The name on the bottle tells you roughly how much perfume oil is dissolved in the alcohol. It is a useful guide, but it is not a strict rule, and in niche perfumery the numbers can surprise you.
The usual ranges
- Eau de Toilette (EDT): roughly 5 to 15% perfume oil. Lighter, brighter, closer to the skin after a few hours.
- Eau de Parfum (EDP): roughly 15 to 20%. The most common concentration, a good balance of presence and wearability.
- Extrait de Parfum: usually 20 to 40%, sometimes more. Richer and longer-lasting, often with a softer projection than people expect.
These ranges are conventions, not laws. Brands decide what to call their own perfumes, which is why we list the actual percentage in the description whenever the perfumer shares it.
Some examples from our shelves
Pineward makes many of its scents as extraits compounded at 25 to 34%, while lighter, fresher compositions like Lime Cola or Subalpine are made as Eau de Toilette at around 12%. Pictura Fragrans works mostly at 21 to 26%. OM PARFUM goes further: Bee Oud is a 40% extrait. Lost Tribe's pure parfums are above 50% oil. At the other end, Siam1928 and Voyager are mostly Eau de Parfum at around 15%, and they still last well.
Is stronger always better?
No. A citrus or aquatic scent often works best as an EDT, because the fresh top notes are the whole point. Dark resinous or animalic perfumes, on the other hand, benefit from an extrait's density. Longevity also depends on the materials: heavy woods, resins and musks last longer than citrus at any concentration.
Our advice
Choose the scent first and the concentration second. If a perfume comes in only one strength, the perfumer usually picked it for a reason. And with extraits, start with one or two sprays. Browse by concentration or start with a discovery set to compare them on your own skin.