Everything You Should Know About Perfumes

There’s so much more to shopping for a new perfume than choosing the scent you like, and once you start to dive into the world of fragrances it’s easy to become overwhelmed.

If you’re on the hunt for a new perfume and want to be sure you choose one that suits you perfectly and helps you achieve a signature scent, read on.

Learning about perfumes, its different types, scents, and styles, as well as how to determine its strength are basics that every modern Indian man and woman should know.

With this knowledge, you’ll be able to choose the perfect scent every time and be able to determine which brands and scents are the best quality and those that complement your skin.

What are the different types of perfumes and what do they mean?

Perfumes are usually categorized by their strength, which can be determined by their perfume oil concentration, and the higher the concentration, the longer its scent will last on the skin. In order of strength, they range from parfum, eau de parfum, eau de toilette, eau de cologne, and eau fraiche.

In addition to there being different types, perfumes can also be categorized into things like notes and ingredients, gender, and style, so there’s a lot to learn about fragrances.

With our help and this guide to perfumes, you’ll become an expert in no time and be able to separate the good from the bad when it comes to choosing your next signature scent.

How Are Perfumes Made?

Making a perfume is a lot more involved than most people realize and it takes a lot of time and patience to get it from its initial stages to the bottled final product you see on the shelves.

The first step of creating a perfume is to collect the desired ingredients which will be determined by the scents and aromas that are chosen for this specific product.

The oils must be extracted from these ingredients, whether it’s from a fruit, flower, wood, or something else, to get a scent that’s wearable and strong enough to make ap perfume.

For a scent that doesn’t occur naturally like plants and flowers, a perfume might be made using synthetic scents that have been created to mimic common smells like leather, musk, and hedione.

The oils that have been extracted or created are then blended and mixed with other ingredients like carrier oils, petrochemicals, and alcohol, to create the perfume.

Once complete, the formula is left to age to a certain point before it’s of the highest quality and ready for bottling, and this can take months or years depending on the process.

In between these steps, there’s a lot of quality control that occurs to ensure a perfume not only smells pleasant but doesn’t irritate the skin, looks good, and lasts as long as it’s intended to.

Most of the techniques used today have been passed down from the earliest known methods of making perfume, however much of it has been finetuned thanks to science and other advancements in the field of cosmetics.

A Guide to Perfume Types

Perfumes weren’t created equally, and the easiest way to tell how strong and high quality your perfume is is by reading the label.

Perfumes are categorized by type which refers to the concentration of their perfume oil, so check out the most common types you’ll find and what their label means.

Parfum: Extrait de parfum, pure perfume, or parfum, are those with between 15% to 40% fragrance. These last up to eight hours on the skin and are the most expensive due to their high concentration. People with sensitive skin would be better suited to this type as it contains fewer irritants and alcohol.
Eau de parfum: With a concentration of between 15% to 20%, you can expect an eau de parfum to last around five to six hours. This is the most popular form of perfume found in stores but one with a higher price tag.
Eau de toilette: The concentration of fragrance in standard eau de toilette is between 5% and 15%. This a common choice for daytime perfume as it’s lighter, and usually lasts a few hours in the right conditions.
Eau de cologne: This type of perfume has a high concentration of alcohol and may be used in products like aftershave. The perfume oil concentration is between 2% to 4% so it’s not very strong or long-lasting, so people tend to apply more.
Eau fraiche: The lowest concentration of all perfumes, eau fraiche has 1% to 3% of perfume oil as well as a low amount of alcohol. Most of these products are made of water, along with a small amount of fragrance.

Defining Features of Perfumes

Once you’ve established the strength of perfume you prefer, you’ll have more to think about to find your signature scent.

Consider some of these defining features to help you choose one that’s going to suit you perfectly, and give the right effect you want to share with the world.

Scents

There are four main types of scents used for perfumes including floral, oriental, woody, and fresh.

Within these four families of scent, there are further subcategories including fruity, water, citrus, dry wood, and more.

Ingredients

Most perfumes are made with similar ingredients like petrochemicals and alcohol, however, the aromatic ingredients are what give them their signature scent.

This can include things like flowers, woods, and leather.

Gender

Perfumes are categorized by gender with softer notes and fragrances like citrus and floral used for women, whereas men’s perfumes are more woody and oriental.

However, there are no rules in place about men and women’s perfume, and some are even unisex and able to be used by both genders.

The Right Way to Use Perfume

People usually spend a lot of their time trying to find the perfect perfume for them, whether it’s a man looking for a rich and spicy aroma or a woman trying to capture the ideal light and fruity scent.

However, without knowing the right way to use perfume, none of this will matter, so consider these tips to get the most out of your favorite fragrance.

Storage matters

Where you keep your perfume is just as important as the perfume you buy. For correct storage, it should be kept at around 70 degrees Fahrenheit and not in direct sunlight.

Being too hot or too cold can cause an unwanted chemical reaction that destroys your expensive perfume.

Spray, don’t rub

A common mistake men and women make when applying perfume is to spray it on and then rub their wrists together, or rub it into their neck.

