Welcome to Members' Corner, where our community members teach us about the topic they know best! It’s an exercise in the esoteric, an illustration of the individual, a resource of the recondite, and a nexus of niche knowledge. Last time, Horror and Cats taught us about the essentials any cat-loving household should have to hand if they ever come across an abandoned litter. This time, yan57436 teaches us about fragrances. If you don’t know the difference between eau de toilette and eau de parfum (we didn’t), then read on!

A smell reflects much more than a simple sense. It’s your grandmother’s house. It’s the clearing of rain. It’s coming home and knowing your mother has made the stew you adore. Smells are feelings, desires, times that will never come again but that you’d like to keep within.

A year ago, I saw a Reddit post from a man whose wife passed away. He still had her clothes and hoped that people might be able to identify her perfume so that he could keep that memory and share it with his daughter when she grows up. 

Today, I’d like to teach you what I know about perfume.

Concentration: 

Excluding some crazy inventions such as sauvage eau forte, perfume is composed of fragrance oils and alcohol. The percentage of oil determines the longevity of the smell. Gee, Yan, why don’t I have a 100% oil perfume so it lasts longer? Well, the alcohol, among other uses, is what determines the fragrance’s volatility - how it disperses. Let’s look at some of the differing concentrations we have on the market today:

Eau fraîche

Here, we have only 1-3% oil, which guarantees high volatility but little longevity. It’s great for those looking for a very short-term fragrance; perhaps to go to bed or to pop out for a pastry. 

Eau de cologne

With a composition containing 2-5% fragrance oils, eau de cologne is still a short-lasting fragrance, though you’re guaranteed to have a longer scent (two to four hours) than eau fraîche. In general, it goes very well with eau fraîche. They're lighter perfumes; think summer days rather than crowded parties. 

Eau de toilette (EdT)

Moving onto the most popular perfumes on the market, at 5-15% fragrance oils, eau de toilette is the perfect ratio for your day-to-day life. Usually lasting up to six hours, they’re the ideal product for your daily routine, thanks to their combination of volatility and durability. 

Eau de parfum (EdP)

Now we come to the robust perfumes. They won’t breathe in the same way EdT does and they have heavier notes - I’ll explain that later - yet maintain longevity (four to eight hours). Generally, EdPs have intense and striking perfumes, with a fragrance oil concentration of 15-25%.

Parfum/extrait de parfum:
Finally, we have an intense and durable scent. At 25-45% concentration, parfums are complex, elegant, and striking, and they last longer than any other fragrance. Use them sparingly. 

Notes

It’s true that the concentration of fragrance oil is only one difference, but know that this simple change has wide-reaching changes beyond the longevity of scent. Lighter concentration fragrances with shorter durations tend to be light and fresh whereas longer-lasting, high-concentration fragrances are richer and fuller bodied. 

Moreover, differing concentrations make notes that would otherwise be muted become more prominent. By changing the concentration, the scent can drastically change. Take the example of Dior’s Sauvage: The eau de toilette version is crisp with notes of bergamot and amberwood, its eau de parfum is sensual with notes of patchouli and vanilla, and its parfum version is fierce with notes of mandarin and tonka bean.

Let's give you the tools to discuss the right perfume for your circumstances. We’ve touched on ‘notes’ above, but let’s get a bit more specific:

• Top notes: This is the note you’ll smell the moment you spray the perfume.

• Heart notes: Here we have the soul of the perfume, its real essence.

• Base notes: Generally, these are woody notes; they’re heavier and ensure greater longevity on the skin.

I recommend the independent review website, Fragrantica, which has a visual indicator to better understand the wearability and notes of different perfumes. Heavy perfumes (often those with higher concentrations of oils) should not be worn in hot weather or indoors. They can be uncomfortable when worn in the wrong environment. Conversely, citrus perfumes perform very well in hot weather. For the latter, I recommend my current darling: MYSLF by Yves Saint Laurent. 

If you don't like citrus perfumes and want something more sophisticated or striking, we have incense perfumes, which will guarantee you elegance and sophistication. The best example here is Bleu de Chanel. 

What about if you want to go to a party and wish to attract some attention? Consider choosing something expansive with notes of caramel; a fragrance that will let people know you’re coming before you’re even there, like Jean Paul Gaultier’s Scandal. 

Fragrances have become a personal addiction for me. But it’s worth remembering that you only need two fragrances: 

• One for your day-to-day life; this is your ‘signature’ fragrance and should contain woody and citrus notes. 

• One for more relaxed, open environments like parties, where your all-rounder doesn’t have the necessary impact but a sweeter fragrance will. 

Beyond the basics

The world of perfumery is huge. There are many different themes that I haven’t covered. 

Take countertypes, which, via slightly differing molecular structures to designer perfumes, are legally distinct and therefore are not formally counterfeits. Yet they are in essence replicas for those unable or unwilling to pay designer prices.

On the other side of the coin, there are niche perfumes - those that come from companies which only produce perfumes. These are very expensive, so I recommend venturing into the normal world of perfumes before considering moving onto them. 

And that’s it! I hope I’ve been able to interest you a little in the world of perfumes. Remember: smell reflects more than just a sense. 

Is anyone else suddenly filled with the desire to go perfume shopping? Thank you to Yan for opening up this fragrant new world for us. If you have any further questions, tag him in the replies; we suspect he’d be happy to advise.

If you’d like to read more of our members’ speciality subjects, we have plenty to choose from. You might want to start with TrialByStory's take on the unique narrative medium of wrestling, Lanah Tyra on a lost ability for FFXIV healers, or mar1gold on Habibi Funk Records.

In addition, the Members’ Corner reward that Yan’s post came from contains loads of fascinating posts from members that won’t get their own writeups but are nonetheless fascinating (like MrT's sound mixing lesson), impressive (like Vivisector's DOOM merch collection), and adorable (like Braulio M Lara 🔹's duck rescue and origami classes). You can find all of those and more, along with Yan’s original unedited post, at the reward post.

In-line image credit: Sponchia on Pixabay