What are the perfume concentrations: parfum, extrait, EDP, EDT and cologne?
By Omer Siton, founder of PerfuMate · Updated
A perfume's concentration is the share of aromatic concentrate in the finished bottle, and the names on the label are conventions for bands of it: about 20 to 30 percent for an extrait de parfum, 15 to 20 for an eau de parfum, 5 to 15 for an eau de toilette and 2 to 5 for an eau de cologne, by weight. No standard fixes these bands, published charts disagree by several points, and a house can put a little more or less in a bottle and keep the name.
What are the perfume concentration levels?
Four levels cover most perfume in alcohol, from strongest to lightest: extrait de parfum, eau de parfum, eau de toilette and eau de cologne, with perfume oil as the alcohol-free counterpart. The table gives the range PerfuMate uses across this site, the spread of figures in published charts, and the strength at which PerfuMate's "What are you making?" choice starts a new formula.
| Name, and other names | Concentrate in the finished perfume | Range in published charts | PerfuMate's starting point |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extrait de parfum (parfum, extrait, pure perfume) | 20 to 30% | 15 to 40% | 30% |
| Eau de parfum (EDP) | 15 to 20% | 8 to 20% | 20% |
| Eau de toilette (EDT) | 5 to 15% | 4 to 15% | 10% |
| Eau de cologne (EDC, cologne) | 2 to 5% | 2 to 5% | 5% |
| Eau fraîche | 1 to 3% | 1 to 3% | none |
| Perfume oil, in a carrier oil | 10 to 30% | 10 to 80% | 20% |
The names are trade conventions, not regulated grades: IFRA puts every one of them in the same Category 4, with the same limits on the finished product whatever the label says (IFRA categories explained). Charts disagree because houses do. A UK consumer guide puts an eau de parfum at 8 to 15 percent and an eau de toilette at 4 to 8, a London perfume house and a perfumery supplier both give 15 to 20 and 5 to 15, and the supplier lets an extrait run to 40. PerfuMate's ranges, in the second column, follow what most of these charts share. Perfume oils have no common chart at all: a perfume retailer's roll-on guide gives 10 to 20 percent, a natural-perfumery supplier 15 to 30 and one perfumer's guide 20 to 80; PerfuMate's 10 to 30 spans the first two, with 20 as its starting point.
PerfuMate works by weight, as perfumers do, and most charts do not say whether they mean weight or volume. The difference is a few points: the concentrate is denser than alcohol, so a mix that is 20 percent by volume is about 23 percent by weight. Names such as elixir, intense or absolu are a house's own labels; none of the charts gives them a range, so they say nothing certain about strength.
To find the concentration of a perfume you made, divide the total aromatic mass by the total batch mass, counting each line weighed from a dilution at its strength: the dilution math shows how, and the free batch calculator does it for you. There is no simple home test for a bought perfume; its name is the house's own description.
What is a perfume concentrate, or a "perfume oil concentrate"?
A perfume concentrate is the blend of aromatic materials before it is diluted: the 18 percent of an 18 percent eau de parfum, which the trade also calls the compound or the fragrance oil. Every percentage in the table above is the concentrate's share of the finished perfume.
A concentrate is made to be diluted, not worn. IFRA's limits apply to what reaches the skin, so a concentrate is checked at the strength it will be worn: the first cologne formula on PerfuMate's cologne page is within every Category 4 limit at 5 percent and stays within them up to 13.33 percent, while worn neat it would put 15 percent cold-pressed lemon oil on the skin against a cap of 2. A bottle sold as "perfume oil concentrate" may be anything from a diluted oil to an undiluted fragrance oil, so ask the seller for its strength before you wear or dilute it.
To use a concentrate, dilute it by weight: 4.5 g of concentrate and 20.5 g of perfumer's alcohol make a 30 ml eau de parfum at 18 percent (the arithmetic), and 1.72 g in 6.88 g of jojoba oil make a 10 ml perfume oil at 20 percent (the oil version). A finished alcohol perfume cannot be concentrated again at home: evaporating it takes the top notes away with the alcohol.
What do eau de parfum (EDP) and eau de toilette (EDT) mean, and how do they differ?
Eau de parfum and eau de toilette are names for two strengths of perfume in alcohol: an eau de parfum carries about 15 to 20 percent concentrate, an eau de toilette about 5 to 15. "Eau" is French for water, and "toilette" keeps its older meaning of personal grooming, not the modern bathroom one.
The higher strength puts more of every slow material on the skin, so an eau de parfum lasts longer; an eau de toilette has more alcohol for each gram of concentrate, so its opening reads lighter and brighter. The two versions of one perfume can also differ in their notes as well as their strength, because a house may rebuild the formula for each. Which is better depends on what you want from it: an eau de toilette for a light, bright wear, an eau de parfum for more hours.
