Perfume and eau de toilette are different. What is the difference between eau de parfum and eau de toilette? Eau de toilette, perfume and perfume - what's the difference?

What is better: eau de toilette or perfumed water?

How not to get lost in aromas when choosing women's perfume? What's the difference? Intricate bottles with fragrances always attract curious ladies. But not everyone can figure out how to choose the right perfume. After all, some perfumes (very rarely) can contain up to 300 aromatic components. In modern perfumery, perfumes contain no more than 80 components. Perfume is typically derived from the aromatic oils of plants and also uses synthetic ingredients. More often women's perfume represent a mixture of these two species. Synthetic additives do not harm the quality of perfumes; on the contrary, thanks to a wide range of combinations, the perfumer gives a new sound to familiar aromas. Coco Chanel herself also said on this occasion that it is primitive and boring to smell just like a violet or a rose.

Today, ladies with the help of fragrances are trying to create their own image, unique and delightful. They create it with the help of spirits, or eau de toilette or perfumed water. All fragrances are divided into 14 families:

• Oriental (soft, floral, oriental)
• Woody (chypre, dry wood, woody)
• Freshness (citrus, aquatic, aromatic)
• Floral (floral, fruity)

Each woman chooses for herself the notes that she likes best and is acceptable to her image: woody, oriental, fresh or floral notes.

Young people prefer light floral notes and notes of freshness - citrus, caramel and fruit aromas. Older ladies admire richer (heavier) oriental aromas, which give them mystery and zest.

The power of scents. Women's perfume is power!

It's no secret that smells literally control our emotions. So, sometimes a familiar smell from childhood or youth brings deep-lying memories to the surface. Depending on the smell, our imagination draws an image of a particular person. However, the same smell does not always evoke the same feelings in people. For example, some popular smells in the West (lavender) may seem “household” to us Russians, similar to the smell of moth plates, and vice versa. This happens because smells are very closely tied in our minds to some events in our lives. Although experts in the field of perfumery have long noticed that some fragrances can act the same on many people. These properties of odors are used to manipulate masses of people. For example, the smell of tangerines improves your mood, invigorates you, and you want to somehow cheer yourself up, pamper yourself, buy something. And this method is used in supermarkets. But to improve performance, the aromas of mint and, of course, lily of the valley are suitable.

Many ladies have a question, what better eau de toilette or perfumed, and is there a difference? But there is a difference. Eau de parfum has a much higher content of fragrant oils, so it is more durable. In eau de toilette the percentage of oils is lower and higher than other synthetic additives. Here is a table of scent durations.

Rules for choosing women's perfume

• Apply perfume to your wrist (yours).
• Do not inhale the perfume from the bottle; you will not feel anything other than the volatile evaporation of alcohol.
• Spray the sample on your wrist or tester and wait for the aroma to develop. During the first minutes, volatile substances evaporate. Perfume is interesting because in the first 10 minutes you get one impression of the aroma (this is the top of the perfume), and in the next 2 - 3 hours, when the top evaporates, the core of the aroma of this perfume will be revealed to you. It is this smell that will determine the character of the perfume.
• Do not buy women's perfume momentarily, but choose a few testers you like to take home and continue tasting an hour later. And then go shopping.

The issue of durability is one of the most popular among perfume buyers. But for perfumers this question is not decisive. After all, you can’t call a chef the best just because he cooks the most high-calorie dishes, and in perfumery, the best perfumer is not determined based on the durability of the aroma.

Before studying the issue of perseverance, we recommend that you watch the video from Guru Elina Arsenyeva:

Classification of perfumes by durability

Longevity depends on the types of perfumes used. Let's look at the main types:

• - the most persistent and expensive type of perfume. The concentration of essential oils is 20% or more, dissolved in almost pure alcohol (96%). Longevity about 6 hours
• - the most popular type of perfume. The concentration is about 10%. Longevity is about 4 hours.
• - light type of perfume. Concentration is about 4-5%. Can be used several times a day. Ideal for summer time. Longevity 2-3 hours.
• - Concentration 1-2%. Lasts no more than an hour.
• - Less than 1%. Lasts less than an hour.

Durability of fakes and original perfumes

There is a well-established myth among buyers that originals are different from fakes. resilience. This is far from true!

The original differs from a fake primarily in the sound of the aroma; durability has nothing to do with it! This is the most popular trick of those who sell fakes.

The first thing you will hear about a fake is: “A replica is the same scent, but its longevity is 4 hours, instead of 8 hours like the original.” This is far from true! The fakes open with one single note, without beginning, intrigue or climax. They do not change throughout the day, which cannot be said about a high-quality original scent.

No need to be confused sound of aroma with resilience.

What determines the durability of the original aroma?

1. Prolonged shaking and external influence

During transportation, the perfume may be exposed to the sun or transferred to cold weather. It is recommended to store fragrances in a dry, dark place and not subject them to prolonged shaking. Therefore, immediately after receiving the perfume, especially when shipping within Russia, it is necessary to put the perfume in a dark, cool place and allow the composition to “get into shape” for 1-2 days. Especially in summer and winter, when temperature changes are very significant. At a minimum, the perfume must reach room temperature before it can be sprayed.

