Your own body chemistry affects how differerent notes react on your skin. Anything that affects the “natural” smell of your skin, such as stress, hormonal changes, your current diet or medications, might change how a perfume smells on you. 

These terms refer to the strength of the fragrance, or more specifically, to how much high grade alcohol and/or water has been added to the fragrance oils. Parfum (generally the most concentrated form you can buy) has 15-25% perfume oil dissolved in alcohol. Any mixture with a lower proportion of oil to alcohol is an eau (water).

• Eau Fraiche (Usually 3% or less perfume oil)
• Eau de Cologne (2 – 5% perfume oil)
• Eau de Toilette (4 – 10% perfume oil)
• Eau de Parfum (8 – 15% perfume oil)
• Soie de Parfum (15 – 18% perfume oil)
• PARFUM or Perfume (15 – 25% — also sometimes referred to as extract or extrait)
• Perfume oil (15-30% perfume oil in an oil rather than alcohol base)

Top notes provide the first scent impression of a fragrance once it has been applied to the skin. They are usually lighter, more volatile aromas that evaporate readily. Their scent usually lingers for between 5 and 30 minutes. Middle notes, sometimes referred to as “heart notes”, make up the body of the blend. They may be evident from the start, but will usually take 10-30 minutes to fully develop on the skin. They are the notes that classify the fragrance family (floral, oriental, chypre, etc, see below). Base Notes are those with the greatest molecular weight. They last the longest, and are also important as fixatives, that is, they help slow down the evaporation rates of the lighter notes, giving the fragrance holding power. Common base notes include oakmoss, patchouli, woods, musk and vanilla.

Testers are even more discounted than the fancy boxed versions and are great if you don’t have a need for the fancy box. Testers are 100% authentic, fresh and completely full just like the original fragrance, however they are meant for the counter in a department store. Testers often come in a plain white box but sometimes they do not have a cap or a box. The savings on the packaging means you save even more!