Your Easy Guide to Fragrance Strengths

At Scent Bar we know shopping for a particular fragrance can be confusing at best, or overwhelming at worst.

Not only are there top notes, middle notes, and bottom notes, but whole classes of scents. What's more, once you've decided on a scent, another decision must be made: Perfume, Eau de Parfum, Eau de Toilette or Cologne.

The main difference of these types is the concentration of base notes in a solvent - that is, how much fragrance is in the formula's composition. The more actual perfume concentrate it contains, the longer the scent will last and the more expensive the product tends to be. Following is a breakdown of these types.

Perfume

Also referred to as perfume extract, is the most concentrated of the available genre of scents, and is usually the most expensive. It contains approximately 15-30% of the base note compounds/essential oils. Due to the high amount of scent extract, it tends to last longest. It is usually sold in smaller quantities.50ml or less.

Eau de Parfum (EDP)

Eau de Parfum, also called eau de perfume, is the next most concentrated formula, and one of the most popular compositions. It consists of approximately 10-15% compounds/essential oils.

Eau de Toilette (EDT)

Eau de toilette is also a popular choice, and is less expensive than the perfume or Parfum formulations, although its scent will not last as long when applied to the skin. Eau de Toilette contains approximately 5-20% of the base note scents.

Cologne or Eau de Cologne (EDC)

Eau de Cologne originated in Cologne, Germany. Today, it is a generic term that defines a class of scented formulations by its typical concentration of approximately 2-5% of base scents. Cologne products are available for either men or women, are sometimes mistaken for aftershave, which is actually a formula containing moisturizer, antiseptic agent and perfume extract. In addition, aftershave can be a gel, lotion, or liquid.

Testers

A Scent Bar tester is a discounted product sold generally without the fancy box or lid and is great if you don't have a need for the decorative packaging. Testers are always 100% authentic, fresh and completely the same as the original fragrance, they are actually supplied to Distributors for use as spray testers on Department Store counter. Testers often come in a plain white box, sometimes they do not have a cap or a box. The savings on the packaging is substantial.

For any perfume concentration, be sure to keep the bottle tightly sealed and stored in a cool, dry place away from windows or direct sunlight or heat sources to maximize its shelf life. For best results, store opened bottles inside their boxes. Fragrances usually last three years from the date they were manufactured.

Mini bottles/sprays

Developed by the manufacturer to entice the purchaser to try before they buy, it is always fun to purchase a number of different Mini sample fragrances and try them all to see if the fragrance suits you

Sizes of mini samples are between 5 ml and 10 ml they certainly have sufficient fragrance to try several times while deciding what scent is right for you.