Have you ever had someone pass you by and you got a sudden whiff of her perfume? Or maybe you know someone who always smells great, no matter what the season is or what time of the day it is. Well, that’s the magic of a good perfume!
If you’ve always wished to have that effect on people, it’s time to rethink your fragrance. It all comes down to choosing one that’s right for YOU, rather than something that has a glamorous brand name, is being promoted by a popular celebrity, or comes in a pretty bottle!
Now, as we all know, choosing the right perfume is easier said than done, and it is a very personal journey for everyone. It helps to gather some information on the basics of fragrances and how they work, and that’s what we’ll look at today.
How to choose the right fragrance for you?
When you’re out looking for the right fragrance, you’ll probably come across different terms like EDT or EDP. These are terms that indicate the concentration of your fragrance. A fragrance with a higher concentration has stronger scents and is also more expensive than one’s lower concentration. Here is a quick look at the most common concentrations you’re likely to find.
Eau de Cologne (EDC) – This is the lightest concentration, containing just 2-4% of fragrance. The scent lasts just about 2 hours. A lighter version of this is the Eau Fraiche which has a concentration of 1-3% and lasts for a shorter time.
Eau de Toilette (EDT) – This fragrance contains a concentration of 5-13% which is significantly more than an EDT. However, the scent still lasts for just about 2-3 hours and may need to be reapplied. EDCs and EDTs are considered good for the daytime since they’re light.
Eau de Parfum (EDP) – An EDP is a more concentrated fragrance, with a concentration of 15-20%. This helps lit last for as long as 6 hours. Since it is a little stronger, an EDP is considered ideal for nighttime.
Parfum or Perfume – This is the highest concentration of fragrance, being anything between 20-30%. It lasts 8 hours or more, sometimes even all day. Being the strongest of all the fragrance concentrations, this can be a little too much for people with sensitive skin or allergies.
Besides these, you’ll also find deo, antiperspirants, body sprays, and body mists. Bodysprays and deodorants are formulated to be applied on the skin, due to which they often contain alcohol to neutralize body odor-causing bacteria. Body mists are a much lighter version of an actual fragrance and don’t last long. They are often used to layer with other fragrances and can be reapplied during the day to maintain the scent.
Once you’ve figured out the concentration of your fragrance based on your needs, you can now move on to the next level – choosing the notes. Like music, each perfume is made up of different notes that come together to form the final scent. These are the top, middle and base notes.
The top notes are what catch your attention at the beginning, but they wear off to reveal the underlying notes. The base notes are what determine the scent of the perfume as time passes. More expensive perfumes often have more intense base notes and a better layering of the notes while cheaper perfumes will have strong top notes which fade away quickly.
Perfumes also belong to different olfactory families, based on what they smell like. For instance, floral scents include smells like rose or geranium; fruity like apple or lemon, or others like spice, musk, or pine. While there are perfumes labeled for men and women separately, the truth is that anyone can use any perfume. Generally, heavier scents like musk or woody scents are considered masculine. Some people prefer particular scents for particular times, like floral or citrus for daytime and vanilla or musk for the night.
Even after arming yourself with all this information about perfumes, choosing the right perfume for you is still quite a personal journey, and it depends on other factors like your personality or your mood. If you’re a beginner in this area, it’s a good idea to not overwhelm yourself by going to a store and trying on several perfumes at once. You also need to consider your sensitivities – if you are allergic or are prone to migraines, heavy scents may trigger an attack. Just because a perfume smells amazing on your friend, it need not act the same way on you.
If all this sounds too confusing, the best thing to do is to go with an all-weather, unisex, customizable perfume like the Mamaearth ME Eau De Parfum.
With the Mamaearth Me perfume, you get a fragrance as unique as you are. Each individual has a combination of hormones and pheromones, which is why our bodies have their unique natural scent. When you apply the perfume to your body, it reacts with your skin’s oils and produces a scent that is 100% unique to you. As time passes, the fragrance develops its own unique scent based on your one-of-a-kind body chemistry.
The Mamaearth Me perfume is a combination of floral, fruity, and musky notes. The top notes are a mix of floral and citrusy scents from Petitgrain oil and Neroli. As the perfume wears on, the floral middle notes of Damask rose, Jasmine, and Peach emerge. Finally, you’re left with the woody base notes of Cashmeran and Musk which last for up to 12 hours.
The best part of this perfume is that it is MadeSafe Certified and free from toxins, Phthalates, Phosphate, and Parabens. It can be used by both men and women and is hypoallergenic in nature. Perfume is generally considered tricky for gifting, but since the Mamaearth Me perfume adapts to the wearer’s body chemistry, it makes an excellent gift, especially during this season.
To get the most out of this perfume, it’s best to apply it on the edges of the inner wrist or the collarbone. Spraying on warmer regions of the body or the pulse points helps the perfume spread better. It can also be applied to the fabric to increase its life. Another way to extend the longevity of your perfume is to spray it lightly through your hair since hair generally moves around and carries the scent beautifully.
