Back on the basenotesemergency board, I posted an article titled 'Eau-La-La' in the May 2007 issue of O magazine (Oprah Winfrey's magazine) by Chandler Burr (NY Times perfume critic) with sixteen (16) questions and answers on fragrances. The article was written in an educational 'Fragrance 101' style, rather than Mr. Burr's normal 'critique' columns. It was interesting to read some things I already knew, read new stuff (that I agreed and disagreed with) and hear other Basenoters comments.
I decided to copy & paste the article over here on the Main Boards - here in the Just Starting Out area - since this is NOT a mens/womens fragrance subject, it's both.
In the old board, I posted 2 questions per post, but that took a LOT of time. This time I'm gonna post 2 different threads with half the article on each.
As I said in the last thread: 'Let's not turn this into a I-hate-Chandler Burr-thread. Lets focus on the Questions and Answers. Or better yet - how would YOU have answered the questions below?
Enjoy!
Mike
__________________________________________________ ____
1. When you're fragrance shopping, is it better to use those paper testers or your own skin?
There's nothing wrong with blotters for browsing (but make sure you dont touch the blotter to your nose; getting the fragrance on your skin will adulterate all other scents). Don't inhale steadily over it; lean into it, get the scent and then move it away for a second. Repeat this several times. Wait a few moments between different scents. I dont use those ubiquitous coffee beans to clear my scent palate - they're just another smell that will fatigue the nose. Once you find a few fragrances youre ready to get serious about you must try them on your skin. You can ask for a sample vial to take home; apply the fragrance in the morning, wear it all day, reapply in the afternoon, and perhaps at night. You're finding out how it performs, how you feel about it at every hour (and in every mood). Repeat the next day. Then if you like it, buy it.
2. What are top, middle and bottom notes?
It's all about molecular weight. A perfume freshly sprayed on your arm is like a box of balloons at different sizes thats just been opened. The balloons lift off from your skin; the first ones that zip up and hit your nose are the top notes, the smallest and lightest (citruses, powdery scents or light florals). And then they're gone. Next to come off your skin are the middle notes, the medium-weight molecules (heavier florals most often). The last to lift off (and they cling to your skin) are the base notes, the heaviest (smokes and leathers).
3. What's the difference between parfum and eau de toilette?
Parfum and eau de toilette are simply different concentrations of the raw perfume - called 'concentrate' or 'oil' by the industry - in an alcohol solution. There's a loose rule of thumb: Perfume is 20 percent concentrate, eau is 10 percent, but the actual percentages can vary quite a bit. As to whether they smell different: It depends. Sometimes they smell identical - and sometimes you're able to discern a notable qualitative variation. There's no science to it (or rather, there may be, but its extremely arcane). Try both and see which works for you - and your budget (the parfums are often twice as costly, if not more).
4. Is it better to spritz or dab, and which method applies more scent?
You're asking two questions, and I'm really glad you asked the second. The first - spritz or dab - is simple: doesn't matter. At all. I don't care what the fanatics tell you.
But as for the other - I suspect companies use spray heads because they want to sell more perfume. With the average spray, as much as 50 percent of your precious juice is winding up on the carpet. If that bugs you, as much as it does me, toss the spray head.
5. Does fragrance have a shelf life?
Absolutely yes: Perfumes go bad they turn, as the French say - and bizarrely enough, I find that even if you have no idea what the perfume is supposed to smell like (and even if its something as strange as a few of the Comme des Garcons perfumes), you can smell that off quality instantly. A perfumes life depends hugely on how you store it. Worst enemy? Light. Second worst? Heat. People tell me all of the time, I keep my scents on the windowsill because I like how they look when the sunlight hits them. Great, but: Sunlight is destroying your perfume just as it destroys your skin. Because people do dumb things like this, fragrance companies try to help them out by putting sun-filtering molecules in perfume. Theyll prolong a fragrances life, as will an opaque bottle (like the Tom Ford Black Orchid flask or the black glass of Fracas). But if you care about your Gucci Envy, youll store it in a dark, cool place. And if youre really serious, theres only one place for it: the fridge. Just take over one of the vegetable crispers. A pound of carrots costs $1.57; your 100 milliliters of Envy ran you $85.
