Everyone
of us, asked himself at some point, after we bought a bottle of perfume, what
is the difference between Eau de Toilette (EDT) and Eau de Perfume (EDP)? Today
we will try to explain this types of perfume category and to find more
informations about each one.
First
of all, we should mention that there are 4 big categories : Eau de Cologne, Eau
de Toilette, Eau de Parfume and Perfume or Extrait de Perfume.
Although
we will get into details and we will give you examples for each one, shortly,
the difference between all this 4 categories is the oil percentage in each one.
The higher is the oil concentration that the product is in a more premium
category
What is Eau de Cologne (EDC) ?
With
german origins, the term “cologne” designates an oil concentration in the
perfume within 2-5%. On the scale of parfume this category is on the bottom and
we could say that represents the entry-level parfume. Although it should not be
considered that if the product is Eau de Cologne should be very cheap. There
are parfume producers that are making Eau de Cologne and those can be more
exepensive that an Eau de Parfume from other producers.
We
were saying that the term has german origins, but, we cand find it’s genesis in
hands of an italian woman who established in Cologne – Germany. She found a
recipe in 1709 which she said that bring her nostalgy and memories from her
roots in Italy, but she chosed to name her product Eau de Cologne – the name of
german city in which she lived.
To
understand how expensive a bottle of Eau de Cologne was in that time,
biographic sources confirm that those were costing as an anual salary of a
civil servant. Obviously, on that time, the perfume was not something for
everyone and not everyone could afford it. Also, being in permanent development
almost every recipe with a fruit or aromatic smell was gorgeous, so it was
often made for Royal Houses and impose respect and authority.
As
we said in the beginning of the article, we should not evaluate the price of a
parfume only comparing to the category in which is put by the producer. For
example, Guerlain, french parfume producer, with a tradition over 180 years in
making parfums, offers a bottle of Eau de Cologne du Coq at 100 ml for like
50$. We could tell you that are bottles with the concentration of Eau de
Parfume which are found at this price range, although, from brands which are
less known and newer on market. We will talk about the most know brands in this
parfume industry on future articles.
In
the end, the most important thing that we should have in mind when we buy an
eau de cologne parfume type is that eau de cologne (even if it is expensive)
will persist on skin less than an eau de toilette or an eau de parfume (from
same category). The reason is that the oil percentage is reduced and will evaporate faster.
In
general, but not as an absolute rule, in eau de cologne are used notes of
fruits and light notes, easy to obtain, as orange, mandarine, bergamota, rose,
lemons etc. We shall see that for expensive eau de parfumes are used elements
which are really expensive and even unknown to the regular people. As an
example, ambroxan – which is maybe disgusting but in reality is whale puke and
it is used for premium perfumes having a pleasant smell. You can check Dior –
Sauvage.
Now
maybe you ask yourself why don’t they use higher oil concentrations ? We can
tell you that those are used but the perfume will belong to another category
and will get more expensive. Also, a parfume won’t be possible to be made only
from oils because the smell would be too extreme and will not be gorgeous
anymore and it will give you headaches. This is why is combined with alchool
(which has no particular smell is not strong – we reffer to pure alcohol, not
whisky, rom or any other drinkable alcohol) and water.
Tipically,
an eau de cologne parfume is persisting on skin somewhere to 2-3 hours, then
you will smell it only if you are really close to the skin. Although, the
products from high expensive producers, might pass this time interval.
What is Eau de Toilette (EDP) ?
This
is probablly the most known type of parfume and you find most of them in shops.
The oil concentration is bigger, in doses of 5-15%. As we see, it is a big
improvement, especially if the product is using the maximum dose of 15%, being
a premium product.
If
in Eau de Cologne were italian (the producer) and german (the place) factors,
at Eau de Toilette we have hungarian origins. Queen Elisabeth of Hungary made
an interesting mixture, originally called Eau de la Reine de Hongrie, which has
the primordial note of rosemary.
We
mention that parfume (any type) can be made of any ingredient (in parfumery
niche we refer at those as notes. Example : note of rosmery, note or ambroxan,
note of vetiver etc).
This
type is recommended as a daily-driver, and as a general rule, those are not
very strong and they don't persist more than 6-12 hours. Obviously, there are
eau de toilette products, called monster types, which are persisting even more
and have very strong notes. We can say that there are parfumery products which
may stand out from their category, even if the producer said that product is a
certain type of parfume (for example a eau de cologne could stand out and the
smeller could think it is an eau de toilette).
One
thing we would like to mention is that on internet you will find a lot of wrong
informations as an eau de toilette could last for 3 hours. This is not true and
there are eau de toilette products which could last till 12 hours (as an
example check Ted Lapidus Pour Homme). The difference is the way the product is
evolving, as in the first 2-3 hours the product may have a very powerful projection and sillage and after this
will calm down, but it will not dissapear! After a few hours the parfume will
closer to the skin and it will be smelled only when you are really close to the
person who wears it, as an example when you kiss him/her.
