Fragrance

Fragrance surrounds us throughout our lives. It can lift our mood, bring back lovely memories, or awaken our senses. The best fragrance can give you confidence and even a certain invisible aura that will follow you wherever you go. So pick the right one.

How to Choose a Perfume?

Time for a new fragrance? Whether you’re looking for a new perfume for yourself, or one you can give as a gift, you might appreciate some basic information that helps you find your way through the world of fragrance.

Fragrance Intensity: Eau de Toilette vs. Eau de Parfum

A perfume, an Eau de Parfum, or an Eau de Toilette? The difference is in the percentage of the fragrant components. In general, the higher their concentration, the more intense the perfume is and the longer it lasts. However, remember that the longevity and intensity of the fragrance also depends on the quality of the ingredients, as well as other factors. A good designer fragrance with a lower concentration can last longer than a cheap perfume with a higher concentration. So what are the concentrations of the individual types of fragrance?

• Perfume (Extrait de Parfum – P) with its 15-30% of fragrant ingredients in its composition represents the strongest available form of a fragrance. You only need to use a small amount and it can last up to a several dozen hours.
• Eau de Parfum (EdP) contains 8-15% of fragrance essences in approximately 85% alcohol. Along with Eau de Toilette, it represents the most common form of fragrance. It stays on your skin for about 4 to 8 hours.
• Eau de Toilette (EdT) with its 4-8% of fragrant ingredients in about 80% alcohol represents the most suitable form of fragrance for everyday wear. It lasts for approximately 3 to 4 hours on the skin – then you usually need to reapply.
• Eau de Cologne (EdC) contains 3-5% fragrant ingredients dissolved in approximately 70% alcohol. It lasts around 2 hours, which means that you need to reapply it quite frequently. It’s generally associated with men’s aftershave, but there’s a number of Eau de Colognes designed for women.

Fragrance According to Wearer

We generally recognise fragrances for women, men, kids’ perfume, and unisex fragrances. Each one of these categories has their characteristic types of fragrance:

• Fragrances for women often contain floral notes such as jasmine, rose, orange blossom, or lily of the valley. Fruity notes, powdery notes, vanilla, and spices are also quite typical for perfumes for women.
• Fragrances for men usually have an intense woody note accompanied by fresh citruses and spices. Lavender, oriental aromas, leather, and tobacco are other popular notes in men’s aftershaves.
• Unisex fragrances are universal fragrances designed for both women and men. Unisex fragrances often have a strong citrus note as well as a woody note or aquatic and green notes.
• Fragrances for kids are usually sweet fragrances with the aroma of sweets, bubble gum, cola, caramel, or juicy fruit. These sweet notes are then mixed with the delicate aroma of flowers or fruits like coconut.

Fragrance Composition

Head, Heart, and Base of a Perfume

Have you noticed that most fragrances change as you wear them? This is because their composition usually includes a sequence of three parts which form the so-called olfactory pyramid:

• The head of the fragrance (the top notes) are what you can smell right after application. They’re usually light citrus or herbal notes whose purpose is to draw your attention. The head evaporates in a few seconds or minutes and gives way to the heart of the fragrance.
• The heart of the fragrance (the middle notes) start developing after about 15 minutes and last for 2-3 hours. The heart usually contains notes of flowers, as well as fruit, spices, or green notes.
• The base of the fragrances (the base notes) can be detected after about 30 minutes and lasts for many hours. The base of the fragrance most often contains woody components, musk, amber, as well as oriental notes like incense or vanilla.

Many fragrances are built around the system of this olfactory pyramid, however there are also fragrances with a linear composition which smell the same all the way through.

Types of Fragrance

Based on their aroma, we distinguish between aldehydic, aromatic, citrus, woody, chypre, spicy, leather, floral, oriental, fruity, aquatic, and green fragrances. These basic groups further split into subgroups, meaning that there are for instance fruity floral perfumes, woody chypre perfumes, oriental spicy ones, etc. Simply click on the right group in our filter and find the best fragrance according to its type.

Popular Fragrance Notes

Even though you’ll usually see only a few ingredients listed on the packaging, most fragrances contain several dozen to several hundred ingredients. Some of them are more prominent, others can be barely detected by an untrained nose. Some of the most popular perfume ingredients are without a doubt jasmine, rose, iris, oud, vanilla, or violet. Have you fallen in love with a perfume note and are looking for a fragrance that has it? Visit our Perfume Notes and pick the right perfume based on its composition.

