Of course, your masculinity does not stop with a nice haircut and a cool beard or clean-shaven face. After getting ready in front of the mirror and putting on your favorite outfit, there's one more thing waiting for you until you're feeling all the man. Spraying a nice scent. Besides wanting to feel like a man through and through, you also want to distinguish yourself as a man with your own style. Your own footprint in society. A specific scent helps you to find your own style.
What are you wearing? An aftershave , eau de cologne , eau de toilette or eau de parfum ? How complicated it is for a man to choose a nice fragrance. Of course you just want to smell nice and preferably for as long as possible. We will explain the differences between all types and which one suits your preference.
Choosing a fragrance for men
To immediately clear up a misunderstanding, you generally never choose an aftershave when you buy a fragrance. An aftershave is only intended for after shaving, as the name literally says. It closes the pores and immediately disinfects the skin. Yes, an aftershave can smell nice, but it contains so few fragrance ingredients that you will soon no longer smell it. And in that sense lies the essential difference between all other types, namely the percentage of fragrance components that contain a fragrance.
Concentration of perfume makes the difference between eau de cologne, eau de toilette and eau de parfum
Eau de cologne, eau de toilette and eau de parfum all contain perfume. The difference is in the concentration. Each fragrance is made from a perfume and then diluted with water or alcohol. How much this fragrance is ultimately diluted determines the percentage of perfume that is in the fragrance and therefore also what name is given to it. An eau de cologne, eau de toilette and an eau de parfum could therefore have the same scent but differ in strength.
Eau de cologne
The eau de cologne is the least strong perfume and contains a concentration of 2-3% of perfume. This scent dissipates fairly quickly and can no longer be smelled after a maximum of two hours.
An eau de cologne is one of the oldest types of perfume that, for example, in the 60s and 70s was the only thing that men used to smell good. Nowadays eau de cologne is a lot less known and popular than eau de toilette and eau de parfum.
Eau de toilette
The eau de toilette is very popular and contains 5-10% perfume. This one has a slightly stronger scent than eau de cologne and also lasts a little longer. Eau de toilette is quite affordable and therefore very popular. There is a lot of choice for men looking for a scent. You will not smell an eau de toilette all day long and will therefore have to be sprayed on a little more often. You can smell an eau de toilette for about three hours. Perfect for men who are looking for a scent but don't like strong perfumes.
Eau de parfum
Generally the strongest variant of the regular perfumes. Eau de parfum contains a concentration of 10-20% perfume. Some variants remain noticeable for up to eight hours. It is also the most popular variety. It is often considerably more expensive than eau de toilette because of the higher concentration. You therefore need less of it to smell good and is therefore more sustainable depending on how much you use, of course.
Perfume
In addition to eau de parfum, there is also ordinary perfume. With a concentration of 20-40%, this is the strongest fragrance form you can get. It is therefore the most expensive variant. It is noticeable for up to 24 hours and cannot be sprayed because it is less diluted. Perfume is dripped onto the skin. You only need a few drops to smell strong all day long.
Build-up of odors in perfume
Those concentrations of perfume we are talking about are of course all mixtures of different fragrances. Every perfume consists of notes that can be divided into three groups:
Top notes
The top notes are the scents you smell when you apply a perfume to your skin. First impression. The scents that distinguish one perfume from another for you. These odors dominate for a few minutes and disappear sooner. Typical top notes are citrus, bergamot, lavender and lemongrass.
Heart notes
You start to smell the heart notes when the top notes are gone. Usually after about 10 minutes. It is considered the most important part of a perfume. Typical heart notes are jasmine, rose, apple, raspberry, cinnamon and pepper.
Base notes
These scents are the last to remain and you will smell the longest. These notes are the foundation of the fragrance. Typical base notes are cedarwood, vanilla and sandalwood.
Fragrances
Finally, you can categorize all scents in the different notes into Floral, oriental, fresh and woody.
How best to use a perfume
Did you know that your skin has a certain pH value and that a perfume on your skin smells a bit different than on someone else's skin? For example, your skin also determines how long a perfume will continue to smell. That is why smelling a perfume on a paper in the store is never the best way to choose a perfume. Chances are it smells different on your skin.
Of course you can't change that yourself. Still, you can get the most out of a scent if you use perfume in the right way. We give you some tips.
Spray, dab or rub perfume?
Spraying is the answer! Rubbing or dabbing can break down the molecules of the scents and the scent will disappear. Spray on your skin from about 20 centimeters away. Let the perfume soak in.
Spray perfume in the right place and leave your clothes alone
Perfume is activated by heat and chemical reactions. Spraying on your clothes is therefore of little use. Moreover, it is bad for your clothes. Preferably spray on the perfume after showering before getting dressed. Your pores are therefore still open, so that the scents are well absorbed by the skin. The best places to apply perfume are places where you can feel your heartbeat. The best places are therefore mainly on the temple, behind the earlobe, the throat, the inside of the wrist and the elbow.
Don't use too much perfume
We know, the temptation is great to spray on some extra perfume. Sometimes you think that the perfume no longer smells because you don't smell anything anymore. This is not true. Your brain gets used to the smell, so after a while you don't smell it anymore. Other people can still smell this. So don't spray on too much.
To work
You know the differences between perfume types and how best to use a perfume. Now you must have felt like spraying on a nice scent to define your own masculine style. Can't find a suitable scent? Or maybe you don't want a well-known perfume that is used by almost all men.
At The Alpha Men we have a number of nice scents of very good quality. Get inspired and choose a fragrance that suits you! Look at the webshop for delicious scents. Choose from Eau de Cologne, Eau de Toilette and Eau de Parfum.