Some essential facts about perfumes

Here are a few facts that most people are unaware of as far as fragrances are concerned. Did you know that the chemical composition of perfume consists of 78% – 95% of denatured ethyl alcohol? Essential oils make up the remainder. And there are five fragrant variants.

These are:

Perfume is costliest as its made of 22% essential oils.
Eau de Parfum or EDP has 15 – 22% essential oils.
Eau de Toilette or EDT is next with 8 to 15% essential oils.
Eau de Cologne has only 4% essential oils in its chemical make up.
Eau Fraiche, the lightest dilution of fragrance, has only 1 to 3% essential oils.

New introductions in the perfume market are often promoted as EDPs. Occasionally the EDT variant is not produced since there is a growing demand for Eau de Parfum as people are looking for a more long-lasting signature.

Fragrance categories:

These are:

Floral
Green Marine
Fruit
Chypre
Oriental
Floriental

Typical plant products include:

bay leaf
anise
bergamot
cedar wood
eucalyptus (eucalyptus oil)
cardamom
gardenia
frankincense
iris
geranium
lavender
jasmine
lemon (lemon oil)
lily of the valley
lilac
magnolia
lily
orris
moss
orange (orange oil)
raspberry
neroli
patchouli
rose
sage
pine
tuberose
sandalwood
vanilla
ylang-ylang
violet
argan (argan oil)
peppermint (peppermint oil)

That musky scent: Animal products used in scents include ambergris drawn from sperm whales, musk derived from the musk deer (male), civet from the civet cat and a secretion of the beaver called castoreum. These are used as fixatives and at the same time add a magical, exciting and intangible mystique to the fragrance.

Some essential facts about perfumes