Essential Oil Scent Guide
This perfume scents guide will help you choose your next signature scent. With so many different types of fragrances out there, it can be difficult to choose the perfect perfume for yourself or to get for someone as a gift.
The right scent can make you feel luxurious, remind you of a time in your life when you were the happiest, and give you a boost of confidence. Perfumes and colognes are powerful because scents themselves are powerful.
This is exactly why we’ve created this perfume scents guide - to help you on your journey to finding that perfect scent that matches your personality and makes you feel incredible.
Fragrance Types
The first step to understanding colognes and perfumes is to understand the different fragrance types. Colognes and perfumes are actually two different types of fragrances. Their concentration of fragrance is what differentiates them.
A fragrance (oil) will have a concentration of 1-30 percent. The rest of the product will be made up of either water or alcohol. As a general rule, fragrances with lower concentrations of oil are called an eau (water).
Below is a guide to fragrance concentrations and their official product names:
Pure Perfume
- Rare and expensive
- 15-30% oil
- 6+ hours of wear
- Eau de Parfum (EDP)
8-15% Perfume Oil Concentrate
- Common and affordable
- Mostly women’s fragrance
- 4-6 hours of wear
- Eau de Toillette (EDT)
4-10% Perfume Oil Concentrate
- Most commonly seen in men’s fragrances
- Highest concentration for men’s fragrances
- Up to 4 hours of wear
- Eau de Cologne (EDC)
2-5% Perfume Oil Concentrate
- About 3 hours of wear
- Eau de Fraiche (EDF)
1-3% Perfume Oil Concentrate
- Less than 3 hours of wear
Knowing these different fragrance types will help you decide which product is best for you. Different concentrations have different wear times, which may be very important for you, especially if you are someone who works long hours.
Now that you understand the different types of fragrances, it’s time to go over the different types of perfumes and fragrance categories. This will help you choose your next signature scent or pick out the perfect gift for someone special in your life.
Perfume Structure and Fragrance Categories
It’s important to understand that there are three parts to every fragrance:
- The head
- The heart
- The base
The head of the fragrance are the notes that you’ll smell as soon as the scent hits your nose. The fragrance categories that are typically in the head include citrus and light floral notes. Although head notes can be assertive at first, they are quick to fade - head notes usually dissipate after about 30 minutes of wear.
The heart of a fragrance is usually made up of deeper scents. Florals, spices, herbs, and wood are all commonly found in the heart. The heart of a fragrance sticks around for a few hours of wear and adds an interesting, complimentary layer to the most important part of a fragrance: the base
The base of a fragrance is the foundation. Base scents linger long after the fragrance has been applied sometimes even for a few days. For example, if you have ever smelled a fragrance on an unwashed sweater, you are smelling the base notes. The most commonly used fragrance categories in the base are wood, spices, and vanilla.
As a final note in this perfume scents guide, you should know that fragrances will smell differently on different people. Your skin’s chemistry comes into play and has the power to manipulate fragrances to change them slightly. This is precisely why it’s important to sample fragrances in person and try them on your skin for a day or two before committing.
The Magic Scent Has Your Next Fragrance
Our online fragrance store has a wide variety of fragrances from all categories. We are confident that you will find one you love, but we also offer the option for you to customize your very own signature scent! Try it out today and please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.
