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Basics of Perfumery

How to recognise an original perfume? Signs to identify a fake perfume…

Where do you buy your perfumes? If you are a fragrance lover, you probably have several shops where you usually buy your perfumes. But are you sure they are selling you original perfumes? The risk increases especially on the internet where every day new sellers emerge with very tempting offers... Saving money to get the best price can be very expensive for your health. We explain why.

Where do you buy your perfumes? If you are a fragrance lover, you probably have several shops where you usually buy your perfumes. But are you sure they are selling you original perfumes? The risk increases especially on the internet where every day new sellers emerge with very tempting offers… Saving money to get the best price can be very expensive for your health. We explain why.

First of all, we do not have any reliable information about the ingredients and production of a fake perfume. Its formula may contain substances that are harmful to health or, at the very least, may cause allergic reactions and irritation. If you had any kind of dermatological problem, you would not have any consumer service figure on the other side to deal with your problem and help you solve it, as is the case with authorised products.


You should bear in mind that a fake perfume has not undergone any quality control or safety checks, inspections that authorised manufacturers have to face. This means that the product offers no guarantee, when it comes to products that are in contact with your skin for hours.
But if there is one thing you will notice when you try the perfume on the first spray, it is the quality. The ingredients used to produce fake perfumes are of very low quality, so your expectations of the fragrance will be quickly dashed. And we are not just talking about durability and performance, but even an unpleasant smell experience. No quality department has checked the interaction of the different perfume ingredients and no olfactory test has been passed.
Another negative point is the impact on the environment. Today, perfume brands are undergoing a transformation to offer products of the highest quality under a sustainable approach. In the case of fake perfumes, forget about environmental protection because they will have opted for the cheapest substances without thinking about the consequences for health and the environment.

If you thought we had finished reviewing all the negative consequences of counterfeit perfumes, there is still one more related to the underground economy that promotes mafia dynamics and illegal and unethical practices. Organisations that manufacture counterfeit products are often linked to criminal activities and promote unfair and unhealthy working conditions (the European cosmetics industry loses 5.5% of annual sales and more than 3,600 jobs due to the impact of counterfeiting, according to EUIPO, the European Union Intellectual Property Office). "The problem of counterfeiting is not limited to brand damage, as it might seem, but has a serious economic, social and health impact," says Val Díez, director general of Stanpa (Spanish National Association of Perfumery and Cosmetics).

If you thought we had finished reviewing all the negative consequences of counterfeit perfumes, there is still one more related to the underground economy that promotes mafia dynamics and illegal and unethical practices. Organisations that manufacture counterfeit products are often linked to criminal activities and promote unfair and unhealthy working conditions (the European cosmetics industry loses 5.5% of annual sales and more than 3,600 jobs due to the impact of counterfeiting, according to EUIPO, the European Union Intellectual Property Office).
"The problem of counterfeiting is not limited to brand damage, as it might seem, but has a serious economic, social and health impact," says Val Díez, director general of Stanpa (Spanish National Association of Perfumery and Cosmetics).

Enjoy creativity

Enjoy creativity

What is perfume for you? Why do you like some brands and not others? What do your favourite fragrances make you feel?
When we buy a perfume, we don't just buy it for the fragrance itself. It is undoubtedly a very important factor; you have to like the way it smells to make it your own. But, normally, other factors such as the brand, the perfumer, the olfactory proposal…
"When we buy a fake perfume we are renouncing to a good quality of the raw material, to the dedication behind each creative process, to the quality control, to the stability tests… In short, we are renouncing to a good development of the fragrance on the skin and to a good duration", explains Anaïs Pallard, Fragrance Developer Coordinator of PyD.

Perfume is a consumer good, but it has a creative component that brings it closer to art. It arises from a perfumer's vision of the world around him, associates cultural components and distils a sensibility. All this is materialised in a combination of ingredients selected to produce a torrent of pleasurable sensations.
"When I smell a counterfeit perfume, I realise that it is empty, that they have copied an infinitely small part of it," reveals perfumer Alberto Morillas, who points out that one should not get carried away by the low prices of these perfumes, as those who sell them make a lot of money. "There are many perfumes that are affordable," he reminds us.
However, EUIPO data show that a third of Europeans consider it acceptable to buy counterfeits when the price of the authentic product is very high, a figure that rises to half in the case of young people.
In the particular case of perfume replicas, we must be aware that, by buying them, we are doing serious damage to the original brands. Companies that manufacture perfume replicas or equivalents take advantage of the developments, investment and success of the original perfumes, basing their business model on a product that emulates another, but does not have the quality of the original. There is no comparison between an original perfume and a replica.
Pallard points out that replicas of other perfumes are often characterised by low-quality olfactory notes that resemble those of an air freshener or a detergent, for example, and also have poorer evolution.

"By buying a fake perfume, we are giving up on the quality of the raw materials, the dedication behind each creative process, the quality control…", explains Anaïs Pallard, Fragrance Developer Coordinator at PyD.

5 clues to spot a fake perfume

5 clues to spot a fake perfume

The first thing to keep in mind is that we must buy perfumes from authorised sellers, whether they are physical shops or e-commerce.
Avoid profiles that sell very cheap perfumes on social networks. Have you noticed that if you check the company's information on their website it is impossible to know who is behind the sale?

1.- The film that protects the packaging
The packaging of a fake perfume is irregular and has no tension. Try rubbing it and you will notice a friction that is not produced by the material that protects the box of an authentic perfume, which will be firmly sealed as a sign of guarantee that it has not been tampered with or opened.
2. Packaging
Fake perfumes imitate the design of the box or case containing the bottle, but are usually distinguished by the poor quality of the cardboard, which is usually of low grammage. In addition, the printing on the box also usually has irregularities that you will not find in an authentic fragrance.
3.- Label
Check the list of ingredients, bar code or batch number. If you cannot find it or it is incomplete, it is a fake perfume.
4.- Bottle
Normally, the bottle of a fake perfume is not well finished. You will probably see the joints in the glass to seal it and the cannula will be more visible and wider than that of a real perfume.
5.- Essence
We have already mentioned the dangers of the perfume itself - fake perfumes have been found with ethylene glycol, commonly known as antifreeze for cars - but there is a visual test that also gives us clues about its quality: shake the perfume bottle and see how the liquid reacts. If there is a lot of foam and it takes a long time to disappear, you are definitely holding a fake perfume (this test is only valid for perfumes containing alcohol).
Apart from all this advice, the most important thing is to be consistent and honest with yourself. If a product is suspiciously cheap or if an offer seems too good to be true… it's probably because it's a scam.

What is a perfume for you?

"Perfume is a way of dressing, a complement to my personality, something that identifies me and uplifts me. It affects my mood so that at some moments I feel better, at others it can relax me, and it can always bring me different kinds of positive emotions," says perfumer Anaïs Pallard.

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