Perfume Classifications And Identities: Perfume Notes and Categories
By Patricia Warner
The nose and the way we smell are one of the most potent of the human senses. As the stories tell, perfume and cologne alone can cause an apple to taste like an onion. Olfactory stimulus can conjure up images and bring back memories, even suppressed ones, linked to similar smells. We can assume that our smell sense,Therefore the sense of smell, especially when sniffing fragrance is very closely tied to our emotional centers and by extension factors largely into our ideas of beauty and attraction. Such explains the appeal of perfumes and cologne fragrances, and justifies them as a critical element of a woman's or man's cosmetic wardrobe.
What is perfume and cologne? Of all the variety at the stores, how can you tell the differences? Also, with the seemingly infinite array of options available, how does a woman choose the right scent or scents for her, or perhaps as a gift? Several factors contribute to a woman's selection of the perfect smell, and are largely tied to the image she wishes to portray, the mood she is in, and her overall personality. A good place to start in helping you decide on your scent is by describing the different manifestations of "perfume", and how they vary based on the particular ingredients.
The first means of categorizing "perfume" is by breaking it down into several different classifications based on the concentration of the alcohol content vs actual scent. While many question the necessity for the inclusion of alcohol, without it the scent would evaporate too quickly rather than bonding with the body's natural oils and emanating from your skin. The percentage of perfume oil itself is what determines how well it holds its potency, and whether it does so for a worthwhile duration of most of the day, or whether it instead lasts for a matter of only an hour or so.
The classifications are as follows:
Perfume: 15-30% oil. The cream of the crop discount perfume, top shelf, usually last atleast 6 hours. It is packaged in small bottles, and should be used sparingly.
Eau de Parfum: 8-15% oil. When accurately classified, an Eau de Parfum contains a higher concentration than Eau de Toilette
Eau de Toilette: 4-8% oil. This is the normal discount fragrance most people spend their money on. For everyday use and prices around ones budget. This typical combination lasts anywhere for 2-4 hours.
Eau de Cologne: 2-5% oil. Usually inexpensive, Eau de Cologne typically lasts up to 2 hours maximum, and is available in some sort of spray bottle.
Splash Cologne: 1-3% oil. Depending on the type of splash cologne or perfume you are looking for, this is more old school than new. However, some still love to put the perfume or cologne on their hands and rub it on. Its what ever works for you!.
The perfumes and colognes themselves fall into five traditional fragrance categories, plus and additional category of more contemporary origin, some of which contain sub-classifications popular enough to almost constitute a separate category. The selection of the primary category of fragrance is a matter of personal preference, deciding what scents appeal to you, but how they come off to people and yourself when worn is something that only experience by trying a few and seeing how it reacts to you can tell you. Time of year, mood, and level of stress can all affect body chemistry, and thus determine how the perfume will smell on each person. Be careful not to pick a perfume or cologne because how it smells on someone else, you can almost bet it will smell different, and sometimes seriously different, on you with your personal factors reacting to the fragrance.
Here are the factors:
Floral: Usually containing a combination of different floral scents and intended to appeal to the true romantic, Floral also has a prominent subcategory known as Florential which is versatile enough for day or evening wear. Common ingredients include Rose, Lily, & Violey Carnation, while Florentials include more exotic flowers such as freesia, jasmine, orange flower, moon flower, and gardenia, with strong undertones of musk, sandalwood, amber, and apricot.
Fruity: Traditionally the category known as "Fruity" is comprised of warmer fruit scents, however the subcategory Citrus tends to include lighter aromas. Common ingredient include warmer fruits such as peach, apricot, apple, mandarin, papaya, pineapple, and passion fruit, which the Citrus subdivision adds elements like lemon, lime, grapefruit, and tangerine.
Chypre: Mossy & Woodsy perfumes and fragrances, Chypre is a good choice for a lover of the outdoors. Common ingredients include patchouli, sage, oakmoss, and lavender.
Fougere: Often used in men's fragrances, Fougeres are often referred to as Greens. Composed of grassy and herbal scents, and tend to be refreshing and crisp. Common ingredients include rosemary, juniper, pine, lavender, and hyacinth.
Orientals: Heavily scented, and best for evenings, special occasions, and cooler weather. Orientals contain fragrance that falls into subcategories of musky, woodsy, exotic florals, and spicy. Familiar ingredients are: ginger, vanilla, cinnamon, woods, cloves, resins, and amber.
Oceanic: Composed of scents reminiscent of water, Oceanic perfumes are a contemporary addition, are light and airy, and are intended to represent smells of things that cannot be naturally bottled. Thus common ingredients are synthetic, but meant to simulate things like ocean spray, mountain air, or clean linen.
As already stated,As previously mentioned, selecting a perfume scent is an extremely personal process, and should be done carefully. When selecting a discount perfume for yourself, make sure to remember the following. Each designer perfume has several distinctive scents ("notes"), top (above), middle (or heart), and bottom notes, each of which manifests itself at different times subsequent to the initial application. Take the time to let the perfume or cologne set for a little while (15-30min) and wait to smell all of the notes as they come out rather than making your decision on the spot. Also, be certain to test the perfume on your skin rather than on a paper test strip to allow yourself proper evaluation of how it will react with your body chemistry.
When buying perfume for a gift, it is impossible to gauge with complete accuracy how the perfume will react with that individual, thus expensive perfume purchases are not recommended unless the person has told you what he or she prefers. Therefore consider other things when buying gifts. Beautiful or interestingly shaped bottles can turn even a mismatched scent into a charming decorative piece or collectors' item. Purchase scents in lower concentration versions, or perhaps in home fragrances or shower gels, so that the chemical reaction will be eliminated or minimized. If the person ends up loving the designer fragrance, he or she can choose to purchase it, or request a more concentrated version of the perfume as a gift at a later date. Consider the individual's personality and lifestyle, and determine how those factors correspond with what you have learned about the different types of perfumes available. At last you can alway get the help of a professional at a perfumery or department store in their designer department. But take what they say with a grain of salt, don't let them talk you into buying something that ends up back firing on you later.
An individual's scent can be one of the most potent (and primal) statements that he or she makes, therefore be in control of yours. Perfume can help you express your personality, so choose a small variety that compliments each of your moods. No more are the historic days of perfume as a compensation for poor hygiene, today's perfume constitutes a conscious statement to the rest of the world. Like seasoned wine connoisseurs, informed and practiced perfume shoppers can appreciate the subtleties of notes and categories, and use this knowledge to describe themselves to the rest of the world through an immensely powerful vehicle: the human sense of smell. Perfume and fragrance is almost like putting on your makeup.. The less, the better. You want people to just barely smell your scent or fragrance when you walk by, not make them fall over.
About the author
I 've had my fair share of troubles with picking the right perfume or cologne for me or a gift for someone else. I have used perfume and bought cologne for many men over my last 20 years. A great company I've found and used many times to buy discount perfume and cologne is YourNewFragrance.Com. from http://www.FreeArticlesAndContent.com
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