Fragrance concentration is the single most useful piece of information on a bottle, and also the most commonly ignored. It's not marketing language — it's a direct measure of how much aromatic concentrate is dissolved in the base, and it predicts almost everything about how a fragrance will actually behave once it's on your skin.
EDT (Eau de Toilette)
Typically around 5-15% aromatic concentrate. This is the lightest common format — bright, easy to wear, and ideal for daily use or warm weather where you don't want something heavy. Expect roughly 3-5 hours of wear before it fades to nearly nothing, which makes a midday reapplication normal rather than a sign anything's wrong. EDTs are usually the most affordable entry point into a fragrance house's range, since less concentrate is used per bottle.
EDP (Eau de Parfum)
Around 15-20% concentrate — meaningfully richer than an EDT, with noticeably more projection and depth. This is the most popular strength for a reason: it strikes a real balance between all-day performance (6-8+ hours) and everyday wearability, without requiring the careful, restrained application that higher concentrations do. If you only own one perfume, it's very likely an EDP.
Parfum / Extrait de Parfum
The richest common alcohol-based format, often 20-30%+ concentrate. Because so much aromatic material is packed into so little liquid, a Parfum is applied sparingly — a couple of dabs or a single spray goes a long way, and over-applying can actually feel overwhelming rather than luxurious. Expect the longest wear time of any alcohol-based format, often 8+ hours, with a noticeably deeper, more complex character on skin than the same fragrance would show at EDP strength.
Attar
Not measured on the same percentage scale, since there's no alcohol base at all — an attar is a fragrance oil concentrate on its own, worn dabbed rather than sprayed. What that means practically: the longest wear time of any format covered here (often 8+ hours from a small amount), minimal projection (it sits close to the skin rather than filling a room), and an alcohol-free formulation that some people specifically seek out for skin sensitivity. See our companion piece on attar vs. perfume for the full technical difference.
A Rough Way to Choose
If you want something you barely think about and reapply without a second thought — EDT. If you want one bottle that performs well from a 9am meeting to a dinner reservation — EDP. If you want to make an entrance and don't mind applying carefully — Parfum. If you want something that's genuinely still there when you take your shoes off at the end of the day, and you like the ritual of dabbing rather than spraying — Attar.
None of these is the "correct" choice in the abstract. The right concentration is the one that matches how long you actually need it to last and how much projection you actually want.
