Extrait, parfum, EDP: perfume concentrations explained

The small print on a perfume bottle — EDT, EDP, parfum, extrait — is a statement about strength: how much fragrance oil is dissolved in the alcohol. It is the most useful word on the label and the least explained. Here is what each one means, and how to use it when you buy.

The short version

More oil means a scent that sits closer to the skin and stays for longer. More alcohol means a brighter, louder start that fades sooner. From lightest to richest, the names run like this. The percentages are the ranges usually quoted in the trade: no law fixes them, and every house draws its own lines.

• Eau de cologne — roughly 2 to 5% fragrance oil. A light splash that fades quickly.
• Eau de toilette (EDT) — roughly 5 to 15%. Fresh and bright, made for daytime.
• Eau de parfum (EDP) — roughly 15 to 20%. The most common strength on a designer shelf today.
• Parfum and extrait de parfum — roughly 20% and up. The two names are often used for the same top strength; where a house sells both, the extrait is the deeper one.

Stronger doesn't mean louder

It is natural to assume an extrait fills a room. Usually it does the opposite. With less alcohol to lift it, a high-concentration perfume projects less in the first hour and wears closer to the skin — but what is there stays longer and changes more slowly as the day goes on.

An eau de toilette is the reverse: a big, bright opening and a quicker fade. So the right strength depends on what you want from it — presence in the first hour, or a scent that is still with you in the evening.

Where attar fits

Attar sits outside this scale altogether because it has no alcohol at all: it is fragrance in oil, applied by touch. That is why it wears closer than any spray. If you are weighing the two, read attar vs perfume first.

Our two spray lines

The house makes two strengths of spray. Both are blended and bottled by hand in small batches at our Bahraich store.

House Parfum

House Parfum is our everyday line, made at parfum strength and sold in four sizes: 8, 20, 50 and 100 ml. It covers every family, from the fresh, aquatic Aabshar to the smoky Omaar, and it is where most of our inspired-by scents live.

Extrait de Parfum

Extrait de Parfum is the house's deepest work: five blends with more oil in every bottle, rested before they are bottled. They are Oud Ameer, Tambaku Oudh, Levendour Oud, Musk Rizali and Aarzoo. One or two sprays is enough.

How to choose a strength

• For office days and hot weather: a fresh House Parfum, two or three sprays.
• For evenings, winter and weddings: an extrait, one or two sprays on the chest or the neck.
• For a scent that stays close all day without alcohol: an attar from our house attars.

Try before the big bottle

Every House Parfum and every extrait comes in an 8 ml size. At these strengths a small bottle lasts a good while — long enough to know whether a scent is yours before you buy the 50 or 100 ml, which cost far less per ml.