Perfume is made from about 78% to 95% of specially denatured ethyl alcohol and a remainder of essential oils.
Perfume is the costliest form of fragrance with 22% of essential oils.
Eau de Parfum (EDP), comes next with between 15 and 22% essential oils.
That's followed by Eau de Toilette (EDT) with 8 to 15% oils.
The weaker Eau de Cologne has just 4% essential oils.
For those who crave super subtlety Eau Fraiche with 1 to 3% essential oils, is the lightest dilution of fragrance.
Many new perfumes are promoted as EDPs and an EDT is not always produced as there has been a vogue for Eau de Parfum as individuals want a more lasting signature.
There are major fragrance categories - Floral, Oriental, Floriental, Chypre, Green Marine and Fruit. Typical plant products include anise, bay leaf, bergamot, cardamom, cedar wood, eucalyptus, frankincense, gardenia, geranium, iris, jasmine, lavender, lemon, lilac, lily, lily of the valley, magnolia, moss, neroli, orange, orris, patchouli, pine, raspberry, rose, sage, sandalwood, tuberose, vanilla, violet and ylang-ylang.
Typical animal products used in perfume include musk from the male musk deer, ambergris from sperm whales, castoreum a secretion of the beaver and civet from the civet cat. All are used as fixatives and add an indefinable mystery to the smell at the same time.
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