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Hi, everyone, 欢迎回来酒馆and welcome to a new episode of the Bluffer's Guide to Things.

终于又到了我们新的一期【酒馆装B指南】.

This very special segment is designed to give you crash courses on specific topics and fields, to help you sound more sophisticated or at least to fake that sophistication.

So far we talked about coffee, wine and craft beer.

In today's new episode, however, we're gonna talk about another type of liquid, not something you can drink, but equally important.

So welcome to the Bluffer's Guide to Perfume. 今天的这一期【酒馆装B指南】我们就来聊聊香水。

And like many other things, this is a whole different world filled with lots of confusing information. So whether you just want to know more about perfume, wanna buy it for yourself, or as a gift for someone else, this will be the episode for you.

And in this very practical Guide, I'm going to walk you through the history. We'll get to know different types of perfume, different types of fragrance, as well as how to choose and use perfume to achieve the best results.

First things first, let's take a look at the word perfume. Perfume comes from the Latin word “per fume” , literally means to scent by smoking基本类似于香薰的概念.

But the whole idea of using scents, can be traced back to the ancient Egyptians. They used scents in their religious rituals by burning essential oils and resin.

They also traded incense myrrh and scented woods with the Middle East Arabian and Indian. They even took the perfumes to the grave with them.

But in the ancient world, it's not just the Egyptians that took a special liking to these amazing scents, the ancient Persian kings had their own signature scents which no one else were allowed to use.

The ancient Romans preferred frankincense and myrrh, which they used to scent their houses. 古罗马人会用到 frankincense乳香和myrrh没药来熏香自己的房子.

In the West, people hear frankincense and myrrh usually in bible stories.

As history progresses, perfume took on an even more important and functional role.

In Medieval Europe, people believed that the disease and illness was caused by miasma or bad air. So perfume was used to stop diseases such as the plague.

到了鼠疫横行的中世纪欧洲, perfume就被当成了是防疫祛病的利器.

But so far these are just scented things, not really the liquid perfume as we know today.

Although the knowledge of something perfumery came to Europe as early as the 14th century do partially to Arabic influences and knowledge. But it was the Hungarians who ultimately introduce the first modern perfume.

虽然说早期这种类似于perfume的东西是从阿拉伯传入欧洲, 但是第一款现代意义上的香水就是出现在匈牙利.

This is the first modern perfume made of scented oils blended in an alcohol solution. This was made in 1370 at the command of Queen Elizabeth of Hungary; and was known throughout Europe as Hungarian water. 当时也被叫做匈牙利女王水.

And then the art of perfumery prospered in Renaissance Italy. 香水的工艺又在文艺复兴期的意大利快速的发展起来, and it just all took off from there.

Back in the olden days, perfume was used by the upper classes. 不过当时的香水是上流社会专属, 用到的原料都是极其珍贵的, 比如ambergris, 龙涎香. This comes from the intestines of sperm whale. 其实是存在于抹香鲸肠道的一种物质.

Civet from a civet cat and musk from the musk deer再有就是来自麝猫和麝的麝香.

Now fast forward to the present day when everyone of us can afford to buy and use perfume. But here's the problem.

Say you go to an online store and search for perfume, you get easily confused because not only are there so many different brands, there are also so many different types of perfume depending on different level of fragrance oil concentration.

要了解香水, 首先就要了解根据浓度和持香时间长短不同, 香水被分为的几种种类.

Let's start with the most expensive one, the one was the highest fragrance oil concentration. They're called “Parfum”, you heard it right, it's not English, it's actually French, P-a-r-f-u-m Parfum中文把它叫做香精.

They typically contain about 20 to 40% concentration, which makes it heavier and stronger, which means when you use it really only a few dabs will last you the whole day, 8 hours for example.

One level lower is something called “eau de Parfum” or “EDP” , 被叫做香水或者淡香精. They have a concentration of 10 to 20%.

Therefore, they have a lighter oil concentration and more alcohol and water concentration compared to Parfum. Nevertheless, it is still quite strong and it will last on your body for about 5 hours.

Going further down is “eau de toilette” or “EDT”, 中文叫做淡香水.

It sounds a bit strange because the French word directly translates into “toilet water”, but it's not really toilet water but water you use to groom.

Eau de toilette contains 5 to 15% oil concentration and it will last about 2 to 4 hours because it's lighter it’s really suitable for warmer weather when you don't want very strong perfume.

One step lower than that is “eau de cologne”, 也就是中文里说的古龙水.

Most people think of古龙水or cologne in English, they think about something for men, but eau de cologne is not really just for men. It simply means it's a lighter variation. So women can also use it.

Eau de cologne normally has 2 to 5% concentration, can last about 2 hours.