This causes friction which adds heat to the skin and changes the scent altogether.

More specifically, it impacts the top and middle notes which are those that last the longest, so you can do a lot of damage to your expensive perfume when you rub.

Keep it small

Where possible, buy perfume bottles that are smaller in size, meaning less oxygen will be stored in the bottle over time.

If you do buy a larger bottle of perfume, you can keep some in the fridge and then store smaller vials on the bathroom countertop that you use each day, to keep it fresh for longer.

Don’t fear synthetic

Some people tend to steer clear of synthetic fragrances when shopping for perfume but unlike other beauty products, there’s nothing to fear here.

Synthetic fragrances are able to capture many natural smells that can’t be extracted, like lily and peony, which are key scents in women’s perfume.

A little goes a long way

With a quality perfume, there’s no need to douse yourself in it to get the full effect.

Most perfumes made today are capable of lasting longer and have enough silage that allows them to create a strong aroma with just one or two sprays.

Wearing too much will be overpowering and off-putting, and have the opposite effect of what you’re trying to achieve.

Long Lasting Perfumes and How to Find Them

The strongest type of perfumes are eau de parfum and parfum, with up to 40% of perfume oil in the formula.

However, if you don’t want to spend extra to get these stronger scents, there are some ways you can ensure that your chosen perfume will last longer even if it’s body spray, cologne, or eau de toilette.

Firstly, look for a perfume with good silage. This refers to the aroma that’s created around you as you wear it.

Some perfumes will spread more easily into the air so even if they don’t have a higher concentration of oil, they’ll still be obvious to anyone standing near you.

Secondly, scents that have a musky or woody tone to them will usually last longer than lighter and fruitier ones.

This is why men’s perfume usually lasts longer than women’s, even if they only apply it once in the morning.

If you’re a woman trying to make yours last longer, try our recommendations for how to apply them correctly.

Knowing Where to Spray Perfume

To get the most out of your perfume, location is key.

There are specific parts of the body that can help you get the best out of your signature scent, and these are called pulse points.

A pulse point is a part of the body where you can feel your pulse, and it emanates heat which then sends the fragrance out into the air.

There are five pulse points on the body that you can apply your perfume to in order to get the most out of it, but try not to apply it to more than two places at once.

The key is holding the perfume bottle around four or five inches away from the skin where you intend to spray it, and giving just two full sprays.

Behind the ear

You might not think perfume placed behind the ear will smell very strong, but it’s one area that doesn’t get disturbed by being touched, so it will last all day.

Having perfume behind the ear ensures your head smells fresh and lovely all day, so it’s a great confidence boost.

On the wrists

Arguably the most popular place to spray perfume, doing a direct spray on either wrist is a great way to ensure you keep the smell all day.

Avoid rubbing your wrists together or touching anything until the perfume has dried.

Behind the knees

Put some fragrance on your legs as soon as you dry off and hop out of the shower.

This works especially well if you’re wearing shorts or a skirt so that the scent can waft naturally through the air during the day.

Inside the elbow

If you plan on wearing a short-sleeved shirt, you can spray your fragrance inside the inner elbow. Once you’ve sprayed it, try not to bend your arm and rub the skin together until it’s dried completely.

Indian Fragrances and Its Perfume Capital

India plays a huge role in the world of fragrances and perfumes, as one of the oldest places to house perfume distilleries.

To try and map the future of Indian perfumes, it helps to understand the past, and many eyes are on the country as a place that can break out from the pack when it comes to creating unique aromas and notes in their fragrances.

When you think about the history of Indian perfume, there’s one place that comes to mind.

Kannauj has long been considered the perfume capital of India, and one of the most important places globally when it comes to fragrances, with over 400 years of tradition to do with creating unique scents.

Although Kannaug was once the home to over 800 perfume distilleries, that number has dwindled, and today there are only 100 perfumeries in the region.

For this reason, modern perfume houses have been desperate to start creating signature scents in Kannauj and the rest of India, before it becomes impossible to purchase perfume that is made here at home.

Modern Indian perfumes include many of the traditional scents that the country is known for, including jasmine, rose, and agarwood, as well as newer and more modern notes.

With the combination of this new and old world, India is home to some of the most unique smelling fragrances on the market, and we hope that this number of homegrown perfume brands continue to expand.

The Importance of Knowing Perfumes

As one of the most expensive beauty products that both men and women invest in here in India, as well as one that can tell people the most about you with a single smell, it’s essential to know everything you can about choosing and wearing perfume the right way.

Take some time to educate yourself on the different types of perfume, the scent families, and how the slightest difference in ingredients or the way you apply it can have a huge impact on its scent.

You owe it to your favorite designer perfume to know how to wear it with style, whether you prefer a rich and aromatic scent or something light and flowery.

Perfume in India has slowly been transforming with the times, so while we rely still on many of the traditional scents that the country is known for, it’s exciting to see what the future holds.

As such a personal choice to make, only you can know the best perfume to suit you, whether it’s new or old, and as long as you know the right way to wear it, you’ll surely make the impression that you wanted.