Those who are interested in vintage perfumes first-hand know about this important fact. There are special refrigerators in which vintage fragrances are placed for 2-3 weeks so that they gain the desired shape.

2. Your skin chemistry

People are unique not only in appearance: the chemical composition and processes that occur inside each person are unique. This, of course, affects our skin, namely temperature, acidity and oiliness.

In the perfume world, there are 2 types of skin: “cold” and “hot”.

• With “hot skin” aromas appear brighter and richer, but the brighter the aroma, the faster it fades, which means less longevity. More often, this type of skin is found in people who like to open windows and are very sensitive to stuffiness in the room.
• On “cold skin,” perfumes take longer to dissipate, but they also reveal less brightly. More often this type of skin is found in frozen people - they are always cold and sensitive to drafts. These are the people who close the windows and turn off the air conditioning.

There is a little trick to determining your skin type. These are cheap plastic rings that define your mood. They are designed in such a way that they turn different colors depending on the temperature of your skin. The darker the ring, the colder your skin.

3. Environment and external factors can increase or decrease the longevity of a fragrance

Sun, frost and humidity. The more aggressive the external environment, the faster the aroma disappears. Some buyers find that the scent dissipates more slowly in winter (the cold helps contain it). This is wrong. This is due to the fact that in winter people dress warmer; when moving, many times more heat is released and accumulated under your clothes.

Notice how the aroma unfolds in rain, sun, frost, or just a comfortable cloudy day. Durability will vary.

4. Different batches of fragrance production

Especially when it comes to natural ingredients, which are typical for expensive perfumes. Only fragrances from 1 batch will have the same aroma and 99% similarity.

Why is this so? External environmental conditions are different. Jasmine collected in 2013 will be different from jasmine in 2016, because the amount of rainfall, average temperature and thousands of other factors were completely different. Just like jasmine grown in the wild will differ from jasmine grown under selective conditions.

Now mass market perfumery is being switched to artificial substitutes for aromatic extracts. Yes, this leads to a predictable aroma and a uniform quality, but, in the opinion of professional perfumers, this leads to a loss of magic and individuality of the aroma. Therefore, when buying perfume made from natural ingredients, be prepared for the fact that the scent you like in a new version may reveal itself completely differently on your skin than your old bottle purchased earlier.

A batch made from the same set of ingredients is then marked with a batch code. The next batch may already be produced from other ingredients, a different year and a different quality. The only way to get the same quality is to buy perfume from the same batch.

5. Storage conditions violated

Unfortunately, almost no online store is able to 100% control the storage conditions of goods from the supplier, because The supplier guarantees ideal storage conditions only legally, by contract. How this happens in practice is not known. Stores check the goods only upon acceptance, based on indirect signs: faded packaging or print color. Unfortunately, there are no other verification methods.

That's why our store has . After all, in order to present a claim to the supplier, the store needs legal grounds that the perfume is of poor quality. Without physical evidence this is impossible. After all, before selling, we cannot open the packaging and check its quality, in which case you will receive an unattractive product.

If there are problems, our store studies the behavior of the supplier, if he takes action, we continue cooperation with him, if the supplier does not solve quality problems, we stop cooperation.

6. Deterioration in quality in production

This applies to a greater extent to mass market perfumes, which are produced primarily for the sake of making money. Once a fragrance gains popularity, manufacturers look for cheaper raw materials, reducing production costs. Here, unfortunately, retailers are powerless, because... We only resell perfumes and cannot influence production.

The only effective measure is to stop buying a fragrance after its quality has deteriorated. Only voting with your wallet helps to correct the quality of any aroma. Since there is no better tone for a manufacturer than a decrease in sales. Before purchasing any perfume, we recommend studying reviews on perfume forums, even for fragrances that you know inside and out.

7. Fragrance fatigue

If you use the same scent for a long time, your sense of smell gets used to it so much that you stop feeling it on yourself. In this case, it is better to stop using the fragrance for 2-3 weeks and return to it later. Or ask someone around you to describe how they feel about the scent on you.

But it’s better not to ask those with whom you live in the same apartment and see each other every day, because... they could also become accustomed to your scent.

This is very dangerous, because... You may start to overdo it with the amount of perfume. You will not feel anything, and those around you will go crazy and may even clear their throats. It’s rare that anyone can admit this; more often those around them simply tolerate it and look askance.

How to determine the durability of perfumes at home?

As you understand, it is incorrect to measure the durability of a fragrance in everyday life, because... no two days are the same. If you want to compare the durability of perfumes in your collection, you can do it as follows:

• Take a blank A4 piece of paper;
• Label each strip with the name of the perfume;
• Spray your perfume onto the strip;
• Record the spraying time on a piece of paper;
• At certain intervals, for example, once every 20 minutes, tick the strip until the aroma goes out completely;
• How many ticks the perfume has scored - multiply by the frequency of checking. For example, 30 ticks every 20 minutes means that the fragrance lasts 600 minutes or 10 hours.