What is extrait de parfum, and is "parfum" the same thing?
Extrait de parfum is the strongest tier, usually 20 to 30 percent concentrate and occasionally more, and "parfum", "extrait" and "pure perfume" usually name the same tier. One consumer guide lists parfum a little below extrait, at 15 to 25 percent against 20 to 30, so when the difference matters, read the strength rather than the word.
An extrait sits closest to the skin and lasts longest, and it is applied by a dab or one or two sprays; some extraits are made in oil rather than alcohol. At this strength the IFRA check matters most: every restricted molecule in the concentrate reaches the skin at up to six times the dose it has in a 5 percent cologne.
Perfume vs cologne: what is the difference?
In perfumery, cologne is the lightest strength, an eau de cologne at about 2 to 5 percent concentrate, and "perfume" usually means the stronger levels; in American shops, "cologne" is also used loosely for fragrances marketed to men, whatever their strength, though dictionaries define it without reference to men and both men and women wear it. So "perfume vs cologne" can be a question of strength or of how the bottle is marketed.
The name comes from the light citrus-aromatic water first made in Cologne in 1709, and a true eau de cologne is still that style: citrus and herbs with a little neroli or lavender, splashed on and renewed (how to make one). A men's "cologne" from a shop can be an eau de toilette or an eau de parfum. An eau de parfum carries three to ten times the concentrate of an eau de cologne, so it lasts far longer; "fragrance" is the umbrella word for all of them.
Does eau de parfum last longer than eau de toilette, and which is better?
For the same formula, yes: at a higher concentration more of every slow material reaches the skin, so the perfume takes longer to fall below notice. Across different perfumes the formula matters more than the label: a perfume built mostly on citrus fades early at any strength, and one built on woods, musks and resins lasts.
PerfuMate's wear model, calibrated on reference formulas, puts numbers on both points. The same balanced floral concentrate is estimated at about 8 hours on skin at 18 percent and about 11 at 35 percent, while its projection score falls slightly: past a formula's best strength, extra concentrate buys hours, not throw. Across compositions, the model puts an all-citrus cologne at 12 percent at a little over two hours and an amber-woody extrait at 30 percent at about 15. So the longest-lasting type is an extrait of a formula with a real base, and "better" depends on what you want: an extrait lasts and stays close, an eau de toilette opens brighter and leaves sooner (what decides how long a perfume lasts).
Which concentration should I make?
Let the formula choose: a citrus-aromatic composition is loudest at a low strength, a balanced floral in the eau de parfum range and an amber or woody one higher, so start where your formula projects best and then check that it passes IFRA there. PerfuMate's wear model finds the loudest point of an all-citrus cologne at about 6 to 9 percent, of a balanced floral at about 16 to 20, and of an amber-woody extrait at about 22 to 26.
- Start from the style. Cologne or eau de toilette, 5 to 10 percent, for citrus and aromatic ideas; eau de parfum, 15 to 20, for most florals and balanced formulas; extrait, 20 to 30, for ambers, woods and gourmands; a perfume oil at about 20 percent in jojoba or fractionated coconut oil when you want no alcohol. Is 20 percent oil good for a perfume? It is the top of the eau de parfum range; 30 percent is an extrait, right for a heavy base and too much for a citrus.
- Check IFRA at that strength. Limits apply to the finished product, so a stronger version of the same concentrate can fail where the weaker one passed: the cologne formula above passes at 5 percent and fails as an eau de parfum at 15, where its cold-pressed lemon would be over the cap. The free IFRA calculator finds the highest strength at which a formula stays within every limit; its quick choices are 5, 10, 18 and 25 percent.
- Plan the rest. PerfuMate rests a batch for 60 days up to 15 percent, 90 days up to 25 percent and 120 days above that, so a stronger perfume is ready later (how long to macerate).
- Make two strengths. The quickest way to learn what concentration does is one concentrate at two strengths, worn side by side; the perfume making calculator works out the grams for each bottle.
When you start a formula, PerfuMate asks what you are making and sets the strength from the answer, and the IFRA check, the label and the batch arithmetic follow it. Start a formula, free.
Sources:
- Concentration ranges: The Perfume Society, "Strength to strength"; Floris London, eau de parfum vs eau de toilette (2024); The Perfumer's Apprentice, perfume concentration guide; for perfume oils, The Scent Library, how to make roll-on perfume (2023), Eden Botanicals, natural perfumery basics and Immortal Perfumes, how to make perfume oil.
- The origin of eau de cologne, the American usage of "cologne" and the meaning of "toilette": Wikipedia, Eau de Cologne and Eau de toilette; the dictionary sense, Dictionary.com, cologne.
- Wear-model figures: PerfuMate's wear model and its reference formulas. IFRA figures: PerfuMate's IFRA Category 4 engine, 51st Amendment; a reference check, not a safety assessment.