Thread: When making scents what's the difference between cologne, eau de purfum, and perfume?

The difference between eau de cologne, eau de toilette, eau de partume, perfume, etc., is the concentration of the aromatic compounds.
You can see the ranges for example at Perfume - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, but there are plenty of other references.

As far as how to extract more of the aromatic compounds - that depends entirely on your particular process of extraction, so your unanswered question
"what, in the production process, makes a cologne/perfume stronger" is impossible to answer, due to your failure to formulate a question in a meaningful way.

Different rums smell differently, so yes your bay rum will smell differently depending on what rum do you use. Same with the vodkas, but then it will depend a lot more on how good you are at distinguishing smells.

Originally Posted by whitebar

Wow! My answer to your question was actually an honest attempt to answer your query. Sorry it got you so worked up.

One of the links offered by Google states the following: "The longer a homemade perfume sits, the stronger will be its fragrance. Some people let the perfume sit for as many as six days."

I'm really not interested in further research on this myself but I thought it would point you in the right direction.

Why didn't you just say that? I'm not sure I quite buy the line that you were actually making an honest attempt. lmgtfy is meant to be sarcastic and mean, that's why it exists. It's mission statement is "For all those people who find it more convenient to bother you with their question rather than google it for themselves". Otherwise, why wouldn't you have just copied the link from google instead of going through the extra trouble to use lmgtfy? However, that answer is just what I was looking for, so thanks. Just be warned that most of the internet doesn't take kindly to lmgtfy and that I wouldn't have asked if I had found my answer while skimming google or if I didn't think some of the expert scent makers on this site wouldn't have some useful insight I couldn't get anywhere else.

Originally Posted by gugi

The difference between eau de cologne, eau de toilette, eau de partume, perfume, etc., is the concentration of the aromatic compounds.
You can see the ranges for example at Perfume - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, but there are plenty of other references.

As far as how to extract more of the aromatic compounds - that depends entirely on your particular process of extraction, so your unanswered question
"what, in the production process, makes a cologne/perfume stronger" is impossible to answer, due to your failure to formulate a question in a meaningful way.

Different rums smell differently, so yes your bay rum will smell differently depending on what rum do you use. Same with the vodkas, but then it will depend a lot more on how good you are at distinguishing smells.

Well, then, can you give me an example of how to formulate a better question? Or an example for how to make a scent stronger? Doesn't have to be bay rum, anything you've tried. For example, "when making cologne-x if you do y it will make it smell stronger/last longer."

I can do that - e.g. when you make vanilla extract, slit the vanilla beans and let them sit in the alcohol for at least 6 weeks. If you wait longer it will be stronger too, but there is a point of diminishing returns, where the strength increases very slowly.
Also, depending on what you make the extract from, periodically shaking the container can help making it stronger.
Or, putting more of the ingredient you're extracting the smell of could make it stronger (or not, depending on the particular ingredient and your process).
As I said the problem is that you still want 'a one size fit all' answer, and there is no such thing. It is all specific for the particular thing you're making. What works for bay rum doesn't necessarily work for rose water.

Originally Posted by gugi

I can do that - e.g. when you make vanilla extract, slit the vanilla beans and let them sit in the alcohol for at least 6 weeks. If you wait longer it will be stronger too, but there is a point of diminishing returns, where the strength increases very slowly.
Also, depending on what you make the extract from, periodically shaking the container can help making it stronger.
Or, putting more of the ingredient you're extracting the smell of could make it stronger (or not, depending on the particular ingredient and your process).
As I said the problem is that you still want 'a one size fit all' answer, and there is no such thing. It is all specific for the particular thing you're making. What works for bay rum doesn't necessarily work for rose water.

That's still helpful. It's easier to learn with examples than without.

Originally Posted by gugi

Iwhen you make vanilla extract, slit the vanilla beans and let them sit in the alcohol for at least 6 weeks. If you wait longer it will be stronger too

This, ofc, is true. However, all it does is to extract more of the specific essensial oil, i.e. to increase the strength of the extract. The OP key word was "stronger". As Gugi's link shows, there are different % of essential oils in different products, and this also creates "stronger" scents.

