Fragrance 101

The best way to choose a perfume online is to start with the fragrance families and notes you already enjoy. If you love light, airy scents, explore fresh or fruity floral fragrances. If you prefer richer, more sensual perfumes, consider amber floral, woody, or warm and ambery fragrances.

To help you decide:

• Explore the different fragrance families
• Compare fragrance concentrations based on how long you want your scent to last
• Take our Fragrance Quiz for personalized recommendations

It depends on the scents you typically enjoy and how you want your fragrance to make you feel.

Here's a quick guide:

• Fresh & Fruity Floral: Bright, lighthearted and uplifting
• Rich Floral: Elegant, feminine and romantic
• Amber Floral: Sensual warm florals with sweet, comforting notes
• Woody & Earthy: Warm, rich and comforting
• Warm Ambery: Cozy, sensual and feminine

If you're unsure where to begin, our Fragrance Quiz can help identify the fragrance family that best matches your preferences and personal style.

Parfum has the highest fragrance concentration and tends to last longer on the skin. Higher fragrance concentrations contain more perfume oils, helping the scent last longer.

Fragrance concentrations, from longest to shortest-lasting, are generally:

1. Parfum: Highest concentration; longest-lasting wear.
2. Eau de Parfum (EDP): Long-lasting with rich scent projection.
3. Eau de Toilette (EDT): Lighter fragrance for everyday wear.
4. Eau de Cologne (EDC): Fresh, lighter scent with shorter wear time.
5. Eau Fraiche: Lightest scent with shorter wear time.

Fragrance develops in three stages: top notes, middle notes and base notes.
• Top notes create the first impression and usually fade within 5–15 minutes.
• Middle (heart) notes emerge next and define the fragrance's character.
• Base notes develop last and provide the scent's lasting impression with ingredients like sandalwood, amber, vanilla and musk.

The best places to apply perfume include:

• Wrists
• Neck
• Behind the ears
• Inside the elbows
• Behind the knees

These areas naturally generate warmth, helping diffuse and amplify the scent. For best results, apply perfume to clean, moisturized skin and avoid rubbing your wrists together after spraying.

Store your perfume bottle in a cool, dry place away from heat, sunlight and humidity to help preserve its fragrance.

To help extend the life of your perfume:

• Keep it in its original bottle
• Store it away from direct sunlight
• Avoid temperature fluctuations
• Choose a bedroom drawer or cabinet rather than a bathroom, where temperature and humidity can fluctuate