The origin of perfume oils
Attar and perfume both are in the race of today’s fashion world. Attar Vs Perfume understanding some key differences can help you to define your choice.
Let’s understand little bit about the origin of fragrance oils (attar)
It can be traced to multiple ancient cultures, most notably to the ancient Egyptian civilization.
The Egyptian king Rameses II, the most celebrated king, lived from 1324 to 1258 BC. In the temple of abu-simbel he was offering incense to ptah, god-guardian of artists.
However, considering the subject of this article, you can learn more on historical point of view by reading below articles.
Other associated articles
Read (1) Fragrance and India the ancient connection
Read (2) Fragrance in Ancient World
Attar (itr):
The word ‘Attar’ or ‘Ittar’ comes from an ancient Persian word ‘attar’, ‘otto’ or ‘ottar’, that means perfume, fragrance or scent.
Manufacturing of Attar fragrance oils is the practice of extracting fragrance from flowers, herbs and other botanical sources and some are from wood sources. Learn how to apply attar oils.
Perfume (Parfum):
Perfume is a mixture of perfume oils, alcohol and fixatives. The first alcoholic perfume was probably Hungary water.
They produced pure distill rosemary preparation then later included lavender and marjoram. In today’s fashion world, perfume is the dominating one.
Attar Vs Perfume Main differences
| Attar | Perfume |
| Fragrance oils are rich with historical background and dates back to ancient Egyptian civilization. | Development has happened in the last 200 years. |
| Attars are concentrated oils | Perfumes are rich of alcohol, with defined percentage of perfume oils. |
| Attars are naturally extracted on the suitable base material. | Perfume oils can be of either natural source or reconstituted diluted in the alcohol. |
| Attars can last between 7 to 24 hours depends on various factors. | Perfumes can evaporate quickly, depends mainly on the strength, it can last between 1 to 5 hours. |
| Can be applied on the skin. | Can be applied on the skin, however, alcohol can cause skin irritation. |
Let us understand other associated questions:
How is attar different from perfume ?
Attar is all about concentrated oils, while the perfume is a simple mixture of defined percentage of perfume oils with alcohol, added with fixative and other required chemicals. In today’s fashion world, perfume is dominating.
Which is best attar or perfume ?
Attar has got historically rich background. It exists thousands of years. A pure attar oil is high density fragrance, whereas perfume is diluted in the alcohol and has got very less amount of fragrance content.
Perfume will quickly evaporate, most importantly, when you are outdoor. Attar oils are dense and it takes time to evaporate. The only difference in the application method is, you can spray perfumes as it is diluted, and you can not, as the attar oils are dense, just use one or few drops.
Which attar is best ?
Attars are broadly classified into fragrance families based on its source for production.
Such are, (1) Woody, (2) Floral, (3) Oriental, (4) Citrus, (5) Green, (6) Fruity. It is really a journey to discover the one that makes you comfortable to continue with.
Khalisa Fragrance is one of the best eStore fragrance company that offers attar products with clear information on fragrance notes and wide collections. Browse our smart collections and ultra-premium collections.
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
1 reply on “Attar Vs Perfume differences: Why Attar Is better ?”