume's top note provides the first impression and is composed of the lightest, most volatile essences. The middle note, or heart note, is discernable once it is applied to the skin and is composed of mid-range scents such as florals. A perfume's bottom note reveals itself several minutes later. This note, featuring heavier scents such as woods or musk, rounds out the fragrance and gives it staying power. The pleasing combination of all three components is what makes each perfume unique and its interaction with each wearer equally so.

Fragrance Categories

Another helpful tip when selecting perfume is to realize that fragrances can be categorized into major families based on their prominent smell. This categorization often varies slightly between different fragrance houses. Generally, there are five major families for women’s fragrances and four for men’s. Each of these major families can have a number of sub-families based on the secondary scent. I will write a separate post on fragrance categorization, describing all the different families and sub-families with examples of specific market products. For now, I will simply list the major fragrance families for men and women.

Women’s Fragrance Families

Citrus
Floral
Woody

Oriental

Chypre

Men’s Fragrance Families

Citrus

Aromatic

Woody

Oriental

Fragrance Classifications

Another aspect of perfumes' classifications can also prove baffling to customers. What's the difference between an eau de parfum and eau de toilette and why does one cost more than the other? First of all, essential oils are costly. Many of the flowers, herbs, and plants used in natural essential oils are hand-harvested and it takes thousands of pounds of plant material to yield just one pound of essential oil. And synthetic essences don't necessarily represent an inferior or cheaper ingredient.Thus, perfume classifications, perfume or parfum, eau de parfum, eau de toilette, eau de cologne, and splash cologne, are based on the strength of the fragrance or percentage of fragrance compound used in the formulation.Following is a breakdown of industry-wide accepted fragrance strengths from the Fragrance Foundation:

Perfume (Parfum) 15-30% fragrance compound

Eau de Parfum 8-15% fragrance compound
Eau de Toilette 4-8% fragrance compound
Eau de Cologne 2-5% fragrance compound
Splash Cologne 1-3% fragrance compound

Now that you have some basic information, buying a perfume for yourself or someone special should hopefully not be a daunting task.