Archive for the ‘Fragrances’ Category
4
Aug
Written by admin on August 4th, 2008
The word perfume is from a Latin phrase meaning “through smoke” and was thought to have been invented by the ancient Egyptians who burned fragrant woods and plants for their pleasant odors. Over the years perfume has been used, refined and enhanced by every major civilization and today perfume as we know it is a very big business.
Today’s modern perfume has three main components:
The scent - Virtually anything natural or synthetic that has an odor can be used in the making of perfume. Typically scents are made from flowers, citrus, spices, woods and sometimes even leather.
The fixative - These ingredients act to stabilize the aromatic compound and help to make the scent last longer.
The solvent - This is usually alcohol and keeps bacteria from forming and helps maintain an even consistency so it can be easily applied.
The category a fragrance belongs to is defined by how much of the scent (or aromatic compound) is used in the product. This also plays a factor in determining the price as the higher the concentration of scent the more expensive the fragrance will be:
Lotions and aftershaves generally have a 1 to 2% scent base
Eau de Cologne products are generally 2 to 3% pure scent
Eau de Toilettes run between 5 to 20% scent
Eau de Parfums will have from 10 to 30% aromatic compound in them
Perfume Extract or Parfum has the greatest concentration of scent, between 20 and 40%
Women’s products are usually categorized as perfume, eau de parfum, toilet water, and cologne and for men’s products are sold as perfume, cologne, and aftershave.
Surprisingly fragrances and music share a common term, notes. Perfumes are often described by the different “notes” that make up the scent. These notes are designed to emerge at different times during the scent span of a fragrance just as an orchestra will have different instruments playing throughout a musical composition.
Top Notes are the strongest scents but do not last very long. This is the initial burst of smell you get when you first take a sniff of your favorite perfume or cologne. The top notes are often spice or citrus based.
Middle (or heart notes) makes up the main part of the scent that emerges after the top notes start to fade away and are usually softer and mellower than the initial scent. These scents are usually floral in nature.
Bass notes form the foundation of the scent and are usually deep and musky in nature and emerge to blend with the middle notes not to replace them.
Fragrances are very complex products that go through many stages of development before reaching the consumer. There are tens of thousands of different perfumes and colognes available today, each one having its own unique scent signature and what once was reserved for the wealthy and privileged is now available to everyone.
Visit us for great tips and advice on buying, wearing and storing your
Perfume and Cologne
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3
Aug
Written by admin on August 3rd, 2008
Each ingredient varies in its smell as well as in its “staying power” on the skin. Fragrance gets absorbed into the skin faster when the skin is dry and flaky. To make the scent last longer, you might look into body lotions in the same scent. You can even use unscented body lotion, but the scented ones obviously will give you more lasting power.
For the greatest lasting power, start in the shower. Use a buffing cream to buff away dry, dead skin. Use a cleansing gel, in a complimentary scent. Very often spa scents are produced with a variety of products-cleansing gel, sugar scrubs, lotions and a body mist sprays.
Next, apply the lotion to the areas where you generally apply your body spray to prevent the fragrance from being totally absorbed into the skin. This absorption is normal and in fact, perfumers distinguish between the various stages of the fragrance in the following way:
Top Note - is the first impression of the fragrance, the initial impact right from the bottle.
Middle Note - develops over a period of a few minutes after the perfume is applied to the skin.
Base Note - is the final impression of the fragrance. This is the stage in which we refer to as the “lasting power” of the fragrance.
Perfume (sometimes spelled parfum) is the longest lasting and strongest form of fragrance containing the highest concentration of essential oil. It is the fragrant oils that give a perfume a particular scent.
Eau de Parfum is the next in line according to the strength or the concentration of essential oils.
Eau de Toilette is a lighter version of a fragrance with less concentrated essential oils. Hence the reason it is generally more affordable.
Lastly, scented bath and body products have a hint of the fragrant essential oils. Layering the fragrance will make it last longer. Bath yourself in head to toe fragrance for a totally spa like experience.
Have a great day!
Dawn Hull
Professional Skin Care Consultant
http://www.MaryKay.com/ShopOnline
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1
Aug
Written by admin on August 1st, 2008
Tip 1:
Perfume never has the exactly same fragrance on different people. Don’t choose a perfume just because you like the fragrance on someone else. Perfume will interact differently with each individual’s body chemistry.
Tip 2:
Fragrance is a combination of the perfume’s scent and your body’s chemistry. Don’t try to tell what a perfume is like by sniffing the bottle. Apply the perfume to your wrist and allow the fragrance to develop, and blend with your skins unique features, before testing. Allow up to 10 minutes for fragrance development after applying the perfume sample.
Tip 3:
Limiting sampling to 3 or 4 perfumes at a time will avoid confusing and overwhelming your sense of smell. Sniffing coffee beans between samples can help clear and refresh your sense of smell.
Tip 4:
When sampling consider developing a perfume wardrobe. A perfume wardrobe is like a clothing wardrobe, with perfumes for different seasons, occasions, and moods. A perfume for each of, casual, evening and romantic wear will cover most requirements.
Tip 5:
It is perfume oils that give perfumes their fragrance. Check the category of the perfume when selecting your perfume. The higher the concentration of perfume oil the longer the perfume will last.
Perfume Category Typical Perfume Oil Content
After Shave 0.5% - 2.0%
Eau de Cologne 3.0% - 5.0%
Eau de Toilette 5.0% - 8.0%
Eau de Parfum 8.0% - 15.0%
Parfum 15.0% - 30.0%
Donna is a trained makeup artist with her own beauty business. As both a business women and a mom with 2 children Donna understands the time pressures on women today and through this, and other articles, has endeavored to take the complexity out of looking great with some “busy women friendly” beauty tips and advice. If you would like to read more of Donna’s articles check out her website: http://www.coloursandscents.co.nz
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