I have come across a couple of times people asking me the same question of “what is the difference between cologne and perfume?” and that prompted me to write this article to share with you some of my personal take to the question. If you want to learn about the difference between perfume and cologne, then you will want to read this article. Specifically, we will be discussing why cologne is more diluted than perfume, perfume is more expensive than cologne, a brief introduction to colognes and why perfumes are for women and colognes are for men. After reading this article, you should be able to differentiate between a perfume and cologne and select the correct fragrance of your choice.

Many of you may have been wondering what is the main difference between cologne and perfume and why do we have to name them differently when they are all fragrance or scents. One of the main differences in perfumes and colognes is that cologne is more diluted than perfume. It is known that cologne contains more alcohol and water in its mixture than the perfume. Cologne has only about 4% of essential oil in the mixture whereas the perfume can have as high as 40% of essential oil in the mixture. It is due to this reason that the cologne does not have a very long lasting power as compared to perfume. Cologne normally last about two to three hours whereas some perfume can last up to 15 hours. You will be able to apply more doses of cologne per use as it will not be too overpowering and this is due to the low amount of essential oil in the mixture. When applying perfume, you have to apply it sparingly as too much a quantity will be too overpowering and resulting in turning people off from a mile away.

The most expensive component in the mixture of perfume and cologne is the essential oil and this sole component alone will determine the price of the perfumes and cologne. Cologne is definitely cheaper than perfume as the amount of essential oil in its content is much lesser than the perfume. Cologne having about 4% of essential oil versus perfume having 40% essential oil in its content, cologne is at least 50% cheaper than perfume and in some cases; the price of cologne can be as low as 5 – 10% the price of a perfume. In order to market such a high price perfume, designer of perfume and cologne have to design bottle that are more attractive and of better quality to attract consumer to their products. Perfumes are normally house in better quality bottle such as colored glass or crystal, this is to protect the precious essence within from the sunlight and heat source that may deteriorate through exposure. And at the same time with a more attractive and expensive looking bottle, the perfume will appeal more to people who are looking for style and elegance in their search for the perfect fragrance. Cologne on the other hand are normally found housed in the cheaper glass bottle that are more prone to sunlight exposure and also due to their high concentration of alcohol, the cheaper cologne are found to evaporate and turned color faster in their bottle.

When designing a perfume or cologne, perfumery is not able to design a fragrance that can appeal to all. Therefore, there is still a thin line drawn across fragrances designed for women and for men. In order to appeal to the feminine crowds, feminine fragrances are normally stronger and lady like that are often floral or fruity in nature. Cologne is often the lighter version of perfume and in order to be appealing to the men, they are made more musky and masculine. Fragrances for women normally come as perfume, eau de parfum, eau de toilette and rarely the eau de cologne. For the men, fragrance product normally comes as perfume pour homme, cologne, after-shave and splash. Similar to reasons why perfumery came out with different products for men and women, perfume and cologne are also sold in totally different environments. Designer perfume and cologne are normally more classy and elegant and therefore are often sold in a specialty store or on-line where women can touch feel and experience each and individual perfume and cologne samples. Whereas cheap perfume and cologne is normally available in drug stores and discount stores where men and women who are looking for economical bargain of discount perfume and cologne often frequent.

Since its introduction cologne and perfume is definitely different products that are made to appeal to different people. Through this article we have shown you the three main differences between perfume and colognes mainly, why cologne is more diluted than perfume, why perfume is more expensive than cologne and why perfume are for women and cologne for men. After reading this article, you should be able to differentiate between an essence mist cologne spray difference from that of  a perfume and apply this knowledge the next time you decided to buy a fragrance for yourself or that someone special.

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Wearing a perfume is like mixing and matching your clothes, bags and shoes that requires a little bit of artistic sense in making the right decision. However, before you can put your artistic sense into mixing and matching your clothing, bags and shoes, you definitely need to know a little bit more about fashion styles and what is the best fashion style that suit you best before you can make a good choice or decision. Once you are aware and out your knowledge into use, you will be able to come up with different combination to represent different themes or moods that you would like to portray for different occasions. Selecting the correct perfume to go with your theme of the day is also very critical, if care is not taken to match it, you may be in for a big surprise.

The types of fashion style and color a person wear is very much related to the body shape and facial feature of the person. When care is not taken, having a wrong match is totally disastrous. Wearing perfumes is also the same, each and individual of us have a different body chemistry that reacts differently to different types of perfumes. If we choose the wrong fragrance to wear, the resultant chemistry between the body odor and the perfume may also be disastrous. Therefore, we need to know our own body chemistry and the different types of perfume and cologne in market in order for us to select the perfect scent for our theme.

So how do we differentiate between perfumes and know how they react will our body chemistry. Perfumes are classified under 4 main categories depending on the amount of fragrance oil essence concentration in the perfume. The most concentrated of all is the Parfum, the Parfum normally contains about 40% concentration of oil essence in the mixture. The next in line is the Eau de Parfum that has a concentration level of about 15% to 20% of oil essence in the mixture. The most commonly found perfume on the market id the Eau de Toilette that has a oil essence concentration of about 5% to 15% in the mixture. And the least concentrated of all is the Eau de Cologne that contain about 3% to 8% essence oil content in the perfume mixture. Different body chemistry is suitable for different types of perfume concentration, if you use the wrong perfume on a wrong day or body chemistry, you may turn peoples off from a mile away.

