Content of the material
Eau Fraiche
The most diluted version—containing 1% to 3% perfume oil—these fragrances usually last for less than an hour. (It might not be a bad idea to use this trick to help it last longer.)
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Eau de Parfum
These concentrations are historically genderless and are second only to their cousin perfume in strength. As Reader's Digest pointed out, Princess Diana's favorite fragrance was an eau de parfum— Hermès 24 Faubourg, to be exact. These contain between 15% and 20% pure perfume essence and can last up to 8 hours.
4. Eau de Cologne
Eau de cologne (EDC) has a much lower fragrance concentration (about 2% to 4%) than the EDT with a high alcohol content, and therefore is cheaper than those above. It generally lasts for up to two hours.
EDCs mostly come in bigger bottles as more of these fragrances should be worn. Originally eau de cologne is referred to a traditional recipe that used herb and citrus notes with little anchoring with base notes.
Do Eau de Parfums Last Longer Than Eau de Toilettes?
For the most part, eau de parfums should last longer, says Shapiro, who also warns that different notes carry different patterns of longevity. "You can't compare, let's say, a fruity, very fresh eau de parfum with a very woody eau de toilette," she explains. "Fruity and fresh notes tend to be top notes and evaporate faster, even at higher concentrations."
But maybe the coolest whimsy of all types of perfumes is that each wearer's experience of a fragrance is different, depending upon how the formulation reacts with their skin's specific oils. In other words, don't blindly buy the perfume that smells divine on your best friend, because it might smell less than savory on you.
Fragrance adheres to oils, says Shapiro, and those with drier skin may need to wear a higher concentration of fragrance in order to have an impact.
Above all, you must obey the golden rule of scent, according to Valadez, who steadfastly proclaims: "Never judge a fragrance until you try it on your own skin."
Eau de Toilette (EDT)
Eau de Toilette or EDT has been explained earlier above so we will be skipping the explanation for it.
EDT is the most famous one among them simply because all the perfumes are resolved around Eau de Toilette as it stands in the middle between all of them and this also means the best cost per concentration of perfume oil.
EDT perfumes usually are more affordable than EDP, but one should never take lightly of an EDT perfume simply because the concentration is lower than EDP. During our review of of EDP we realized it lasts an incredible 48 hours on clothes.
An Eau de Toilette perfumes typically lasts up to 8 hours and 12 hours on clothes.
The types of perfume
There are actually five different types of perfume: eau fraiche, eau de cologne, eau de toilette, eau de parfum and parfum.
Eau fraiche: An eau fraiche is the lightest concentration of fragrance. It has an oil concentration of one to three per cent. Due to its low alcohol concentration and high water content, it’s a great choice for sensitive skin.
Eau de cologne: Eau de cologne contains two to four per cent oil and generally fades within an hour or two. Cologne is the name most commonly given to men’s fragrances.
Eau de toilette: An eau de toilette generally has five to 15 per cent oil and lingers for about three hours. It is one of the most popular fragrance choices because it lasts well and has a lower price point than an EDP or parfum.
Eau de parfum: Eau de parfum has 15 to 20 per cent oil and lasts up to five hours. They are another favourite fragrance choice. Most scents will come in an EDP and EDT variant.
Parfum: Parfum, also known as extrait de parfum, pure perfume or sometimes simply perfume (just to be confusing!), is the most concentrated scent. It contains 20 to 40 per cent oil and can last from six to eight hours. They are another good choice for sensitive skin types as they contain a low concentration of alcohol, and therefore are less likely to dry out skin.
Eau de Cologne (EDC)
The word “Cologne” simply means perfume. However “Eau de Cologne” or EDC means a lesser concentrated perfume than EDT. Eau de Cologne perfume is not as generic as the rest and often times EDC type perfumes are usually the classic ones.
Eau de Cologne contains is slightly more concentrated than Eau Fraiche. EDC perfumes are usually cheaper than EDT but not as cheap as Eau Fraiche ones.
One can expect up to 4 hours of perfume longevity from this perfume type and of course perfumes tend to last longer on clothes and as usual perfume longevity may be affected by other factors as mentioned here.
Considerations
Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Becky
Eau de parfum, on the other hand, contains a lower concentration of these oils, as does eau de toilette (between five percent and 30 percent). You may prefer these products, especially if you have allergies, because they’re less overpowering than other products, but you may need to re-apply them more often in order for the scent to last.
Parfum
Parfum contains from 15 ~ 40% concentrated perfume oil in it making it the most concentrated of all perfume types. This is also the reason for it being the most expensive among all.
20 years ago, it’s ver rare for one to see pure perfume(Parfum). Owning one is another story as it is being sold at an absurd price. A small 5ml of Parfum could cost over RM 200 that time !
However ! The good days are here, just like Eau de Parfum has been made more available in the market, the parfum too. These days, we can find 100ml Parfum at a fair price of around RM 500.
Parfum lasts up to 12 hours on skin and of course having this perfume to last over a day on clothes is something to be expected.
Eau de Toilette Meaning
What does Eau De Toilette mean? The French ‘toilette’ refers to the ritual of preparing yourself for the day ahead, from washing to carrying out your daily beauty rituals and spritzing on your favourite scent. Eau de Toilette simply means, water of the toilette and refers to a scented water used to perfume the body and hair. Toilette was in common usage in English but has fallen out of fashion in recent years.Eau De Toilette is, like all fragrances, a mixture of intensely scented oils, alcohol and a small amount of water. The fragranced oils alone would simply be too intense to perfume your skin directly and the mixture of liquids create a balanced, wearable scent. Typically, Eau de Toilette combines around 10% of the fragranced oils that create the unique notes of your chosen scent. Scents are often light and fresh, fading gradually over the course of several hours. They make great everyday and summer scents, never feeling intrusive.
How Do I Wear an Eau de Toilette or an Eau de Parfum?
We've all experienced the coworker or fellow subway-rider with a scent so overpowering, it's nearly impossible to focus on just about anything else. To avoid being that person, a little awareness about a scent's wearability goes a long way.
In hot, sticky, summer months, Shaprio usually reaches for an eau de toilette because "there's something fresh and light and easy to wear about a lighter concentration."
Rich, full bodied eau de parfums pair nicely with evening activities and colder climes, as scent dissipates faster in dry air, so you'll need a higher fragrance concentration for the same scent payoff.
For a daytime wear of either fragrance, spray the scent directly onto pulse points – neck or wrist – and to amp it up for the evening, add an air-spritz and walk through it, or loosely spray the perfume once or twice into long hair for an easy, wafting scent with movement.
Wearing a fragrance is a fine art and a balancing act, but it adds a whole other level of playful self-expression without ever saying a word.
