How much do you know about Perfume concentration? Ever since the launch of Branddecant, customer service representatives have been receiving messages like these on a daily basis:
Angela: Hello, I would like a less intense perfume, with a fresh scent and long-lasting fragrance, preferably one that lingers for a week.
Ben: This perfume smells too intense, too overpowering.
Charles: I’ve sprayed it more than ten times, but the perfume has no scent at all, like water. No matter how much I smell it, there’s no fragrance.
It’s evident that the majority of people’s understanding of perfume “intensity” remains on the surface. Many are unaware of the intricacies involved in this concept.
Perfume Concentration Levels
The abbreviations EDC, EDT, and EDP in perfumery represent different concentration levels, indicating the percentage of essential oils in a fragrance.
- EDC (Eau de Cologne): 3 – 5% concentration of essential oils
- EDT (Eau de Toilette): 5 – 15% concentration of essential oils
- EDP (Eau de Parfum): 15 – 20% concentration of essential oils
- Parfum: 20 – 30% concentration of essential oils (Note: Parfum is labeled as such, but it is not pure essential oil)
The higher the percentage of essential oils, the higher the fragrance concentration level.
However, when discussing the intensity of perfumes, it’s not solely about the concentration of essential oils; it’s about describing the sensory experience the perfume provides.
Top Notes: Alcohol Takes Flight
Perfumes consist of two main components: alcohol and essential oils. When the proportion of essential oils is high, the proportion of alcohol is low.
Essential oils need to evaporate into the air to produce fragrance. Given their slow evaporation rate, alcohol plays a crucial role in this process.
Alcohol acts as the carrier for the perfume, being the solvent for essential oils. With high volatility, alcohol quickly evaporates into gas, facilitating the evaporation of essential oils into the air. This is what we perceive as fragrance.
Therefore, whether a perfume smells intense or not depends on the number of fragrance molecules in the air. Perfumes with lower concentrations like EDC and EDT, due to their high alcohol content, have a rapid and vigorous evaporation, covering a larger area in a short time. As a result, their top notes may appear more intense than those of EDP or Parfum.
Middle and Base Notes: Comparing Ammunition
Like a sprinter who starts off fast but may struggle to finish, the initial intensity of a perfume diminishes as alcohol evaporates. It then becomes a competition of essential oil concentration. EDP and Parfum, with higher essential oil concentrations, have more ammunition, allowing them to continuously release more essential oils. Hence, in the middle and base notes, they may smell more intense than lower concentration perfumes.
In real situations, different concentration perfumes not only vary in essential oil content but often (not always) differ in the selection of fragrance ingredients. EDP and Parfum may choose components with longer-lasting fragrances. Different concentration perfumes can be seen as having different formulas, but the overall differences are not significant. Here, we won’t delve into the details, as understanding the relationship between alcohol and essential oils is sufficient.
Airborne Loss: Understanding the Discrepancy
Many people are unaware that what they smell from their own application of perfume differs from what others perceive (note: knocking on the blackboard). When personally testing a fragrance, one experiences the perfume in its entirety, in a “realistic” way. However, when the perfume is worn and diffused to others, only about 10% of the concentration remains, and the top notes have already evaporated. At this point, the fragrance becomes a hazy “impressionist” representation, with only the most prominent outlines of the perfume remaining, and many details have already faded.
Therefore, don’t be intimidated by the strong top notes of a perfume, as many perfumes become gentle and charming in the middle and base notes. Some perfumes that may seem excessively sweet can transform into pleasantly subtle fragrances once applied, as their concentration significantly decreases, resulting in a perfectly balanced and gentle sweetness.
Tips for Prolonging Fragrance Duration
Is there a way to extend the longevity of a perfume without spraying too much?
Yes, the answer lies in keeping the skin moisturized. Dry skin accelerates the evaporation of perfume, so using a moisturizing lotion can help stabilize the evaporation rate of essential oils, thus prolonging the fragrance. Many perfumes offer matching scented lotions, or unscented lotions can be used to avoid interfering with the perfume’s natural aroma.
Purchase and Test: Expand Your Experience
Perception of a perfume’s intensity varies greatly among individuals due to differences in taste preferences, olfactory sensitivity, fragrance testing experience, testing methods, spraying amounts, and application areas (skin versus clothing). Therefore, never give up on a perfume solely based on someone else’s perception of it being too intense or too light.
Maintain an open mind, purchase samples, personally test the fragrance, and patiently experience the top, middle, and base notes of the perfume. Relying on your own nose is the most effective method. Perhaps a perfume that initially seemed unbearable to you will eventually become a cherished favorite!