NICHE PERFUMERY: THE HYPE AROUND PERFUME EXTRACTS. WE DON’T WANT TO PLAY THAT GAME.

30%. 35%. 40%.

In recent years, niche perfumery seems to have found a new unit of measurement for luxury: percentage.

The more concentrated a fragrance is, the more intense it is supposed to be. The longer it is supposed to last. The more beautiful raw materials it is supposed to contain. And the more natural its higher price is supposed to seem.

But what does a fragrance concentrated at 30% really mean? Does a higher concentration necessarily mean more precious raw materials? Better quality? Better longevity? A more interesting fragrance?

No.

At Les Bains Guerbois, we have nothing against Extraits de Parfum.

What we refuse is the race for the highest number.

IN SHORT

An Extrait de Parfum is not automatically superior to an Eau de Parfum.

The terms Eau de Parfum, Parfum and Extrait do not correspond to strictly regulated international thresholds. The International Fragrance Association, IFRA, gives ranges commonly found in the industry, around 10 to 20% for an Eau de Parfum and 15 to 40% for an Extrait, while making clear that these are industry conventions rather than universal regulatory definitions. Source: IFRA.

Above all, the percentage of a fragrance composition tells you nothing about the price of the materials used, their rarity or their quality.

30% is a concentration. Not a certificate of nobility.

WHAT IS AN EXTRAIT DE PARFUM?

In its classic form, an alcohol-based fragrance is mainly made up of a fragrance composition, alcohol, usually denatured, and possibly water.

The fragrance composition is the heart of the creation. It brings together the materials with which the perfumer builds the fragrance.

But not every substance within a fragrance composition necessarily serves the same purpose.

IFRA distinguishes between fragrance ingredients, used primarily for their olfactory properties, and functional ingredients, which contribute to the stability or performance of the composition, such as certain solvents, antioxidants or preservatives.

In its 2025 Transparency List, IFRA lists 3,312 fragrance ingredients and 379 functional ingredients. Source: IFRA Transparency List 2025.

This distinction is essential.

Because a fragrance advertised as containing a 30% fragrance composition does not necessarily contain 30% precious aromatic materials.

30% OF WHAT, EXACTLY?

That is probably the question we should be asking more often.

When a brand proudly announces “30% concentration”, our imagination quickly fills in the blanks.

We imagine more rose.

More iris.

More oud.

More jasmine.

More rare materials.

That is not necessarily what the number means.

A fragrance composition can contain natural or synthetic aromatic materials, but also various functional ingredients required for its formulation.

There is nothing unusual about this. It is part of fragrance formulation.

But it means one very simple thing:

30% fragrance composition does not mean 30% precious materials.

And certainly not 30% precious natural materials.

WHY CAN’T WE SEE THIS ON THE LABEL?

Because European regulations allow fragrance and aromatic compositions, together with their raw materials, to be listed under the generic terms “PARFUM” or “AROMA”.

Certain substances subject to specific labelling requirements must of course be declared separately. But the complete formula of the fragrance composition does not appear on the label. This is explicitly provided for under Article 19 of the European Cosmetics Regulation. Source: European Regulation No. 1223/2009.

Consumers will therefore generally see:

ALCOHOL DENAT.
PARFUM
AQUA

Followed by the substances that must be individually declared.

But behind the word PARFUM can lie an extremely complex formula.

The consumer knows neither its detailed composition nor its cost.

They do not know whether a higher percentage corresponds to more expensive aromatic materials, a complete reformulation, or a different technical architecture of the composition.

They simply see a number.

And that number has become an extremely powerful marketing argument.

DOES A 30% CONCENTRATION MEAN MORE HIGH-QUALITY RAW MATERIALS?

No.

Concentration and quality are two different things.

Two compositions dosed at exactly the same percentage can have radically different raw material costs.

One formula may use certain extremely expensive natural materials.

Another may rely on much more accessible synthetic molecules.

Another may use particularly sophisticated and expensive synthetics.

Natural does not necessarily mean superior to synthetic either. That would be another oversimplification of perfumery.

