The packaging, the bottle design, the colors and finally, the smell - all makes buying perfume a wonderful experience, whether its for ourselves or for someone else.

Understanding fragrances makes 'scents'

However a little basic understanding of fragrance structure will help us in our choice of fragrance. Have we ever bought a perfume that didn't smell as good on us as it did in the store or on our best friend? This is because the aroma of perfumes is affected by our skin chemistry, diet, mood and environment. The advantage of this is that the distinction between women's perfumes and men's is less clear, so there is nothing to stop us trying out our partners scents.

Perfumes can be divided into several fragrance or scent categories - floral, spice, citrus, marine or woody for example. And while perfume is used as a very general term, to be more accurate fragrances can be broken down into five types -

Perfume - this is the most concentrated and purest form of fragrance. It is composed of up to 40% of fragrance oils and therefore is the most expensive - but the scent lasts the longest. Real perfume is usually dabbed on rather than sprayed.

Eau de parfum - is the most common type of fragrance and contains up to 14% of fragrance oils. Most of the scent is lost after a few hours but about a third will remain until the next day. Its best to apply the scent to places where the skin is warmest, on the wrists and ankles, on the inside of the elbow, on your inner thighs or between your breasts. But not behind your ears as there are too many glands that can alter the way a perfume smells.

Eau de toilette - is the weakest of the perfumes with up to 3% of fragrance oils and hence will only last a couple of hours. One way to make the scent last longer is to rub some into the hair by your temples or run some through your hair on your brush.

Eau de cologne - was the most common fragrance in use about 300 years ago but is very rarely made anymore. The modern day equivalent is eau fraiche and all the major perfume houses like Dior and Elizabeth Arden produce them and they act a little like a concentrated eau de toilette.

Scented cream and balm - these contain a maximum of 8% fragrance oils, but because of there thick base the scent tends to linger longer on the body.

So indulge yourself in some affordable luxury and see some of the great savings you can make on your favorite fragrance.......