Which long-lasting fragrances should I buy?

To go to the catalog, select a category:

Perfume has been known since ancient times; the Egyptians often used this perfume as one of the important elements of god worship and sacrifice. However, wealthy people pampered themselves with exquisite perfumes in everyday life. The popularity of this type of perfume in ancient times was so great that even in the Bible there are several references to its use in the form of aromatic oils.

The medieval Persian scientist Avicenna was involved in the production of perfume through distillation. A similar procedure is still used today.

It is believed that the first perfumes were created in Mesopotamia, and then from there they spread to other countries - Egypt, Persia and Ancient Rome. Perfume was obtained mainly from extracts extracted from various flowers. The first samples of perfumes came to Europe in the 14th century, thanks to the spread of Islam. Modern perfume manufacturers use the classic perfume recipe: first there is a starting note, then a heart note, and then a final note.

The term “eau de toilette” appeared in the world only in the 19th century. This name was introduced by Napoleon Bonaparte himself. While on the island of St. Helena, he suddenly ran out of cologne, and then the disgraced French emperor invented his own version of aromatic water with the addition of essential oils of bergamot, lavender and rosemary to diluted alcohol. Napoleon called his creation eau de toilette, and then this concept acquired official meaning.

If you compare eau de toilette with perfume, its aroma is less persistent, but more subtle. In addition, it contains less aromatic base (oils).

However, if you look into more ancient history, you can find out that in the ancient world animals and sheds were sprinkled with fragrant water. In addition, they even let it flow through fountains instead of ordinary water. When Ancient Rome fell, this type of perfume became widespread in the East.

Eau de toilette is a flavoring perfume in the form of an alcohol-water solution containing aromatic substances. As for the content of essential oils in it, they are present here from 4 to 10%.

What is the difference between eau de toilette and perfume?

The main difference between perfume and eau de toilette is the higher percentage of the perfume composition (a combination of balms, essential oils and other components) - 15-30% or more in 96% alcohol. And in eau de toilette, in turn, there is only 4–12% of the composition, and the rest is 85% alcohol. Of course, in this situation, the smell of perfume will last much longer, and the eau de toilette will evaporate much faster.

As for the cost of these two types of perfume, considerable is also noticeable here. Perfume is more difficult to create because more raw materials are spent on them, and therefore their price is higher. Designing perfumes is quite a difficult task. Fashionable, sophisticated bottles are created for them, while simpler requirements are imposed on containers for eau de toilette.

To summarize, we can conclude that the difference between eau de toilette and perfume is as follows:
- alcohol in eau de toilette is 85%, and in perfume it is 96%;
- eau de toilette contains less aromatic oils, and more perfume;
- the aroma of eau de toilette does not last as long as that of perfume;
- eau de toilette is more affordable in price, the price of perfume is much higher;
- bottles for perfumes are designed more refined and elegant than containers for eau de toilette.

Perfume, eau de toilette, eau de parfum, cologne... It turns out that the difference is not only in price. Perfume couturier and creator of the first Russian brand of selective perfumery Maria Borisova spoke about the differences between different types of perfumes and the advantages of each of them.

Cologne (Eau De Cologne)

Cologne is the “lightest” type of perfume, since the content of the active component in it is only 3-8%. The concentration of fragrant substances in it is not very high, so colognes do not have high durability - the aroma will stay with you for 1 to 2 hours. Today, cologne has become an attribute of predominantly men's perfumery, although many famous perfume houses previously released women's fragrances in such concentrations.

Eau De Toilet

Popular

Eau de toilette is the most common type of perfume, the concentration of the fragrant substance in which ranges from 8 to 12%. The popularity of eau de toilette is easy to explain: the composition will last from 3 to 6 hours and, if desired, you can easily change the daytime scent to the evening one. In addition, the concentration of “eau de toilette” makes it possible to make a too strong smell more “politically correct”.

Eau De Parfum

Eau de parfum - also known as "eau de toilette" - is the second most popular type of perfume. The concentration of aromatic substances in it fluctuates around 15-20%, and durability begins at least 6 hours. Most of the time, the aroma comes from the heart or base notes, as the freshest and lightest accords of the composition evaporate within a few hours. Perfumers call Eau de parfum a daytime perfume, but it can be used as an evening option. This is why eau de parfum always costs more than eau de toilette.

Perfume (Parfum or Perfume)

And finally, perfume is the most durable type of perfume, and at the same time the most expensive. The content of fragrant substances in them ranges from 20 to 30%. In perfumes, the heart and base notes are felt to a greater extent, which subsequently settle on the skin. Perfume is recommended to be used in very small quantities or on special occasions.

Perfumed body care (Parfum Body Lotion)

Perfumed body care products are cosmetic products that are based on the base scent of a perfume. The content of the fragrant component in such products is minimal - no more than 1%. It will not be possible to preserve the aroma using only a perfumed product, but the effect of layering odors significantly increases the durability of the main aroma.