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A lot of people have the misconception that perfume is nothing more than perfume. The fact is there are lots of different fragrance perfume varieties available and the quality standards that go into them can vary greatly. Fragrance perfume styles are not one type fits all kind of purchases.

Perfume itself, or parfum, as it’s known in French is the strongest variety of scent available. This is perfume in its purest form and is typically the kind of fragrance that costs a small fortune. Parfum is known for having up to 40 percent pure fragrance oils in its composition.

With this in mind, scents that are true parfums tend to be not only expensive, but also very strong. Most people who purchase this type of perfume use it very sparingly for a reason. The scents of parfums tend to stick with a person for hours and hours on end, which is why it is favored by many despite its higher price.

Eau de parfum is a step down from the stronger parfum variety. These perfumes will contain up to 18 percent fragrance oils. This variety of perfume remains fairly strong and can still be quite costly to purchase. Some of the biggest designer names come in this style, but it’s possible to find some great fragrances at lower prices that fit this composition. It’s a good idea to use this composition sparingly at first to test its actual strength.

Eau de cologne is for men, it’s a fragrance composition that involves about three to five percent fragrance oils. This is the standard for men’s cologne, but aftershaves might use even less oil in their mix.

Eau de toilette is a very common and often affordable type of perfume. Using up to eight percent fragrance oils, this type of perfume is stronger then cologne, but might require a few applications for all-day scent. This fragrance perfume composition is favored by many because it tends to not overpower, no matter the fragrance, and does dissipate faster than stronger mixes.

As the compositions for fragrance perfume styles varies, so too do the different scents. Perfumes can range from heavy musk fragrances to softer, sportier varieties. While there are only three major classifications of perfume scents, there are literally hundreds of different fragrances within these classes. Hitting on the perfect scent for a person will likely take a little time.

Selecting just the right fragrance perfume can be a very personal undertaking. Where one buyer mind find the stronger musk scents in true parfum to die for another might enjoy the wispier, soft fragrances that can be found in lower oil compositions. Inasmuch, it’s not a bad idea to try on different scents for size before buying them.

If a particular scent is liked, but it seems too strong, consider checking to see if it comes in a lower percentage of oil variety. Some of the major brand names offer scents in parfum and even eau de toilette varieties for this reason.

Fragrance perfume choices can be wonderful for helping set a tone about a person. From strong and bold to frilly and feminine, the choices of fragrance perfume styles are many. If one doesn’t fit, it’s likely many others will.

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Perfume (Latin “per fume” meaning “through smoke”) was highly favored by the Egyptians, Romans, and Arabs. In East Asia, perfumes were incense based. People used to make perfumes from spices and herbs like bergamot, myrtle, coriander, conifer resin, and almond. The use of flowers came only after Avicenna, an Iranian doctor and chemist showed the process of distillation, whereby oils could be extracted from flowers. In 1370, at the behest of Queen Elizabeth of Hungary, the world’s first modern perfume – “Hungary Water” was made by blending scented oils in alcohol solution.

The composition of a perfume is of vital significance and is handled by an expert known as a perfumer, who deals with primary scents like rose, jasmine, cola, etc; modifiers like esters; blenders like linalool and hydroxycitronellol; and fixatives like resins, wood scents, and amber bases. The resulting scent is explained in a musical metaphor of three ‘notes’, namely, top notes (consisting of fast evaporating small size molecules) like citrus and ginger scents; middle notes (consisting of slow evaporating medium size molecules) like lavender and rose scents; and base notes (consisting of slowest evaporating largest size molecules) like fixatives etc. All these notes work together like a musical chord.

Perfume oils contain volatile compounds in high concentrations and thus have to be diluted by solvents, so that injury is not caused when applied directly on skin or clothes. The common solvent is pure ethanol or ethanol mixed with water. Fractionated coconut oil or wax, neutral smelling fats such as jojoba, can also act as solvents and dilute the perfume oil. The perfume oil is further mixed with other aromatic compounds. Generally, the percentage of aromatic compounds in perfume extract is 20% to 40%; in eau de parfum is 10% to 30%; in eau de toilette is 5% to 20%; and in eau de cologne is 2% to 5%.

The oil concentration in a perfume along with other aromatic compounds, determines the intensity, longevity, and price of the perfume and thus it is a closely guarded secret of every perfumer and perfume house. By adjusting the percentage level and the notes of the perfume, variations on the same brand may be created like Chanel’s Pour Monsieur and Pour Monsieur Concentrée.

Classification of perfumes is never complete, due to its ever-evolving nature. The traditional classification comprises of categories like Single Floral, Floral Bouquet, Ambery, Woody, Leather, Chypre, and Fougère; while the modern classification comprises of Bright Floral, Green, Oceanic/Ozone, Citrus/Fruity, and Gourmand. In 1983, Michael Edwards, a perfume consultant, created a new fragrance classification “The Fragrance Wheel”, which classified and sub-grouped five standard families, namely Floral (Floral, Soft Floral, Floral Oriental), Oriental (Soft Oriental, Oriental, Woody Oriental), Woody (Wood, Mossy Woods, Dry Woods), Fougère (has fragrance elements from all the families), and Fresh (Citrus, Green, Water).

Perfumery has used a number of aromatic sources like plants, animals, and synthetic sources in the making of perfumes. Plants are used as a source of aroma compounds and essential oils. The parts of plants that are used are:

1 – Bark (cinnamon, cascarilla);

2 – Flowers (rose, jasmine, osmanthus, tuberose, mimosa, vanilla);

3 – Blossoms (citrus, ylang-ylang, clove);

4 – Fruits (apples, strawberries, cherries, litsea cubeba, juniper berry, vanilla, oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit);

5 – Leaves and Twigs (lavender, patchouli, citrus, violets, sage, rosemary, hay, tomato);

6 – Resins (labdanum, myrrh, gum benzoin, Peru balsam, frankincense/olibanum, pine, fir, amber, copal);

7 – Roots, Bulbs, and Rhizomes (vetiver roots, ginger and iris rhizomes);

8 – Seeds (coriander, cocoa, mace, cardamom, anise, nutmeg, caraway, tonka bean);

9 – Woods (agarwood, birch, rosewood, sandalwood, pine, birch, juniper, cedar).

Animal sources include Ambergris, Castoreum, Musk, Rom terpenes, Honeycomb, and Civet. Other natural sources include Lichens and Protists. Synthetic sources include synthetic odorants synthesized from petroleum distillates, pine resins, etc. Modern perfumes are mostly made from synthetic sources as they allow fragrances not found in nature, like Calone is a synthetic compound that imparts a marine metallic ozonous fragrance. Synthetic aromatics are more consistent than natural aromatics, and are hence, widely used nowadays in modern available perfumes.

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