Perfume: A Brief Description

Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils, aroma compounds, fixatives and solvents used to give the human body and/or living spaces a "pleasant" smell.

Perfume oils are often diluted with a solvent, though this is not always the case. The most common solvent for perfume oil dilution is ethanol or a mixture of ethanol with water. Perfume oil can also be diluted by means of neutral-smelling fixed oils such as fractionated coconut oil or liquid waxes such as jojoba oil.

Perfume types reflect the concentration of aromatic compounds in a solvent. The concentration by percent/volume of perfume oil are listed below and are generalizations:

• Perfume Extract (Extrait): 15-40% (IFRA: typical 20%) aromatic compounds
• Eau de Parfum (EdP), Parfum de Toilette (PdT): 10-20% (typically less than 15%) aromatic compounds. Sometimes listed as "eau de perfume" or "millésime".
• Eau de Toilette (EdT): 5-15% (typically less than 10%) aromatic compounds
• Eau de Cologne (EdC): Chypre citrus type perfumes with 3-8% (typically less than 5%) aromatic compounds
• Body Splash and After Shave: 1-3% aromatic compounds

Fragrance compounds in perfumes will degrade or break down if improperly stored in the presence of heat, light, oxygen and/or extraneous organic materials. For these reasons, proper preservation of perfumes involves keeping them away from heat and storing them out of direct light.

Allison B. Kontur
www.BathBodySupply.com