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The iVillage fragrance guide
In his famous book Perfume, Patrick Süskind writes, 'For a moment he was so confused that he actually thought he had never in all his life seen anything so beautiful as this girl - He meant, of course, he had never smelled anything so beautiful.'
Perfume is the ultimate sensory experience, calling up emotions and forgotten memories. And so, many of us spend a small fortune on exotic and extraordinary fragrances, yet we often don't know how to use them properly. Follow these suggestions and discover new ideas for dousing yourself in mood-boosting aromas, the best ways to wear your scent and how to give it staying power.
Fragrance 101
Classic French fragrances are created by combining three layers of scent, called notes. These different notes can be synthetically created in a lab or extracted from natural sources like flowers or fruits. The top note, which contains the most volatile oils, lasts the least amount of time; the middle note lasts a bit longer and forms the heart of a scent; and the base note lasts around 24 hours. In the last decade, some fragrances have been formulated to change relatively little with wear. What you smell when you spritz is more or less what you get several hours later. However, with most fragrances, you'll smell the top note first, then the scent will change and you'll detect the middle note a few hours later. There are five main types of fragrance.
Perfume (also known as extract or extrait), is the purest, smoothest and roundest of all the concentrations of fragrance and the most expensive by far. It contains 20 to 40 per cent of fragrance oils held in alcohol, a much higher concentration than in other types of fragrance. Fifty per cent of the fragrance is formulated with the long-lasting base notes. Perfume is generally dabbed onto the skin rather than sprayed on.
Eau de parfum is the most popular kind of fragrance and contains seven to 14 per cent fragrance oils. Around 70 per cent of an eau de parfum is lost after several hours but that 30 per cent will remain 24 hours later. If you want a scent that will last and isn't too expensive, buy this kind of formulation. Apply your scent of choice to the places where the skin is the warmest - the wrists, collarbone, between the breasts, in the crook of the elbows, behind your knees, on your inner thighs, and around the ankles.
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