The Secret Life of Cologne and Perfume

We all feel the need to look, feel and, yes, smell good at all important occasions in our life. Whether it is an important interview, celebration or a date, smelling good is one of the assumed pre-requisites. After all, one cannot expect to impress one's peers or the people one comes in contact with by subjecting them to offensive body odor!!! Also, a distinct, pleasant smell which we wear also helps others to identify us as it keeps on lingering with them even after we leave a certain place.

Nowadays, thousands of perfumes and colognes have flooded the market and adjudging which smell goes with which occasion can be a pretty confusing task in itself. Also, most people often fail to distinguish between cologne and a perfume.

A perfume is basically an amalgamation of various essential oils and solvents which yield a pleasant smell. While the use of perfumes is mostly associated with women, cologne is used by men. Colognes and perfumes aim at serving the same purpose but they differ in their concentration. Perfumes mostly consist of a higher concentration of pure aromatic oils as compared to cologne. Also, colognes have a shorter duration and their smell wears off more quickly as they are less intense when compared to perfumes.

Perfumes date back to some of the ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations where rulers used to spray scented oils on themselves to smell more appealing. The word perfume derives its origin from the Latin word "per fume" which literally means through smoke.

But, since their origin the business of bottling alluring fragrance i.e. manufacturing perfumes has come a long way. Today, perfumes and colognes hold a multimillion-dollar industry. And, owning some of the finest, pure perfumes can burn a hole in one's pocket. Most of the perfumes and colognes are extremely expensive, depending on the concentration of pure oils in their composition.

No matter how strong a cologne or perfume may be, its smell slowly but surely wears off. Hence, manufacturers try to layer their smells. A perfume is generally layered in three layers known as top, middle and base notes. The top note is generally the intense and fruity smell which wears off quickly. The medium note lasts most of the day whilst the base note is a woody composition which may last till the end of the day.

On the other hand, colognes are not multi-layered like perfumes. Hence, their fragrance tends to wear off quickly. Thus, it is imperative for a man to wear cologne at right places to make it work for him the right way!!!

Cologne should never be applied on the clothes as the smell will evaporate from the clothes quickly. Instead, the target areas should be those parts of our body which produce a lot of heat such as armpit, wrists and neck. The heat produced by these areas mixes well with the smell of the cologne, lending us a distinct smell of our own.

So, now with most of the myths busted about wearing perfumes and colognes right way, you really don't need to think too hard. Just spray some of your favorite perfume or cologne on yourself and you are all set to make various heads turn!!!