Perfumes and colognes as well as other scented products have been used for centuries to trigger responses in our body from our acute sense of smell which is the strongest of our senses. They are not made one for women and the other for men, rather the difference is in intensity with perfumes having the strongest and long lasting scent and colognes being less strong and of shorter duration.

Any discussion of perfume leads one to the capitol of the modern fragrance industry which of course is France. What many people don't realize though is that it wasn't the French who discovered perfume any more than Columbus discovered the New World, the Egyptians originated the art of making fragrances it was the French who took it from an art to a science and then a multi-billion dollar industry.

In designing fragrances the biggest problem that is faced is that of longevity. Every scent will fade and become less fragrant over a period of time although some last longer than others. The French discovered the secret to overcoming this as much as possible and found that by layering the scents in three layers known as notes a fragrance could be given prolonged life. These notes are classed as top notes which are intense but short duration, middles, which will last most of the day and base notes will last until the night.

Deciding whether to buy French fragrances or not isn't just a decision based on personal preference. While, the fragrances that you like are certainly important and the ones from France will definitely give you some of the best it is also an economic decision. The top of the line fragrances from France are extremely high priced to the point that you really do have to be quite wealthy to even justify buying them. There are many scents on the market that are excellent without breaking the bank though.

As opposed to the three layered perfumes, colognes are single scents and are quite a bit weaker, the ones made for women are usually sprays but there are some splash bottle products too.

You have to be really careful when applying cologne as it is easy to put on too much, which I am sure we have all experienced if not on ourselves by someone walking by! The fragrance should be very subtle as to blend with your own body's natural pheromones. A less in more philosophy is what is needed when it comes to applying a scent.