The labels on perfume bottles, extrait, eau de parfum, eau de toilette, aren't just fancy French names. They tell you how concentrated the fragrance is, which changes how strong it smells, how long it lasts, and what it costs. Once you understand the ladder, you'll know exactly what you're buying and why the same scent can behave so differently in two bottles. Here it is in plain language, with a note on what works best in the Gulf heat.
The concentration ladder
A fragrance is aromatic oil dissolved in alcohol, and the percentage of oil is what these terms describe. It climbs as you go up:
Eau de Cologne (EDC): about 2 to 5% oil. Light and refreshing, usually gone within an hour or two.
Eau de Toilette (EDT): roughly 8 to 12%. The most common designer strength, good but often thin on warm skin.
Eau de Parfum (EDP): around 15 to 30%. More oil means more depth, slower development and longer wear. This is the sweet spot for most people.
Extrait de Parfum (pure parfum): above 30%. Rich, long-lasting and applied sparingly, a dab rather than a spray.
The higher you go, the more fragrance you're getting, and usually the more you pay.
Where 20.O2 sits
Every 20.O2 fragrance is a full eau de parfum at 25 to 30% concentration. That's the strong upper end of the eau de parfum range, which is unusually high for the price. It means our scents open richer, settle deeper and last longer than a typical designer eau de toilette or a weaker eau de parfum. It's also why we don't make watery, fleeting versions: at that concentration, a fragrance has real material to work with.
Where oil perfumes and roll-ons fit
There's one more class the French labels don't cover: alcohol-free oil perfumes. Instead of dissolving fragrance in alcohol, an oil perfume carries it in a skin-safe oil, which changes how it behaves entirely. With no alcohol to flash off, an oil perfume sits close to the skin and releases slowly, so it often outlasts an alcohol spray on the skin even though it projects less. Think of it as its own concentration approach: high in fragrance, gentle on skin, built for closeness rather than reach. Our 10ml alcohol-free oil roll-ons carry the same scent profiles as our sprays for AED 59, ideal if you want a fragrance that stays intimate and lasts on the skin. There's more in our guide to oil perfumes and roll-ons.
What this means in the Gulf heat
Concentration matters more here than in cooler climates. Heat speeds up evaporation, so a light eau de toilette that lasts all day in a European autumn can thin out by lunch in a Dubai summer. A higher-concentration eau de parfum holds up far better, because it has more oil to release as the top notes burn off. If you live somewhere hot, leaning toward eau de parfum and above is simply the sensible choice. For more on how a scent projects and trails, see our guide on cologne versus perfume and what sillage means.
Does higher concentration always mean better?
Not always. A higher concentration lasts longer and projects more, but it isn't automatically nicer. A beautifully made eau de toilette can be more enjoyable than a heavy extrait you find overwhelming. Concentration is about performance, strength and longevity, not quality on its own. What it does guarantee is that you'll get more wear out of each spray, which at our prices makes the maths easy.
The price-per-wear maths
Concentration is really a value question, and it's worth doing the maths. A 100ml bottle holds roughly a thousand sprays, so at AED 149 for a full eau de parfum you're paying a matter of fils per wear. Because ours is a strong eau de parfum rather than a weak eau de toilette, you also need fewer sprays to get the same presence, which stretches a bottle further still. Compare that to a designer eau de toilette at AED 450, or a niche extrait well over a thousand dirhams, and the cost per wear tells the real story: a higher-concentration scent at an honest price is the cheapest good fragrance you can own, not the most expensive.
How to choose your strength
If you want something light and refreshing for the office or the gym, a lower concentration is fine. If you want a scent that lasts through a long day or an evening out, eau de parfum and above is the way to go. In the heat, err on the side of more concentration. And whatever the strength, the only way to know how it wears on you is to try it on your own skin over a day.
Try our eau de parfum
You can test our 25 to 30% eau de parfum for yourself before committing. The Discovery Set is AED 99 for five 10ml scents of your choice, enough to properly live with a full eau de parfum and feel the difference concentration makes over a day. If you'd rather sample more scents in smaller sizes first, the Starter Kit is AED 59 for ten 2ml samples, redeemable against your first bottle. Full bottles are AED 99 for 50ml and AED 149 for 100ml, with free UAE delivery.
FAQs
What is the difference between extrait, EDP and EDT?
It's the concentration of fragrance oil. Eau de toilette is around 8 to 12% oil, eau de parfum is roughly 15 to 30%, and extrait de parfum is above 30%. The more oil, the stronger, longer-lasting and usually more expensive the fragrance. 20.O2 sits at 25 to 30%, the strong upper end of eau de parfum.
Does eau de parfum last longer than eau de toilette?
Yes, generally. Eau de parfum has more fragrance oil than eau de toilette, so it has more material to release and lasts longer on the skin. It also tends to project more and develop more slowly. In the Gulf heat, that extra concentration makes a real difference to how long a scent survives.
Is extrait de parfum worth it?
It depends. Extrait lasts the longest and is richest, applied in small amounts, but it's also the most expensive and can be too intense for some. A strong eau de parfum, like our 25 to 30%, gives you most of that performance at a far friendlier price, which is why it's the sweet spot for most people.
What concentration are 20.O2 perfumes?
Every 20.O2 fragrance is a full eau de parfum at 25 to 30% concentration, made in the UAE with French and Swiss oils. That's the strong upper end of the eau de parfum range, which is why our scents last well in the heat, at AED 99 for 50ml and AED 149 for 100ml.