6. Do scents need time before they fully blossom, or are they at their best immediately after you spray them?
In the perfume section of a department store in Japan, youll see something very strange. The Japanese dislike the way perfume changes over time, so they spray blotters at the beginning of the day, anchor the blotters under their respective perfume bottles, and by the time the store has opened, the top notes are gone and the perfume has settled down to its main story. Thats what customers smell. But I think theres no right time to smell a perfume. After five seconds, youll get the top notes; after five hours, youll get the heart. If the perfume is good, both smell great.
7. How can I make scents last on me?
Ah, the fundamental question. Youve found your true loves and now you just want them to stay. One faithfully spends the whole day with you, the other callously slips away before you even reach the office. Heres the bad news: Theres nothing you can do to prolong scent on your skin. It all depends on what the French call la persistence of the fragrance. A lot of the lighter citruses, flowers, and gentler woody scents are going to float away much faster than the heavier smoke, leather and animalic ones. The rule is: pretty is fleeting; heavy sticks around. Take the utterly genius Hermes Ambre Narguile. Heres a perfume of such luscious perfection, you want to melt into it as if it were an expert beurre caramel. Ambre Narguile will not only dance all evening with the one that brung it, itll take you all the way home, too. But Freshs new Sugar Lychee? You get half an hour of the ethereal, carbonated, fruity astringent loveliness and then its outta there. But its a hell of a half hour. So keep the Hermes in the crisper, but put Fresh in your bag and reapply periodically.
8. How often do I need to reapply?
As often as you need to keep the smell at perfect pitch. Hermess 2003 Un Jardin en Mediterranee, one of the most insanely wonderful light scents in the world, disappears quickly, like almost all light perfumes. Reapply every 45 minutes. With Guerlains 1929 Liu, a perfume of almost impossible glamour, you apply at 7:30pm and when the limousine drops you off at 5 A.M., the last faint lovely traces are still on your arms.
I decided to copy & paste the article over here on the Main Boards - here in the Just Starting Out area - since this is NOT a mens/womens fragrance subject, it's both.
In the old board, I posted 2 questions per post, but that took a LOT of time. This time I'm gonna post 2 different threads with half the article on each.
As I said in the last thread: 'Let's not turn this into a I-hate-Chandler Burr-thread. Lets focus on the Questions and Answers. Or better yet - how would YOU have answered the questions below?
Enjoy!
Mike
__________________________________________________ ____
1. When you're fragrance shopping, is it better to use those paper testers or your own skin?
There's nothing wrong with blotters for browsing (but make sure you dont touch the blotter to your nose; getting the fragrance on your skin will adulterate all other scents). Don't inhale steadily over it; lean into it, get the scent and then move it away for a second. Repeat this several times. Wait a few moments between different scents. I dont use those ubiquitous coffee beans to clear my scent palate - they're just another smell that will fatigue the nose. Once you find a few fragrances youre ready to get serious about you must try them on your skin. You can ask for a sample vial to take home; apply the fragrance in the morning, wear it all day, reapply in the afternoon, and perhaps at night. You're finding out how it performs, how you feel about it at every hour (and in every mood). Repeat the next day. Then if you like it, buy it.
2. What are top, middle and bottom notes?
It's all about molecular weight. A perfume freshly sprayed on your arm is like a box of balloons at different sizes thats just been opened. The balloons lift off from your skin; the first ones that zip up and hit your nose are the top notes, the smallest and lightest (citruses, powdery scents or light florals). And then they're gone. Next to come off your skin are the middle notes, the medium-weight molecules (heavier florals most often). The last to lift off (and they cling to your skin) are the base notes, the heaviest (smokes and leathers).