In
Eau de Toilette there can be used any notes and, as a general rule, you will
find more expensive notes than in Eau de Cologne. For example, we can find Eau
de Toilette with notes of santal wood or casmir. Also, in Eau de Toilette you
can find more combined notes than in Eau de Cologne. As an example, Van
Cleef&Arpels Pour Homme has an roughly 27 notes. Obviously, all this notes
can’t be smelled by a regular person, which is not trained to find all o those.
We must say that the gorgeous smell of a parfume is not given by a particular
note but by all of them combined in a very elegant way.
What is Eau de Parfume (EDP) ?
We
are getting into premium concentration, where essential oil parfume is found in
doses of 15-20%, combined with alchool and water.
Eau
de Parfume is distinguished of the other categories as being more presistent,
with a better sillage and a bigger projection. In other words, if you see a
person who enter in a room and right away the room is flooded with a new smell,
you may belive that person is using an eau de parfume. But, this is just an
example to illustrate that Eau de Parfume has bigger quantity of essential oils
than the previous two categories, but, there can be notes (even in Eau de
Cologne) that are really powerful and persistent, which will attract your
attention, even if that person is wearing an Eau de Cologne and not an Eau de
Parfume.
Having
a higher oil concentration, Eau de Parfume, in general, will persist a long
time on skin, even more than 12 hours. If you spray on clothes (careful, having
oil stains might appear) it will persist even long because the skin will not
absorb it and there is no PH.
As
we mentioned for previous categories, there are tons of informations which are
not true, which are saying that Eau de Parfume could last for only 5 hours. If
you have genuine Eau de Parfume not a fake one, this will last longer than
this. We could say that the Eau de Parfume might have a powerfull projection
for 5 hours, but, will persist on the person who wears it, for sure more than 5
hours.
The
informations might be wrong because the articles are written by persons who are
not using, in general, parfumes and are not testing (and we say testing we mean
testing conditions as different skin PH or different seasons) but are only
documenting and are validating any information they read.
The
prices of an Eau de Parfume are much higher than for an Eau de Cologne or Eau
de Toilette. As an example, an Eau de Parfume made by Creed House, can reach
500$ for a 100 ml bottle – you can check Creed Aventus for Men. This is because
you reach to a bigger parfume concentration and at a higher production cost,
but also because you can find more rafinate notes as patchouli (but this
dosen’t mean that you could not find this note in Eau de Toilette – but it can
mean that this note is more natural and original, where in an Eau de Toilette
you could find this as being syntethic and not smelling natural).
What is Parfume?
This
is the product being the most premium type having a concentration of oil
parfume to 20-40%. The specialist considered that this is the maximum dose till
which you could add oil parfume because higher than this could cause you to
hate the smell and also headeaches and nausia.
Because
it has so much oil into recipe, this makes this parfume less watery and very
oily and you will find usually in small bottles of 7.5 and 30ml. Maybe you
heared that strong essences are contained in small bottles.
We
cannot add much to this category, the biggest difference is the oil
concentration which is really high and makes it very expensive. This way the
Perfume or Extrait de Perfume can last even more than 24 hours on skin.
Although, you should ask yourself if you would like to
wear a parfume that is so powerful and so hard to get rid of. Keep in mind that
this type of parfume can last on your skin even if you take a shower.
Although
are sold in small bottles, the price is very expensive and this is way usually
general people are not buying. (You could say that this is for very rich people
which are spending money after a liftime of hard work.) The houses whith
tradition in making parfumes are still make this type of product, companies
like Dior, Hermes, Guerlain etc
A
few conclusions
Parfumes
are something which can make us really happy and bring a lot of memories to us.
We can smell something and suddenly remember a unique moment to us.
If
you want to buy a parfume but you are not willing to spend a lot of money on
it, you should go for an Eau de Toilette. If you want to get something richer,
to smell richer, you should chose Eau de Parfume. As a general rule, we do not
recommend Eau de Cologne or Extrait de Perfume. We will also write a list with
top 10 parfumes wich you need to smell in your life.
As
a final mention we want to add that if you read the entire article, you will
find out that some doses of concentration might intercalate. This is because
some producers might create an Eau de Toilette weaker than an Eau de Cologne
made by another producer.
As
an example, the aftershaves which have alcohol, they have a powerful impact on
skin and the person feels that the skin is burning. The reason is that, indeed
there is burn and all the bacteria are being...killed. For those one who are
not understanding this or maybe did not use till now aftershave, it is like you
would have an open wound and you pour alcohol on it, just the effect is a
little bit reduced.
