FragDNA / The Language of Scent / Foundations
EDT, EDP, Extrait — and Why Stronger Is the Wrong Word
Foundations · 6 min
The labels describe how much aromatic concentrate is dissolved in the alcohol. Roughly: Eau de Cologne 2–5%, Eau de Toilette 5–15%, Eau de Parfum 15–20%, Extrait de Parfum (also parfum, pure parfum) 20–30%. These bands are conventions, not law. No regulator enforces them, and houses place their products where marketing suggests.
The universal beginner's assumption is that a higher percentage is the same juice with more of it, so it lasts longer and projects harder. This is wrong in an interesting way.
When a house makes an EDP version of an existing EDT, it very rarely raises the dosage and stops there. It rebalances the formula — usually adding weight at the base, because the higher-concentration version is expected to feel richer and deeper, and often removing some of the volatile top-note material that would now be overwhelming. The result is a different perfume. Frequently the concentration ladder is really a family of related compositions sharing a name and a bottle shape.
This produces a genuinely counter-intuitive consequence: an EDT can project more than its own EDP. Top and heart materials are what fill the air in the first hours. An extrait loaded with heavy resins and musks may sit close to the skin, dense and quiet, lasting all day while announcing itself to nobody. Extrait is not louder. Extrait is usually closer, richer and slower.
There is a second reason the ladder is unreliable. A cheap formula at 20% concentration will still smell cheap — just more so. Longevity is determined by which materials are in the mix, not by how much mix is in the bottle. A well-built EDT full of woody-ambery synthetics will outlast a delicate citrus extrait by many hours. If you want a fragrance to last, look for weight at the base, not for a word on the label.
One more piece of vocabulary. Eau Fraîche sits below cologne strength. Elixir, Intense, Absolu, Le Parfum and similar words denote no fixed percentage whatsoever — they are house-specific flanker names, and the only way to know what they mean is to smell them. Treat them as new perfumes with a familiar surname, and you will be right far more often than you are wrong.
Key terms
- Flanker
- A variation released under an existing fragrance's name, often reformulated substantially rather than merely re-concentrated.
- Extrait de Parfum
- The highest standard concentration band, typically 20–30%, generally richer and closer to the skin rather than louder.
- Fixative
- A slow-evaporating material that slows the loss of lighter ones, extending a composition's life.
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