3. What's the difference between parfum and eau de toilette?
Parfum and eau de toilette are simply different concentrations of the raw perfume - called 'concentrate' or 'oil' by the industry - in an alcohol solution. There's a loose rule of thumb: Perfume is 20 percent concentrate, eau is 10 percent, but the actual percentages can vary quite a bit. As to whether they smell different: It depends. Sometimes they smell identical - and sometimes you're able to discern a notable qualitative variation. There's no science to it (or rather, there may be, but its extremely arcane). Try both and see which works for you - and your budget (the parfums are often twice as costly, if not more).
4. Is it better to spritz or dab, and which method applies more scent?
You're asking two questions, and I'm really glad you asked the second. The first - spritz or dab - is simple: doesn't matter. At all. I don't care what the fanatics tell you.
But as for the other - I suspect companies use spray heads because they want to sell more perfume. With the average spray, as much as 50 percent of your precious juice is winding up on the carpet. If that bugs you, as much as it does me, toss the spray head.
5. Does fragrance have a shelf life?
Absolutely yes: Perfumes go bad they turn, as the French say - and bizarrely enough, I find that even if you have no idea what the perfume is supposed to smell like (and even if its something as strange as a few of the Comme des Garcons perfumes), you can smell that off quality instantly. A perfumes life depends hugely on how you store it. Worst enemy? Light. Second worst? Heat. People tell me all of the time, I keep my scents on the windowsill because I like how they look when the sunlight hits them. Great, but: Sunlight is destroying your perfume just as it destroys your skin. Because people do dumb things like this, fragrance companies try to help them out by putting sun-filtering molecules in perfume. Theyll prolong a fragrances life, as will an opaque bottle (like the Tom Ford Black Orchid flask or the black glass of Fracas). But if you care about your Gucci Envy, youll store it in a dark, cool place. And if youre really serious, theres only one place for it: the fridge. Just take over one of the vegetable crispers. A pound of carrots costs $1.57; your 100 milliliters of Envy ran you $85.
6. Do scents need time before they fully blossom, or are they at their best immediately after you spray them?
In the perfume section of a department store in Japan, youll see something very strange. The Japanese dislike the way perfume changes over time, so they spray blotters at the beginning of the day, anchor the blotters under their respective perfume bottles, and by the time the store has opened, the top notes are gone and the perfume has settled down to its main story. Thats what customers smell. But I think theres no right time to smell a perfume. After five seconds, youll get the top notes; after five hours, youll get the heart. If the perfume is good, both smell great.
7. How can I make scents last on me?
Ah, the fundamental question. Youve found your true loves and now you just want them to stay. One faithfully spends the whole day with you, the other callously slips away before you even reach the office. Heres the bad news: Theres nothing you can do to prolong scent on your skin. It all depends on what the French call la persistence of the fragrance. A lot of the lighter citruses, flowers, and gentler woody scents are going to float away much faster than the heavier smoke, leather and animalic ones. The rule is: pretty is fleeting; heavy sticks around. Take the utterly genius Hermes Ambre Narguile. Heres a perfume of such luscious perfection, you want to melt into it as if it were an expert beurre caramel. Ambre Narguile will not only dance all evening with the one that brung it, itll take you all the way home, too. But Freshs new Sugar Lychee? You get half an hour of the ethereal, carbonated, fruity astringent loveliness and then its outta there. But its a hell of a half hour. So keep the Hermes in the crisper, but put Fresh in your bag and reapply periodically.
8. How often do I need to reapply?
As often as you need to keep the smell at perfect pitch. Hermess 2003 Un Jardin en Mediterranee, one of the most insanely wonderful light scents in the world, disappears quickly, like almost all light perfumes. Reapply every 45 minutes. With Guerlains 1929 Liu, a perfume of almost impossible glamour, you apply at 7:30pm and when the limousine drops you off at 5 A.M., the last faint lovely traces are still on your arms.