Niche Fragrance with a Touch of Exclusivity

Do you want to wear a different fragrance than most – one that will bring out your uniqueness? Then try our niche fragrance category! These luxury fragrances are exceptional not only for the quality of their ingredients, but also their unusual combinations of notes which leave a lasting impression.

How to Correctly Try on a Fragrance?

Whether you’re testing perfume samples at home or in a fragrance shop, we recommend sticking to these basic rules:

• Test the fragrance on your own skin. A fragrance reacts to the pH of your skin and it will smell differently on a paper strip or on another person. Use the test strips in the perfume shop to familiarise yourself with several fragrances, and then try the best ones on your skin.
• Don’t overestimate the first impression. Give the fragrance some time to develop. The top notes of a perfume last only a few minutes, but you want the fragrance to smell good on you all the way through.
• Don’t test more than three fragrances in a row. Your nose won’t be able to adequately discern more perfumes.

How to Use a Fragrance?

Have you found the best fragrance? Then let’s talk about how to wear it correctly so that it develops the best it can, and how to store it to ensure that it smells beautiful for as long as possible.

How to Wear a Fragrance? Basic Rules of Application

• If you want the fragrance to develop the best that it can, spray it on your pulse points such as your neck, wrists, the hollow of your elbows or knees, or the skin behind your ears. If you spray the fragrance on your wrist, avoid rubbing your wrists together, because warming up the fragrance can ruin it and cause it to evaporate faster.
• We recommend applying some vaseline, cream, or oil on the spots where you want to spray your fragrance. That way, the fragrance won’t get absorbed into your pores and lasts significantly longer.
• If you want to enhance the aroma of your fragrance even more, use it along with other scented cosmetic products from the same line – for instance a perfumed body lotion, shower gel, or deodorant. Shop for perfume gift sets that contain all of these products in one box.
• The warm pulse spots will cause your fragrance to develop more intensely, but it won’t last that long. This is why you should also spray it on some colder areas of your body such as earlobes or knees. The perfume will then last much longer.
• You can also make the fragrance last longer by spraying it in your hair from a distance of at least 15 centimetres. But be careful – applying a fragrance to your hair frequently can dry it out, which is why you should rather opt for a special hair perfume.
• If you don’t want to spray the fragrance directly on your skin or you don’t want it to be too strong, you can spray it in the air in front of you and then simply walk through this cloud of perfume.
• If you know your Eau de Parfum or Eau de Toilette doesn’t last all day, you can carry a perfume miniature, a refillable fragrance atomiser, or a fragrance sample in your handbag and reapply your fragrance at any point as necessary.

Fragrances According to Occasion and Season

The art of wearing a fragrance is not just about the correct application, but also about finding the right fragrance for a specific occasion or time of year. This is how you choose a fragrance based on the time of day you plan to wear it:

• For day wear, choose a lighter, fresh fragrance. A citrus or floral aroma will be best, and an Eau de Toilette or an Eau de Cologne will offer the appropriate intensity.
• Evening occasions call for a heavier, more intense and sensual fragrance. An Eau de Parfum that smells strong throughout the evening will be the right choice.

Just as lighter fragrances are better suited for day and heavier ones for the evening, every season has its own type of fragrance. In general, the colder it gets, the more intense, sweeter, spicier perfumes you can wear – and vice versa:

• Typical spring fragrances are just like spring itself – light, fresh, and full of spring flowers like the lily of the valley or jasmine.
• The best summer fragrances should smell refreshing and invigorating in the summer heat. Fresh citrus scents as well as aquatic and green notes will be ideal.
• Autumn fragrances bring a selection of spicier, heavier, and sweeter aromas. Typical autumn notes are vanilla or cardamom, as well as rare woods like sandalwood or cedar.
• Winter fragrances are the heaviest and most sensual. They combine oriental notes with sweet fruit and gourmand scents.

The best perfume for any occasion is always the one that fits your personal taste and your current mood. Remember – the most important thing is that you feel good wearing it.

How to Store a Fragrance so That It Lasts as Long as Possible?

Do you keep your favourite fragrance displayed on the shelf in your bathroom, or even on a window sill? Wrong. Heat, humidity, and even sunlight can harm your fragrance. To make it last as long as possible, store it in a dry, dark, and cold place. You can keep it in its original box and in a room where the temperature doesn’t exceed 20C.

Best-selling Fragrances at notino.co.uk:

• Calvin Klein Fragrance
• Hugo Boss Fragrance
• Armani Fragrance
• Dior Fragrance
• Versace Fragrance