Eau de toilette
Lightly scented perfume
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Eau de toilette (French: [o d(ə) twalɛt], meaning "grooming water")[n 1] is a lightly scented perfume.[2] It is also referred to as aromatic waters and has a high alcohol content.[3] It is usually applied directly to the skin after bathing or shaving.[4] It is traditionally composed of alcohol and various volatile oils.[5] Traditionally these products were named after a principal ingredient, like geranium water, lavender water, lilac water, violet water, spirit of myrcia and "eau de Bretfeld".[6] Because of this, eau de toilette was sometimes referred to as "toilet water".[7]
In modern perfumery, eau de toilette has less concentrated fragrance than perfume (eau de parfum) and more than cologne (eau de Cologne).[8][9]
Types
Eau de toilette is a dull concentration of fragrance than perfume.[10][11] The concentration of aromatic ingredients is typically as follows (ascending concentration):
- Splash and after shave: 1–3% aromatic compounds
- Eau de Cologne (EdC): Citrus type perfumes with about 2–6% perfume concentrate aromatic compounds[12]
- Eau de toilette (EdT): 5–15% (typical ~10%) aromatic compounds
- Eau de parfum (EdP), parfum de toilette (PdT): 10–20% (typical ~15%) aromatic compounds. Sometimes listed as "eau de perfume" or "millésime".
- Perfume extract: 15–40% (IFRA: typical 20%) aromatic compounds
Perfume oils are often diluted with a solvent, though this is not always the case, and its necessity is disputed. By far the most common solvent for perfume oil dilution is ethanol or a mixture of ethanol and water. Perfume has a mixture of about 10–20% perfume oils mixed with alcohol (acting as a diffusing agent delivering the fragrant odor) and a trace of water. Colognes have about 3–5% perfume oil mixed with 80–90% alcohol with about 5–15% water in the mix. Originally, eau de cologne was a mixture of citrus oils from such fruits as lemons, oranges, tangerines, limes, and grapefruits. These were combined with such substances as lavender and neroli (orange-flower oil). Eau de toilette has the least amount of perfume oil mixture among the three main liquid "perfumery" categories. It has only about 2–8% of some type of perfume oil and 60–80% alcohol dispersent with water making up the difference.[13][14] Eau de toilettes are a less concentrated form of these above types of alcohol-based perfumes.[15][16] Traditionally cologne is usually made of citrus oils and fragrances, while eau de toilettes are not limited to this specification.[17][18]
History
Hungarian eau de toilette, an alcohol based perfume that preceded eau de cologne, was first produced in the fourteenth century, supposedly by a Hungarian man for Queen Elisabeth of Hungary.[19][20] This was called "eau de la reine de hongrie" or Hungary Water, and contained the herb rosemary, which allowed the scent to evaporate slowly on the skin.[21][22] However, some early scientists, including Johann Beckmann, doubt that it was created for the Queen of Hungary.[citation needed]
The King of France Louis XIV (1638–1715) used a concoction of scents called "heavenly water" to perfume his shirts; It consisted of aloewood, musk, orange flower, rose water and other spices.[23]
Some eau de toilette were once considered restorative skin toners with medical benefits.[24][25][26] The journal Medical Record reported in 1905 that a toilet water spray restores energies lost in business, social, and domestic situations.[27][28] During the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries a type of eau de toilette called "plague waters" was supposed to drive away the bubonic plague.[29][30]
Varieties
- Carmelite Water – a water of lemon balm, orange flower, angelica root, and spices prepared for Charles V of France, first made in 1379 by the nuns of a Carmelite abbey.[31][32][33][34]
- Carnation Toilet Water – floral extracts with tincture of vanilla.[35]
- Creole Toilet Water – orris root in brandy with floral oils.[36]
- Eau de lavand ambre – used by Spanish women in their hair and on the skin after bathing.[37]
- Florida Water – based on the nineteenth-century formula for a commercially prepared toilet water that mixes floral essential oils.[38]
- Geranium Toilet Water – with herbal oils, rosewater and alcohol[36]
- Heliotrope Toilet Water – heliotropine, with other oils, water and alcohol.[39]
- Honey water[14] – an old-time English toilet water.[40]
- Jasmine toilet water – made with spirits of cologne, jasmine, and alcohol.[41]
- Kananga Water – used for purification in revival ceremonies.[42]
- Lavender water[14][43] – a formula called "upper Ten" consists of lavender oil, alcohol, rose water, and carbonate of magnesia.[44]
- Nosegay – distilled honey water with cloves, lavender and neroli.[45]
- Oriental Toilet Water [46]
- Rose water toilet water – with other extracts and tincture of civet. Popular in the Middle East especially Egypt and called 'Maward'.[47]
- Viennese Cosmetic Toilet Water – bruised almonds, water of orange flower, rose water, borate of soda, spirit of benzoin. Dissolve.[36]
- White Rose Toilet Water – extract of white rose, oil of rose, oil of rose geranium, cologne spirits, and water.[44]
- Hugh C. Muldoonin submitted various toilet water formulas he called "Own-make Toilet Specialties" to the Bulletin Of Pharmacy in 1917.[48]
See also
Notes
- In this context, "toilette"/"toilet" has its older meaning of personal grooming; the name predates the modern sense of "toilet", which was originally euphemistic.[1]