Therefore selecting the types of perfume to use on any day and must be suitable to your body type requires a lot of studies and trial. One good example is the perfume that is tested good on a cold chilly winter day is totally not suitable for use during the hot summer day as it may seem to be overpowering. The second factor that differentiate between perfumes is their Olfactive families. Although we may not be able to correctly classify a perfume base solely from their Olfactive families, however it will be a good starting point to get to know a perfume better. The classification of perfumes under their Olfactive families has been practiced for the past century since 1900.

The traditional classification separate the perfume into several main families and some of them is as follows;

1. Single Floral – perfume classified under this familiy often is dominated by a single flower scent.
2. Floral Bouquet – perfume classified under this family contains a mixtures of different types of flower scents.
3. Amber – is a huge class that contain a sweetness of animalic scents of ambergris or labdanum and is often mixed with vanilla, floral or woods.
4. Wood – perfumes that are dominated by woody scents such as sandalwood, cedar and agarwood.
5. Leather – perfumes that smell like leather normally presence in the middle or base notes of a perfume that contains scents of honey, tobacco, wood or wood tar.
6. Chypre – perfumes that contain fragrance from different family but group under a similar class because of the common scent that represent them.
7. Fougère – a class commonly found in the base note of a perfume that mainly forms from ferns like oakmoss, coumarin or lavender.

However through the years, the method used in the manufacturing of perfumes has progressed with technology and because of this in 1945 a new Olifactive Families classification of the perfumes is introduced.

1. Bright Floral – is a combination of the traditional single floral and floral bouquet families.
2. Green -  is a lighter and more modern represention of the traditional Chypre.
3. Acquatic, Oceanic or Ozonic – is the newest classification introduced that represent the modern scents of androgynous perfumes.
4. Citrus – is one fo the oldest classification used till today that often represent the freshness in a perfume through its fresh and non-tenacity citrus scents.
5. Fruity – used to describe perfumes that contain fruits other than those specified under the citrus family.  Normally fragrance that is fruity in nature is often perceive as a sweet scent.
6. Gourmand – describes scents like vanilla, tonka beans, etc that portray an edible like scents.

If you want to correctly differentiate a perfume from the different families, I suggest you get hold of a fragrance wheel that will assist you in determining the correct Olfactive families of the perfume and how they work with each other.  The third thing you should look at is the combination of the different Olfactive families within a perfume itself.  The correct description of a perfume is often related to the way a perfume react and linger on your body that often happen in three stages.  The three stages of head, heart and drydown are represent in the fragrance as the top note, middle or heart note and the base note.  How a perfume perform when applied depends greatly on the mixtures contain with each notes.  And it takes a lot of the skill of the perfume designer to come up with a perfect formulae that represent the uniqueness of individual perfumes.

After reading this articles, you should be able to differentiate between perfumes and understand the mechanics that determine the uniqueness of a perfume and will be able to select the perfume that suit you most.  I hope that through this article, I have answered your question on how to differentiate between perfumes and able to provide you with the relevant references for you to continue to advance in your knowledge on perfumes and colognes.

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Most of the perfume and cologne that you see in any shop today will only be comprises of about 4 to 10% of actual scented essential oils / extracts and the rest of the 86 to 90% of the bottle will be just alcohol and water. It is the amount of these scented oil/extracts in a bottle that determines the various types of perfume and cologne we have on the market today.

Types of Perfume and Cologne

Splash and After Shaves – These types of fragrances usually does not last long and contains about 1 – 3% concentration of scented compounds. Take a look at my other post on how to wear a perfume if you want to know ways of applying aftershave splash cologne.

Eau de Cologne – The Eau de Cologne does not last long and is typically made up of about 3 to 8% concentration of scented compounds and due to its weak nature, it is no longer commonly found in modern fragrances.

Eau de Toilette – It is a very commonly found concentration in many of the fragrances today. The Eau de Toilette is made up of about 5 to 15% concentration of scented compounds, though not as long lasting as the Eau de Parfum, it is a favorite that people used in the evening where scents is not needed to last.

Eau de Parfum – Eau de Parfum or millésime is typically made up of 15 to 20% concentration of scented compounds. It is the most common type of concentration found in most brands you see today. The scent will usually fade after about four hours, however the base notes are known to last as long as 24 hours. Fragrance with the Eau de Parfum concentration are perfect if you need an all day coverage.

Perfume Extract or Parfum – It has the most concentrated and smoothest formulas among all the five types. Typically made up of 15 to 40% concentration of scented compounds, the Parfum is definitely the most expensive fragrance in the market.

Woman’s products are usually categorized as perfume, eau de parfum, toilette water and cologne, whereas the Man’s products are sold as perfume, cologne, splash and after shave. Fragrances are very complex products that go through many stages of development before it is presented to the customer. There are tens of thousands of different perfumes and colognes available on the market today, each with its own unique scent signature, that are suitable for different individuals during different occasions.

After reading this short introduction to cologne and perfume, you should be able to understand more about the different types of fragrance and their unique selling points. Even though this post may not be an attractive intro for perfuming, however I believe it had provided you with some insight to perfuming and most important of all the difference between perfume and cologne.

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