Perfume The most concentrated and purest form of fragrance. It is composed of up to 40% of fragrance oils and is the most expensive. This form of scent lasts the longest. Perfume should be usually dabbed on rather than sprayed.
Tip: Do dab perfume on your ear lobes not behind your ears as the glands located there will change the structure of the perfume.
Eau de parfum The most common form of fragrance which contains up to 14% of fragrance oils. Depending on the fragrance it may last into the next day, but need be reapplied every few hours to recapture many notes.
TIP: Apply your scent to warm parts of the body, like the inside of the wrist, inner thighs, along the breast line and between, behind the knees is my favorite.
Eau de toilette The weakest of perfume with up to 3% of fragrance oils and lasting a couple hours before reapplication is needed.
TIP: When using EDT I spray a cotton ball and place in my cleavage.
Eau de cologne - Now known as eau fraiche equivalent to a concentrated eau de toilette.
Scented cream and balm - This type of fragrance lingers on the skin because of the thick and creamy base.
- Top notes: The scents that are perceived immediately on application of a perfume. Top notes consist of small, light molecules that evaporate quickly. They form a person's initial impression of a perfume and thus are very important in the selling of a perfume. Also called the head notes.
- Middle notes: The scent of a perfume that emerges just prior to when the top notes dissipate. The middle note compounds form the "heart" or main body of a perfume and act to mask the often unpleasant initial impression of base notes, which become more pleasant with time. They are also called the "heart notes".
- Base notes: The scent of a perfume that appears close to the departure of the middle notes. The base and middle notes together are the main theme of a perfume. Base notes bring depth and solidity to a perfume. Compounds of this class of scents are typically rich and "deep" and are usually not perceived until 30 minutes after application.