Fragrance 101

Concentration: why the same scent costs different amounts

Concentration is the share of perfume oil in the alcohol. More oil means a scent that sits closer to the skin for longer, not one that is simply stronger.

• Extrait de Parfum — 20–40% oil. The richest form, and the longest-lasting. Applied sparingly; one touch is usually enough.
• Eau de Parfum (EDP) — 15–20%. The most common form for niche fragrance, and the best balance of presence and wearability.
• Eau de Toilette (EDT) — 5–15%. Brighter and more volatile; often the better choice in heat.
• Perfume Oil — alcohol-free, applied to pulse points. Very little projection, very long wear.

A higher concentration is not a better fragrance. It is a different rendering of one, and some compositions are designed for the lighter form.

The note pyramid

Fragrance unfolds over hours. Every product page lists three stages, and they are not three separate scents — they are one scent seen at three points in its life.

• Top notes arrive first and leave within about fifteen minutes. Citrus, herbs, light spice. This is the part you smell in the shop, and the part you should judge least.
• Heart notes carry the next few hours and are the actual character of the fragrance — florals, woods, the spices with weight.
• Base notes are what remains after four hours and what people will associate with you: amber, oud, musk, vanilla, resins.

Longevity and sillage are different things

Both are rated on every product page and they are routinely confused.

Longevity is how long the fragrance remains detectable on your skin. Sillage is how far it travels from you — the trail it leaves in a room.

A fragrance can last ten hours and sit almost silently against the skin, and another can fill a room for two hours and be gone. Neither is a fault. Skin chemistry, hydration and the weather all move these numbers, which is why we publish them as a range and not a promise.

How to sample properly

Almost every disappointing bottle was bought after thirty seconds on a paper strip. The method that works costs more patience and less money.

• Wear it on skin. Paper cannot render base notes at all.
• Give it four hours. Judge a fragrance on its drydown, because that is what you will actually be wearing.
• One at a time. Three on one arm and you are smelling a fourth fragrance that nobody composed.
• Wear it twice. Once on a cool day and once on a warm one. Heat amplifies everything.

Every fragrance we carry is available as a 2ml sample, and a decant in 10ml or 20ml if you want to live with it for a month first. One sample is included free with every order.

Samples, decants and full bottles

A sample is 2ml in a spray vial — three or four wears, enough to know whether it is worth pursuing.

A decant is the original fragrance transferred into a smaller travel atomiser, usually 10ml or 20ml. Identical juice, a fraction of the outlay, and the honest way to test a bottle that costs several hundred.

A full bottle is worth buying once you have worn a fragrance twice and still want it on the third day.

Storing it

Fragrance is damaged by light, heat and temperature swings — which makes a bathroom windowsill close to the worst place in a house. A drawer or a closed box at room temperature will keep a bottle in good condition for years. Leave it in its carton if you still have it.

Still not sure where to begin?

Start with a discovery set, or tell us what you already wear and what you liked about it — that is far more useful to us than a list of notes. We answer at the contact page.