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Fragrance Notes Make Perfumes Unique |
By:
Jade Honeywell |
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Fragrance Notes Make Perfumes Unique
Jade Honeywell
Do you know why perfumes smell so different from each other? It's not just because of the ingredients they contain but also because of the balance of those ingredients.
Perfumes and colognes are a complex combination of natural materials and manmade products. The main natural ingredients are plant extracted essential oils. The manmade products are added to increase the lasting power and heighten the scent. The liquid base of perfume is usually alcohol and the ratio of this to the perfume concentrates determines how the final product will be labelled.
The main perfume categories are:
* Perfume - also sometimes referred to as extract or extrait perfume. This, typically contains 15-40% perfume concentrates. So, not only do you need to use less, but also, depending upon skin type, the scent lasts longer - typically for up to 6 hours.
* Eau de parfum - is lighter than Perfume and has an 8-15% concentration. It is usually less expensive but still has long lasting characteristics - typically from 3 to 5 hours.
* Eau de toilette - is a lighter more delicate fragrance, with a 4-8% concentration of the essence which makes it most suitable for everyday use. It is commonly less expensive than Eau de Parfum, and lasts between 2 and 4 hours.
* Eau de Cologne - is often referred to simply as Cologne. It has the greatest dilution of fragrances with a 3-5% concentration of essential oils and lasts for up to 2 hours.
There are many other products that use perfume concentrates as well as those above. The more obvious examples include soaps, cosmetics, bubble bath, lotions, creams and aftershaves.
Apart from the different classes of perfumes the scents that they produce can be described by, what is known as, their fragrance notes.
Fragrances consist of different notes and can be made up of hundreds of different ingredients which make every scent an individual creation. These notes are:
* Top notes - these are the first notes you smell and are strong and very volatile. They fade quickly which allows the more "rounded" and mellow middle notes to come through.
* Middle notes - these start to emerge as the top notes dissipate. They form the "heart" or main body of a perfume and can mask the often unpleasant initial impression of base notes, which become more pleasant over time. Fragrances from middle notes appear anywhere from 2 minutes to 1 hour after the application of a perfume. Typical scents in this class are lavender and rose.
* Base notes - together with the middle notes these form the main theme of a perfume with the base notes appearing as the middle notes fade. Base notes add solidity and depth to a perfume. They consist of large, heavy molecules that evaporate and are usually not perceived until 30 minutes after the application of the perfume.
Taken together, the notes and concentrations of essential oils are what distinguish one perfume from another.
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Article Source: http://www.statssheet.com/articles/article67693.html |
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