Eau de Parfum or Eau de Toilette? What’s the Difference?

I will start this blog off with a little story…

Since I am in Europe for a few more days I decided I needed something French and luxurious to remember my trip, because you know, pictures, memories and clothes just aren’t the same! (I am only kind of kidding)

When I first got here, because I was having a rough time adjusting to the culture, language and family, the family actually bought me a present. It was Miss Dior perfume (the one I had been obsessing over for weeks). So I used it sparingly, and I still have about 90% of it left. I was also given samples of Dior Addict which just came out, and a Chanel fragrance. Well last week I sprayed the Dior Addict perfume and I loved that one too….I decided to use some of my saved money and buy it. So I went to Nocibe (which does not exist in the USA, so just quickly, Nocibe is a fragrance and beauty store) I picked up the same white package that said “Dior Addict”, went to the check out, bought it, and I went home.

To my surprise, they smelled different! What the heck? Why do they smell different?  I have never really studied fragrances so I had no idea what I did wrong. I looked at the sample that said “Eau de Toilette” and the box that I bought was “Eau de Parfum”…well that’s great, I just spent about 150.00USD (I used euros) because I wasn’t paying attention. It is not that I did not like it, because I do, but it is not what I was expecting, which caught me off guard.

So, I had to figure out why Eau de Toilette and Eau de Parfum smells different, but has the same name.

Here is what I found out:

There are actually 4 different names for the same kind of fragrance. In this case we will use the Dior Addict I bought.

The first name is Perfume

Dior Addict Perfume

Dior Addict Perfume

The second name is Eau de Parfum

Dior Addict Eau de Parfum

Dior Addict Eau de Parfum

The third name is Eau de Toilette 

Dior Addict Eau de Toilette

Dior Addict Eau de Toilette

and the fourth name is Eau de Cologne (Which Dior does not make Addict in Eau de Cologne to my knowledge)

As you can see, the Addict line of Dior, looks generally the same, they are in the same shape bottle, the colors are different, but you can tell that this is a fragrance line.

This goes in order, first being the strongest to lightest and that is in relation to the concentration of essences inside the fragrance. So it is not that the perfume is different, it is just a different concentration than a Eau de Toilette or Eau de Parfum.

Therefore, if you are looking for a fragrance that “enters a room before you do” as my mother would say…look for a fragrance that says “Perfume” or “Eau de Parfum”…

Moral of the story….make sure you pay attention to what fragrance you are buying, because you do not want to pay 200.00 for a fragrance, spray it and realize that it is stronger than the one you wanted.

Rachel

About Rachel

My name is Rachel Boudreau. I am 24 years old and have been blogging for the Bangor Daily News for almost a year. I am a Certified Personal Shopper and a Certified Fashion Stylist. I have always had a complete love and desire for anything fashion. I have recently started studying French fashion, (Dior, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, etc.) I watch all of the high fashion runway shows every spring and fall. I love shopping for people and picking out clothes for them because I like when people try things they normally would not, that, after all, is how you find new things you like! Happy reading!!!