The point lies elsewhere.

A percentage tells you nothing about the value of what lies behind it.

Concentration measures the amount of a composition incorporated into the finished product.

It does not measure the beauty of that composition, its originality, the cost of its raw materials or the talent of the perfumer.

SOME TECHNICAL INGREDIENTS COST VERY LITTLE

This is another reality worth remembering.

Some technical or functional ingredients used in formulation are relatively inexpensive products.

Dipropylene glycol, or DPG, for example, is used as a carrier, solvent or vehicle in the fragrance industry. A publicly available professional offer for fragrance-grade DPG currently lists it at around €7 per kilo for a minimum order of one tonne. See price example.

At that price, 10 grams represent around 7 cents of material.

Triethyl citrate provides another useful point of reference. A publicly available professional catalogue currently lists 25 kg of FG-grade product at €786, or around €31 per kilo and approximately 31 cents for 10 grams. See price example.

These examples obviously do not mean that an Extrait de Parfum is simply an Eau de Parfum to which inexpensive products have been added.

That would be false.

They do, however, show why concentration percentage alone tells us absolutely nothing about the true cost of a formula.

WHY ARE PERFUME EXTRACTS SO EXPENSIVE, THEN?

This is where the trend becomes particularly interesting.

When an existing fragrance is released in an Extrait version, its retail price can increase significantly.

There may be perfectly legitimate reasons for this increase.

An Extrait can be a genuine reformulation.

It can introduce new materials.

It can be produced in smaller volumes.

It can require new development work, testing, new packaging or a specific manufacturing process.

But increasing concentration alone does not mean an equivalent increase in manufacturing cost.

Let us take a deliberately simple example.

Imagine an Eau de Parfum containing 15% of a concentrate costing €200 per kilo.

Moving from 15% to 30% in a 100 ml bottle would represent, as an approximate order of magnitude, around 15 additional grams of concentrate.

That is around €3 of additional concentrate.

With a concentrate costing €400 per kilo, around €6.

With an exceptionally expensive formula, of course, that amount could be much higher.

That is precisely why we reject generalisations.

But doubling the concentration percentage does not mean doubling the manufacturing cost.

The price premium of an Extrait therefore cannot automatically be interpreted as a proportional reflection of additional raw material costs.

It also reflects positioning.

Desirability.

Marketing.

Pricing strategy.

In other words, the Extrait has also become a formidable tool for premiumisation.

And the number works.

30% seems superior to 20%.

40% seems superior to 30%.

More concentrated.

More intense.

More exclusive.

More expensive.

But more beautiful? That is another question.

WHAT DO FIXATIVES DO IN A FRAGRANCE?

Perfumery has always used materials that allow perfumers to work on volatility, diffusion and longevity.

Some aromatic materials naturally have fixative properties of their own.

There are also various solvents, carriers and technologies capable of influencing the rate at which fragrance molecules are released.

These are not bad ingredients.

They are not cheating.

They are formulation tools.

But when a tool acts on evaporation or the release of aromatic components, it can also alter the way certain facets emerge over time.

And that is where things become interesting.

MORE LONGEVITY CAN ALSO MEAN A DIFFERENT EVOLUTION

A study published in July 2026 in Flavour and Fragrance Journal specifically examined the effect of a polymeric fixative system on an experimental fragrance dosed at 20%.

With 5% of this specific fixative, researchers observed a 94.46% increase in the retention of top notes and a 59.97% delay in the release of heart notes.

When the level of fixative was increased from 5 to 10%, the effect became less efficient. The researchers notably referred to a possible phenomenon of excessive retention of components within the formula.

Read the study published in Flavour and Fragrance Journal.

This study should certainly not be turned into a universal rule.

It concerns one specific fixative system and one specific experimental formula.

But it illustrates one principle very clearly:

changing longevity also means changing the evaporation and release kinetics of the fragrance.

And those kinetics are an integral part of its composition.

PERFUME IS AN ART OF EVAPORATION

This is precisely where our vision differs from the current race for performance.

