Perfume Collection and A Short Guide

I love, love, love perfume!! In the last few months I have come to the end of a collection of bottles. From this collection there are some I love and I was devastated to see them empty. However there was one that took me a while to finish, so long that I think it might have gone off. Ooopsie!! One thing I noticed lately and never knew about before was the difference between Eau de Toilette and Eau de Parfum. I never paid any heed because I always thought they were different things saying the same thing to be honest. I was wrong! So today I'm gonna share with you a short (very short!) guide for anyone that is interested in knowing a bit more about perfumes and their concentrations. I will be talking only about Eau de Toilette (EDT) and Eau de Parfum (EDP) because I think these are the two people encounter most. Maybe I should mention cologne too. Would anyone like me to add that in?

Eau de Toilette (EDT)
The fragrance concentration is between 5-15% of aromatic compounds, with 10% being the typical concentration. This would be the concentration meant for during the day. These are more affordable than Eau de Parfums. Lasts approximately 2 hours.

Eau de Parfum (EDP)
Fragrance concentration is between 10-20% of aromatic compounds, with 15% being the typical concentration. Parfum de Toilette or millésime are also less common terms that are used. This would be the concentration meant for the evening. And it lasts up to 4 hours.

Perfume Extract (Extrait) 
Or simply perfume (extrait). Fragrance concentration levels are between 15-40% of aromatic compounds with 20% being the typical concentration. This concentration lasts up to 6 hours. Chanel No.5’s Parfum Grand Extrait costs $2,100!! That’s €1577.17 in euro. Bargain! I had to give this one a mention for the sheer extravagance of it

Now, onto my collection of perfumes that have met their end.

Eau de Toilette (EDT)

intimately Beckham - Night

Femme l'eau fraiche - Hugo Boss

darling - Kylie Minogue

Out of these 3 perfumes, my favourite is Femme l'eau fraiche. I had the EDP of Femme and loved it. So my friend got me Femme l'eau fraiche as a birthday present a few years ago. I actually "borrowed" darling from my mother and just never got around to giving it back because of all the compliments it got! And as for the Beckham perfume, no, no. Never liked it. I think the day time one is nicer but this one was too heavy for me.

Eau de Parfum (EDP)

Christina Aguilera - Simply Christina

Halle Berry- Discover Halle

Emporio Armani - Elle

I would love all these perfumes again especially Halle Berry's. I was a bit skeptical of this when I first received it on my birthday one year. I usually am of perfume being a gift when it's not one I've had before. Halle outdid herself with this as did Christina Aguilera. Her bottle was 30mls which was just not enough, I presume it comes in other sides. And of course Emporio Armani's Elle. Do I need to say anything about this one? Gorgeous!

Advice
Now I would like to give some advice as to the storage of your perfume. I know the bottles are pretty and beautiful and we all want to show them off but you can't. I'm sorry! Ah no, once they are empty of course you can display them in all their glory. It's just to keep the fragrance strong and long lasting, they should be stored in a cool, dry place out of direct sunlight. I keep mine in a drawer. Boring I know!

I know people are divided as how to or where to wear perfume, I'm going to let you know how I wear mine. I spray mine onto the pulse points; where the skin is the warmest. Wrists, throat, behind the ears, also behind the knees and the inside of elbows are pulse points. Sometimes I spray some into the air and walk through it. Also, a lot of us are guilty of doing this, rubbing the perfume into our skin. I always do this and I know I shouldn't because it changes and can ruin the scent. We should be letting it dry naturally.

Do you have any tips or advice about perfume? What are your favourite scents and which can you not stand? We all have such different tastes, I'd love to hear what yours are :) x