Buyer's Guide to Fragrance
Edt? Edp? After shave? Perfume? Parfum? Eau de what???
These terms tell us the strength of the fragrance, ie, the concentration of fragrance oils and the alcohol dilution.
The stronger the fragrance, the richer the aroma, and the longer it will last on the skin.
PARFUM or PERFUME is the strongest at 15 to 25% perfume oil.
EDP - EAU DE PERFUME (or PARFUM) is 8 to 15%
EDT - EAU DE TOILETTE is 4 to 10%
EDC - EAU DE COLOGNE is 2 to 5%
AFTER SHAVE is around 1 to 3% (Some After Shaves have added skin softening ingredients.)
This explains the price differences -
EDP will be more costly than EDT;
EDT more expensive than Aftershave.
The stages of a fragrance explained ...
You may wonder why perfumes and aftershaves always smell different after you’ve had them on a while. This is because the fragrance develops in three stages:
The top note is he initial, lighter smell of the fragrance, which lasts for around 8-15 minutes.
The middle note, (or heart note), remains constant throughout use of the fragrance and develops after the top note.
The base note is the last to develop, and helps to fix the fragrance to the skin. This is where you will smell the ‘woodier’ notes of the scent, which become more noticeable when the fragrance has been on the skin for a while.
Do perfumes make you sneeze?
You may well find that it is the modern perfumes that are the culprits! Try the scents created more than 50 years ago such as Je Reviens, Tweed and Blue Grass. These fragrances are timeless classics, and may well allow you to wear them "sneeze free". 
A woman's perfume tells more about her than her handwriting ... Christian Dior
A women who doesn't wear perfume has no future ... Coco Chanel
How to spot a fake ...
Before you buy a cheap designer fragrance, you should be aware it is possibly a fake, even containing products that could be harmful to your health. Bear the following in mind ...
If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. If a designer fragrance seems too cheap, it's likely a fake.
Beware of people claiming they are reselling the perfume, particularly on the Internet. They may say they got the perfume as a gift and don't want it. They could be looking for an easy victim, hoping to sell a counterfeit to someone who isn't familiar with the real perfume.
If you are unfamiliar with the designer perfume you are planning to buy on the internet, go to a department store and examine it first. Check out the shape and colour of the product and compare it with the product you are thinking about buying.
Watch for excess glue or sticky tape. If there is a lot of tape or glue inside the perfume box or on the exterior of the packaging, the perfume is probably a fraud.
Look carefully at the box. If the perfume's box is made out of very thin material, the product is most likely a fake. Any high-end beauty manufacturer will use high quality cardboard. Thin packaging signals a fake.
Read the print. Watch for an uneven brand name or any misspelling on the packaging.
Cellophane wrap. Most fragrances, but not all, come cellophane wrapped. Notable exceptions are Lacoste fragrances, and many body products such as shower gels and body lotions, even from companies such as Estee Lauder. If in doubt, compare different websites and retailers.
Examine barcodes. Barcodes should be at the bottom of the perfume box. If you see that they are the side of the box, you should be suspicious.
So ...
What is wrong with buying a fake fragrance? After all, they are cheap!
Simple - you get what you pay for. A good quality fragrance smells good, and the smell lasts. A cheap fake may smell pretty good at the first squirt (or it may not!), but after a very short time the aroma will have either disapperared from your skin completely, or worse, smell really nasty. Fake fragrances will not store well - you will quickly find yourself with three quarters of a bottle of foul smelling stuff. They are more likely to irritate your skin, due to the iffy ingredients used, and may even do you harm. It really it a fact that fake perfumes sold to tourists in some countries contain sea water, as the buyer finds out when they get home!
Apart from the ethical issues of course, which are up to you to decide ...
Why are the prices at The Perfume & Fragrance Boutique so inexpensive?
Because the products are stock from SK fragrance, a website owned by a partnership, Suzanne and Keith. We also both have other business interests which are now taking priority, so are simply selling the stock at reduced prices to recoup some of our stock outlay. Now operating with reduced costs hence the new website. Rather lucky for our customers! All of our fragrances are sourced from reputable UK suppliers, and we have absolutely no doubt that they are authentic.
Why do we not accept returns?
As we discovered to our cost, the selling of fragrances tends to attract bogus "customers" - requesting delivery to an address that does not match that of the cardholder (due to the card details having been stolen!), amongst other scams. Having been caught out by some dishonest people, and now knowing the problems with fake fragrances (switching for returns is yet another one!) we are now protecting ourselves - we only want to deal with genuine honest people like ourselves. If a customer places an order then presumably they want the fragrance! We do of course adhere to the statutory rights of customers, and will endeavour to resolve any problems without delay. The key to any retail business is happy customers!