"Longer" is a totally different creature.
Different essential oils have different life spans. By life span one means, if you apply an oil to, say, a piece of paper, - how long are you able to smell it before it has all evaporated. The differences between different oils are quite astonishing. Citrus oils are known to have a very short life, usually between 10 and 30 minutes. Some floral oils and spice oils last longer, often somewhere in the 3-6 hour range. Finally there are wood oils and resins, some of these just last and last and last. Sandalwood is the longest scent there is, it can linger for close to a year before all scent molecules have disappeared.
The perfume industry classifies the oils after their life span. The short lasting oils are called top notes, then there is the middle notes, and finally those very long lasting ones are called base notes. Perfume scents are usually made up of a mix of all of these oil classes.

If you were to mix bay leaf oil with a dark jamaican rum, you would in fact have made a bay rum scent that you could use as a splash or AS. Often there is some orange oil in the mix as well, as well as some spices like cloves.
Bay rums are known to be short lived. Orange oil is a top note, it is strong in the beginning but after 20 minutes you can hardly tell it was ever there. Bay leaf, clove and rum are middle notes, and last for a little longer, a few hours usually. A classic bay rum has no base notes, this is why it dies so quickly.
If you wanted to make a bay rum last longer, one could use a base note, for bay rum blends one would often use vanilla, sandalwood or vetiver. These would make the scent last longer, but in reality it would not change the volatility of the top and middle notes. They would still evaporate in the same timeframe as before. Because there are longer lasting scents in the mix you would still smell it after a long time, but in reality what you pick up after 6 hours is the vanilla, vetiver or sandalwood.
Another option would be to use what is known as a fixative. Fixatives do slow down the evaporation of the scent molecules of the oils, thereby creating a longer life. Fixatives usually are resins, very thick flowing things that to some effect bond with the scent molecules for a while, thus they can prolong the evaporation cycle for an orange oil from 20 minutes to 30 minutes, for instance.

Ups, seems I wrote a book. Anyways, hope this helped clarify the aspect of longer lasting scents

Edit: your original question was "When making scents what's the difference between cologne, eau de purfum, and perfume?", the answer is just what gugi and many others posted. More essential oil in whatever carrier (the non-scented vehicle of your mix) you are using. Alcohol in itself does not alter the scent at all, apart from diluting it. If you took your wife's perfume and emptied it in a quart of everclear, you would in fact have made an AS. It may not be a particularly manly scent, but nonetheless..

Excellent, I'm getting a better idea now. What is an example of a fixative and are there different types? Also, I notice a lot of bay rum recipes have both vodka and rum in them. What would using only rum change?

I am curious...if say you wanted to make a 1/2 pint of AS/cologne/splash,would you use all alcohol or would you mix water with this at all ??

Originally Posted by Nightblade

I am curious...if say you wanted to make a 1/2 pint of AS/cologne/splash,would you use all alcohol or would you mix water with this at all ??

I usually have my drinks neat

Originally Posted by GaiusValeriusPulcher

What is an example of a fixative and are there different types?

There are indeed different varieties of fixatives. The most common is to use an oil in the blend with a lot of staying power. The base notes usually last for 12 hours upwards, and work very well. Another approach is to use a resin that help bond with the more volatile oils. Other preparates have been used, glycerin for instance can help.

A short list of possible fixatives:
NB! Note that NOT ALL OF THESE ARE SUITED FOR USE IN PERFUME, but may be used in soap or candlemaking. If you want to use any of these for making a shave related product, do take the time to check that it is suitable for use in skin products before deciding on any of these.
Nuff said, here goes:
Balsam peru, genuine (not the oil)
Benzoin oil
Cedarwood oil
Galbanum pourable resin
Labdanum pourable resin
Myrrh
Oak moss absolute
Frankincense oil or absolute
Patchouli oil
Sandalwood oil
Styrax
Tolu balsam resin
Tolu absolute
Vetivert oil or absolute
Glycerine

There are a lot more products in the perfume industry, but the ones above are available to the amateur.

Originally Posted by GaiusValeriusPulcher

Also, I notice a lot of bay rum recipes have both vodka and rum in them. What would using only rum change?

Nothing really. Vodka is used as a more readily available substitute for the expencive perfumer's alcohol that the perfume industry uses. Vodka is used as an alternative to perfumer's alcohol because it has very little scent of it's own. The old original bay rum was made with only rum, afaik.