Perfume vs. Cologne: What Fragrance Terminology Really Means

Perfume vs. Cologne: What Fragrance Concentration Really Means

Perfumes are for women and colognes are for men: it's that simple, right? Wrong. In this post, I'll explain fragrance concentration categories—cologne, eau de toilette, eau de parfum, and parfum—and what these terms really mean. Keep in mind that there is no standardized industry metric and that different fragrance companies label things differently.

What Is Eau de Cologne?

An eau de cologne or cologne isn't simply a fragrance for men. Rather, the term denotes the lowest concentration of fragrance oil, sitting around 5%, give or take a few percentage points. Traditionally—going back to Napoleon's time—eau de colognes were made of short-lived materials including citruses, florals, and spices. They were usually splashed on the hands and neck and were used for many purposes, from hand sanitizer to medicine. More recently, though, colognes have evolved into a still somewhat short-lived, low-concentration fresh scent.

Eau de Toilette Concentration and Origins

Eau de toilette is the next step up in fragrance concentration, ranging anywhere from 8-12% oil. Eau de toilette actually originated in Hungary and preceded cologne. Similar to eau de cologne, it was used for various purposes. At this concentration, you begin to see some staying power, but the perfume is still fairly thin. This results in a highly diffusive fragrance that sticks around a couple of hours longer than a cologne. Because of the low viscosity, these scents are often very projective for the first couple of hours before they taper off around hours 3-5. You begin to see long-lasting materials like musks appear at this concentration.

Eau de Parfum: A Popular Middle Ground

Eau de parfum can be anywhere from 13-19% oil concentration, and because of this, it's more viscous, giving it more staying power than the two aforementioned categories. It's not uncommon for an eau de parfum to last six hours. This concentration category became popular in the 1800s in the French perfume tradition and has remained popular to this day. Here, musks and other base notes become more prevalent.

Parfum, Extrait, and Perfume Oil Concentration

Finally, we have parfum, or perfume, which starts around 20% concentration and can go up to 50%, though fragrances at these higher concentrations are often called extraits or elixirs. The word "parfum" comes from the Latin "parfumare," meaning "to go through smoke"—which makes sense when you realize that many of the first perfumes were burned as incense in religious rites dating back to the beginning of civilization, and possibly before. These high concentrations are highly viscous and have serious staying power, lasting anywhere from eight hours—at least for the base notes—to several days on skin and much longer on clothing or paper. If you're chasing longevity, here's an important caveat: there are no free lunches in perfumery, and long-lasting fragrances are typically less projective. Put differently, projection and longevity are inversely correlated, though there are some materials—particularly certain modern synthetics such as Hedione or the musk ambrettolide—that manage to be both long-lasting and projective.

Why I Formulate All My Fragrances as Parfums

I label all of my scents as parfums because they are all at least 20% concentration. This amount of oil, near the lower threshold of what's considered a parfum, seems to me to be the sweet spot for my style, resulting in a long-lasting fragrance that projects—but not too much. You won't announce your presence with scent before you're seen, but people will enjoy an intoxicating and tasteful sillage as you walk past.

Perfume vs. Cologne Isn't About Gender

As for the notion that "colognes are for men and perfumes are for women," I hope I've done enough in this post to clear that up. If we're being technical, fragrance classification is about concentration, not what's between your legs. And, as I've always said, don't worry about gender anyway. There is nothing inherently masculine about lavender or oakmoss, and nothing inherently feminine about rose or mimosa. I will never tell anyone what they are or aren't allowed to like. Check out my collection to find your signature parfum.