Extrait de Parfum or Eau de Toilette? Perfume Strength Explained
The words on a perfume bottle are not just labels. They tell you how much fragrance oil is in the blend, and that changes how a scent wears: how long it lasts, how far it travels, and even how it smells.
The Main Strengths
Exact ranges vary by perfumer, but these are the general guidelines:
- Extrait de parfum (often 20 to 40 percent fragrance oil): the richest and longest-lasting. It sits close to the skin and evolves slowly.
- Eau de parfum (often 15 to 20 percent): a strong everyday concentration.
- Eau de toilette (often 5 to 15 percent): lighter and brighter, with more lift in the opening.
Our extrait de parfum is blended at 28 percent.
Stronger Does Not Mean Louder
This surprises many people. A higher concentration usually means a scent lasts longer, but it often projects less. Extraits tend to wear closer to the skin, more like a personal signature than a trail. Eau de toilette can feel airier and more noticeable in the first hour, then fade sooner.
How to Choose
- Choose extrait if you want your perfume to last all day, prefer a skin-close scent, or love rich notes like woods, vanilla, smoke and resin.
- Choose eau de toilette if you like a fresher, brighter feel, want something lighter for warm weather or the office, or like to reapply through the day.
- Still not sure? Start with a 2 ml discovery vial, then choose the strength that suits how you wear fragrance.
Laura
Sour cherry · Woodsmoke · Saffron · Warm florals
Available as a discovery vial, eau de toilette and extrait de parfum, so you can choose the strength that suits you.
Shop Laura · Discovery vial $10 · 50 ml extrait $115
How to Make Any Perfume Last Longer
- Apply to moisturized skin. Fragrance holds longer on hydrated skin, so an unscented lotion or a matching body butter helps.
- Spray pulse points (wrists, the base of the throat, inner elbows) and do not rub.
- Mist hair or a scarf lightly. Fabric and hair hold scent for hours.
- Store bottles away from heat and sunlight to keep the fragrance true.
Explore all of our small-batch perfume, from discovery vials to full extraits.
Small-batch perfume and home fragrance, made in our Portland, Oregon studio since 2015. Vegan, cruelty-free and phthalate-free.