During the holidays or for any special occasion a gift nearly everyone enjoys receiving is fragrance, particularly the females on your list. Since ancient times, women through the ages have had an innate attraction to the power of perfume. Understanding some of the basics of perfume can be enormously helpful when selecting a scent for yourself or for someone else. Following is a perfume primer for your perusal...

What is Perfume?
Composed of essential oils mixed with alcohol, perfumes are a combination of both science and art. Natural essential oils are derived from plants, flowers, fruits, bark, roots, and animal secretions such as musk. Synthetic or laboratory-created essences are often used as well and can provide greater staying power than some naturals or recreate scents that are elusive in nature.
Although some perfumes feature a singular scent, most are a combination of several different essential oils to create a pleasing and unique fragrance. The perfumer's art is creating this unique composition, which typically features: top notes, middle notes, and bottom notes.
To better explain this, have you noticed that when you apply perfume, the fragrance can change dramatically from when you take a first whiff from the bottle, to when you first apply it, and even to an hour later after application? These are the perfume's various notes in action. A perfume's top note provides the first impression and is composed of the lightest, most volatile essences. The middle note, or heart note, is discernable once it is applied to the skin and is composed of mid-range scents such as florals. A perfume's bottom note reveals itself several minutes later. This note, featuring heavier scents such as woods or musk, rounds out the fragrance and gives it staying power. The pleasing combination of all three components is what makes each perfume unique and its interaction with each wearer equally so.

Fragrance Categories
Another helpful tip when selecting perfume is to realize that perfumers categorize women's fragrances into six primary categories based on the predominant theme.
The largest category of women's fragrances, florals appeal to the true romantic. Floral fragrances can consist of a single note or a complex bouquet and include St. Augustine's Forever Young and such classics as Chloé, Joy, and White Shoulders.
Oriental fragrances are the heaviest category as they are composed of spices, musk, and exotic flowers and wood fragrances. They are perfect for sultry evenings and cooler weather or climates.
Pronounced "sheep-ra", chypre fragrances are described as woodsy-mossy compositions. The term comes from François Coty, known as the father of modern perfumery, after a perfume he created to capture the essence of the island of Cyprus (Chypre is French for Cyprus).
Composed of grassy, herbal essences, green fragrances are refreshing and sporty.
Fougère, which means fern in French, is most often used as an element in men's fragrance. Fougère fragrances capture the essence of fresh green ferns and other woodland notes.

Fragrance Classifications
Another aspect of perfumes' classifications can also prove baffling to customers. What's the difference between an eau de parfum and eau de toilette and why does one cost more than the other? First of all, essential oils are costly. Many of the flowers, herbs, and plants used in natural essential oils are hand-harvested and it takes thousands of pounds of plant material to yield just one pound of essential oil. And synthetic essences don't necessarily represent an inferior or cheaper ingredient.
Thus, perfume classifications, perfume or parfum, eau de parfum, eau de toilette, eau de cologne, and splash cologne, are based on the strength of the fragrance or percentage of fragrance compound used in the formulation.
Following is a breakdown of industry-wide accepted fragrance strengths from the Fragrance Foundation:

So while you can afford to be a little lavish with splash cologne, every precious drop of an expensive perfume is sure to be coveted.
So, now that you know a little bit more about perfume, enjoy your explorations at the perfume counter or online. Armed with some perfume particulars, you're sure to select the perfect fragrance for every person on your list!