A fragrance lives because its materials do not all appear at the same moment.

Some molecules are highly volatile.

They appear immediately and then disappear.

Others take their time.

Some facets exist for only a few minutes.

Others remain on the skin for several hours.

It is this succession that creates a story.

A fragrance starts somewhere and takes us somewhere else.

A note appears.

It meets another material.

It disappears.

A new facet emerges.

Then it too fades away.

It is this movement that interests us.

WE PREFER A FLEETING FACET OF IRIS TO A TWELVE-HOUR TRAIL

Take iris.

What fascinates us in a beautiful interpretation of iris is not simply its intensity.

It is its facets.

Powdery at one moment.

Then vegetal.

Earthy.

Woody.

Almost cold.

Soft.

Sometimes slightly buttery.

These impressions appear, overlap, respond to one another and then disappear.

Some may last only a few minutes.

So what?

It is precisely this movement that can make them beautiful.

We will always prefer the fleeting beauty of a facet of iris to a massive trail designed simply to last twelve hours.

Longevity is a quality.

Projection can be a quality.

But so can transparency.

Contrast.

Surprise.

Breathing space.

Movement.

And sometimes even disappearance.

DOES MORE CONCENTRATED MEAN BETTER?

No.

A wine is not better simply because it contains more alcohol.

Music is not better simply because it is played louder.

A fragrance is not better simply because it contains more concentrate or remains perceptible for longer.

And yet part of the conversation around fragrance today seems to revolve almost entirely around performance.

How many hours does it last?

How strong is the projection?

How many sprays?

Can you smell it from three metres away?

Is it still on your clothes the next day?

The question “is it beautiful?” sometimes seems to come after “does it last?”

We think that is a shame.

A fragrance is not a competition in decibels.

THE MAGGI SAUCE

The comparison may make a few purists scream.

So be it.

Take an excellent tomato.

Add a few drops of Maggi seasoning.

The flavour impact immediately increases.

Add more.

The taste becomes more powerful, more recognisable and more persistent.

But at what point do you stop improving the tomato and simply start tasting more Maggi?

Perfumery also has remarkable tools for increasing impact, slowing evaporation, prolonging certain sensations or making a trail denser.

They are fascinating when they serve a creative idea.

They interest us far less when they mainly serve a promise of performance.

WHY LES BAINS GUERBOIS DOES NOT WANT TO JOIN THE RACE FOR CONCENTRATION

Let us be clear.

We have nothing against Extraits de Parfum.

There are magnificent extracts.

Some olfactory ideas require density, slowness, depth and a high concentration.

In that case, let us make an Extrait.

What we reject is this almost automatic equation:

MORE CONCENTRATED = MORE PRECIOUS = HIGHER QUALITY = MORE LUXURIOUS

It is far too simplistic.

When we work with a perfumer, our question is not:

“How high can we go?”

Our question is:

“At what concentration is this fragrance at its most beautiful?”

Sometimes increasing the concentration enriches a creation.

Sometimes it weighs it down.

Sometimes it alters a beautiful opening.

Sometimes it slows down its evolution.

Sometimes it turns a light vibration into something much more static.

We are not looking for the maximum concentration.

We are looking for the right concentration.

The one that respects the perfumer’s writing.

The one that lets the materials breathe.

The one that allows the different facets to reveal themselves, meet and then disappear.

The one that creates emotion.

Not the one that produces the most spectacular number on a product page.

A FRAGRANCE IS NOT A STATISTIC

Concentration is a technical figure.

It is not a measure of beauty.

It is not a measure of creativity.

It is not a measure of raw material cost.

It is certainly not a measure of the perfumer’s talent.

So yes, niche perfumery is currently fascinated by Extraits, high concentrations, massive trails and spectacular longevity.

Fine.

At Les Bains Guerbois, we simply do not want to play that game.

We prefer a fragrance that moves to one designed only to last.

A fragrance that surprises to one that simply tries to impress.

A sublime facet, even a fleeting one, to power without nuance.

Because a fragrance is not made only to last.

It is made to live.