And there is still one below that, which is called of “eau fraiche” or freshwater. 中文把它翻译成清淡香水或者清凉水.

This is the least expensive and least concentrated, usually contain about 1 to 3% oil concentration.

It is a great summer products for at the beach or gym. This is very similar to some of the after shave, 和一些男性的须后水一样.

People who choose this type of perfume are basically aiming for a barely-there scent.

And other than all these perfume choices, another way to make yourself smell better, especially if you're sweating, is something called deodorant.

另外一种可以让你更好闻的东西, 也就是deodorant除臭止汗露. But that is another story.

So let's recap from the most expensive to the inexpensive, from the high concentration to low concentration, we have Parfum, Eau de Parfum or EDP, Eau de Toilette or EDT, Eau de Cologne or cologne, and Eau Fraiche.

So we just talked about some of the basic types of perfume based on the concentration level and their lasting power.

Now it's time to introduce a key concept in perfume and fragrance. This is notes, N-O-T-E-S.

香水广告里面经常说的花香调, 木质香调, 东方香调, 或者是前调中调后调, 这个 “调”在英文里就是notes.

Like musical notes you can play on a musical instrument, these notes are directly linked with the beautiful fragrance perfumes can offer.

If you don't know much about perfume and I ask you to describe certain perfume, most people just say it smells like flowers or it smells like wood.

But actually perfumes are usually more complicated than this.

Good perfumes should contain three notes, right after using it the first 10 minutes or so, you will get top notes or head notes. 用香水的时候, 首先感受到的是它的前调, top notes or head notes. They form a person's initial impression of a perfume.

Examples of this might include mint, lavender.

After the initial 10, 15minutes, you start to get the middle notes or the heart notes过了一会儿, 前调散去, 香水会呈现出它的中调, middle notes or heart notes.

And the middle notes act to mask the often unpleasant initial impression of base notes which become more pleasant with time.

可以理解为中调是为之后的尾调做铺垫和准备.

And examples might include seawater, sandal wood, Jasmine. And this can last up to an hour.

Then you hit the base notes. 差不多一个小时以后, 你就会接触到这款香水的尾调base notes.

This can last up to 6 hours. It's these base notes that bring depth and solidity to a perfume that makes it perfume truly complex.

Examples here might include tobacco, Amber, Musk.

So having learned about the top notes, heart notes and base notes of a perfume, it's finally the time to talk about different fragrance families and all these fascinating scents.

经历了刚才的香水入门, 我们终于可以开始聊聊五花八门的各种香调.

But because there are so many of them, we're gonna leave most of that to the second episode, but we can do a little preview here.

Traditionally, there are four major categories of fragrances. 一般来说香料的四大类分为floral花香调, think fresh cut flowers; oriental东方香调, think herbs and spices or all these oriental fragrance that Europeans would consider exotic; and then you have woods 木制香调, think trees, scented woods like sandal woods; and my favorite fresh清新香调, think the ocean, citrus fruits and fresh leaves.

Actually, if you're a fan of perfumes, in recent years, you might have seen influencers keep mentioning three other fragrance families. 其实除了这4个传统的大类之外, 近些年来在中文的社交媒体上讲到香水还会经常听到的几个调, 我们一起来进阶装B一下.

比如说Chypre被翻译成西普调或者甘苔调.

I think it's translated like that is because usually it has a citrus top notes and mossy base notes from oak moss. 可能是因为西普调或者甘苔调里前调需要有柑橘，尾调需要有橡木苔 oak moss, 所以这种香调才会被叫做甘苔调；

The other popular fragrance notes is called Fougère, again, French. 中文把它翻译成馥奇调.

Fougère is actually the French word for fern, 它在法语里是蕨类的意思.

The Fougère perfumes are usually made with a blend of different fragrances.

You have a bit of flowers, you have moss, you have wood, you also have spices, it's a very interesting blend of all these different fragrances. 有人会把馥奇香说成是很多香调的结合, 它里面可能既有清新的柑橘, 有花香, 苔藓, 木头, 还有香辛料.

So perhaps it's not for everyone.

One more fragrance notes before we wrap up today's episode, something I find very interesting, this note is called Gourmand, again French, 被翻译成美味调或者是美食调.

This usually consists of synthetic edible notes, such as honey, chocolate, vanilla, or candy. 基本属于那种, 你会在甜品店里闻到的味道.

So we've introduced the four main categories, and three extra fragrance notes.

In the Bluffer's Guide to Perfume Part Two, we're gonna go into a bit more details about these fragrance notes, talk about how to choose and use perfume, and share with you some interesting stories about famous people and their scents.

So what is your signature scent? Leave us a comment in the comment section, until next time.