Sillage or trail of a perfume, the ability of the fragrance to make itself felt

The word sillage is a French word meaning "trail". With this word we refer to the ability of a fragrance to be perceived. But, as always, in perfumery not everything is pure alchemy, but the sensory level also comes into play, since the sillage of the perfume could be said to reveal its soul and is where the magic that triggers an emotional response resides. Has it also happened to you to turn around when passing someone who leaves a halo of captivating perfume?

The grid represents the conceptual combination of the sillage that the perfumer thinks of when conceiving the perfume. In addition, there is a dynamic quadrification that serves to understand how the presence of perfumes evolves over time and helps us to get an idea of what we perceive once we spray the fragrance.
At Wikiparfum we help you to understand visually what the main ingredients of a fragrance are and how their olfactory evolution is: the size of the image is indicative of the weight that the ingredient has in the composition of the perfume, while the colour of the background reveals whether the fragrance is soft (white) or intense (black).

The citrus and floral fragrance families tend to be a great sillage, albeit a shorter lasting one, as the raw materials they are made from are short-lived on the skin. For example, Calvin Klein's CK One is a fresh fragrance par excellence, with a sparkling start and a fragrant trail, thanks to the combination of citrus, green notes, pineapple and cardamom.
Nowadays, there are olfactory games that break with traditional schemes so that we don't have to choose between freshness, trail and persistence. For example, Parfums de Marly surprises us with Perseus, a luminous, invigorating and stimulating fragrance that gives prominence to grapefruit. While pink grapefruit produces an energising sensation from the outset, vetiver introduces an earthy, comforting facet that is further warmed by a long-lasting base of ambergris and dry woods.
There are more examples of fresh, yet characterful perfumes, such as Edenfalls by M. Micallef, which combines citrus, green notes, flowers and spicy touches of patchouli and vanilla, giving the fragrance a creamy, elegant halo. Also surprising is Ganymede, a perfume created by Quentin Bisch for Marc-Antoine Barrois, chilled and fruity, which plays with a quartet of mandarins, violets with a note of suede that sends a message of elegance all around us.

Fragrance ingredients, in addition to defining the olfactory family to which the fragrance belongs, play a key role in sillage and duration. While citrus ingredients have a more pronounced sillage, more intense notes - such as woods, spices, leathers or even musks - which evaporate more slowly, last longer on the skin.
Since synthesised ingredients revolutionised modern perfumery towards the end of the 19th century, the companies that produce them have not ceased to research and innovate to obtain new molecules that are more realistic and vibrant, as well as more efficient in improving the perfume's performance.
Eurofragance's latest innovation, presented last April at In-Cosmetics, is the captive EuphorionTM, which is characterised by enhancing the feeling of natural freshness while providing a lingering sillage. It has an olfactory profile of green notes and gives olfactory compositions an intense identity, even in the smallest of doses. For example, it accentuates the green facet of fougère and introduces more aromatic power to leather notes. Some perfumers also report a certain reminiscence of savoury foods and umami, offering great creative possibilities when combined with spicy, fruity, nutty and citrus notes.
There are also natural ingredients that bring more sillage to the fragrance. "Ylang ylang is a very assertive floral scent that helps to enhance the sillage, the trail a perfume leaves behind you, because it is rich and adds body and dimension," explains the creative director of the Lubin perfume brand, Gilles Thevenin. In the case of Vanille de Tahiti Extrait de Parfum by Perris, ylan ylang absolute is combined with Champaca and magnolia absolute, which gives the fragrance a unique trail.
We cannot forget the importance of alcohol in the perfume formula, as it is one of its most important ingredients. Alcohol is the base on which a perfume is built, diluting the concentrate of essences and breaking them down so that we can perceive all the olfactory facets of the notes more powerfully. It also aids diffusion and plays an important role in sillage, as it helps the perfume to last over time.

The higher the concentration of the fragrance, the longer it lasts and lasts. A perfume extract has a concentration of 30-40% pure essence, which can extend its duration by up to 24 hours. In contrast, an eau de toilette has a concentration of 5-15%, which causes it to evaporate sooner.
This is one of the attributes most valued by consumers, who like long-lasting fragrances. And it is precisely one of the aspects that Coy has worked on in its new line of luxury perfumery, Infiniment. The new perfume collection employs a technology, called "Aura Moléculaire", which acts on the evaporation of olfactory molecules, preserving the olfactory richness of the fragrance for up to 30 hours.

Skin type also influences perfume performance. Each skin has its own olfactory signature depending on its pH and even the person's diet influences their body odour.
It should be noted that dry skin retains the fragrance of perfume for less time than oily skin. For this reason, one of the tricks recommended by experts to prolong the duration of the perfume is to apply moisturising cream before perfuming.

It is already clear that the higher the concentration of the perfume, the more noticeable the scent will be and the longer it will last. Go for an eau de parfum, with a concentration of between 15% and 20%, to enjoy its scent for up to 6 hours after application and with a noticeable, but not excessive, trail.
More is more… If you don't want to go unnoticed, then perfume extract, with a concentration of 30% to 40%, will ensure that the fragrance lasts for at least 24 hours. And if fresh fragrances and eau de toilette are your thing, perfume yourself generously for a noticeable sillage, not forgetting to spray the fragrance on your clothes and even your hair.

Now it's up to you to choose which olfactory stamp you want to leave around you.