Luckyscent Videos: Noteworthy - Eau de Cologne

Eau de Cologne is a particular scent style that goes back centuries, but was most notably popular in Cologne, Germany in the 1700s, hence the name Cologne Water. The scent style is made up mostly of citrus notes—think lemon, bergamot, lime, grapefruit—in combination with neroli, which is the essential oil from orange blossom. Together, the scent style is very refreshing and bright.

You wear eau de cologne by slapping it on, and it's part of your grooming process. I always think of cologne as more of a grooming gesture rather than a perfuming gesture. Typically, a classical eau de cologne is a low percentage of perfume oil, so it's not a long-lasting scent. Plus, the scent style, like citrus and neroli, are small molecules and they burn off pretty quickly, so those kinds of smells don't last on you. Again, an eau de cologne is more about grooming and preparing yourself for the day.

I have some modern eau de colognes, which are very much focused on the traditional eau de cologne scent style, although most of these fragrances here are in higher concentration than a traditional eau de cologne. Villa Neroli from BDK features the neroli, which is really the hallmark of the eau de cologne style, but because of its higher concentration, will give you longer wear.

Ochic from Asté de Diat really resembles the traditional eau de cologne like 4711. This is more that perfect balance of citrus with neroli. Chante Provence from 8 & Bob is actually not a neroli citrus combination. I get other delicate white florals in here, but the reason why I include this is because it has that feel of eau de cologne, which is just refreshing, natural, and bright. Zagara from Santa Maria Novella is an orange blossom scent, and this goes back to that old school European style eau de cologne.