Demystifying Perfumes

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Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils and aromatic compounds, fixatives, and solvents that is used to give the human body, animals, objects, and living spaces a pleasant scent.

Perfume types reflect the concentration of aromatic compounds in a solvent, which in fine fragrance is typically ethanol or a mix of water and ethanol. As the percentage of the aromatic compounds increases, so does longevity and price. More concentrated perfumes like eau de parfum is pricier than cologne.

Different perfume houses assign different amounts of oils to each of their perfumes. Various sources differ considerably in the definitions of perfume types but there are 3 general types on most sources.