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agua fresca

English translation: eau fraiche

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Spanish term or phrase:agua fresca
English translation:eau fraiche
Entered by: Owen Munday

08:37 May 22, 2008
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Marketing - Cosmetics, Beauty / Perfumes and colognes
Spanish term or phrase: agua fresca
From a market research interview with a Spanish man about the various grooming products he uses. They refer to aftershave, cologne and this agua fresca, as if it was lighter, less strongly scented than cologne, and can be used every day. Many, many references are made to it:

"A. Pienso que es más colonia que agua fresca, pero vamos a mí me huele más a agua fresca.

B. ¿LA DE AQUA DI TITO?

A. Sí. A mí me huele más a agua fresca aunque sea colonia..."

The interview is a very long, and fairly confusing transcript, with lots of typing errors, so it's sometimes difficult to figure out which product they're talking about but this term, which is not so much a product but a category of scent that they use to describe and compare all sorts of different products, comes up again and again.

What are the possibilities in English for this? Body spray? Toilet water (although that's maybe going to get very confusing with Eau de Toilette, which I understand is stronger than cologne)? I don't want to resort to something too generic like scent... Any ideas much appreciated!

Spanish from Spain for UK English readers preferred.

Thanks!
Owen Munday
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:24
eau fraiche
Explanation:
Hi Owen,

Don't know much about this, but the French expression "eau fraiche" seems quite common in English and would translate to agua fresca in Spanish.

I believe the difference is that it has less or no alcohol content compared to other scents.

Good luck!

Álvaro :O)


REF:

Eau Fraiche (Usually 3% or less perfume oil)
Eau de cologne - EDC (2 - 5% perfume oil)
Eau de toilette - EDT (4 - 10% perfume oil)
Eau de parfum - EDP (8 - 15% perfume oil)
Soie de Parfum (15 - 18% perfume oil)
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080322125507AA...

(Don't know how reliable this is!)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 17 mins (2008-05-22 08:54:49 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

From a different website:

What are Eau De Toilette, Eau De Parfum, etc?
These terms refer to the strength of the fragrance, or more specifically, to how much high grade alcohol and/or water has been added to the fragrance oils. Parfum (generally the most concentrated form you can buy) has 15-25% perfume oil dissolved in alcohol. Any mixture with a lower proportion of oil to alcohol is an eau (water).

Eau Fraiche (Usually 3% or less perfume oil)
Eau de cologne (2 - 5% perfume oil)
Eau de Toilette (4 - 10% perfume oil)
Eau de parfum (8 - 15% perfume oil)
Soie de Parfum (15 - 18% perfume oil)
PARFUM or Perfume (15 - 25% -- also sometimes referred to as extract or extrait)
Perfume oil (15-30% perfume oil in an oil rather than alcohol base)

You may also see the term Parfum de Toilette. Most companies use this term to describe a concentration that is either the same as Eau De Parfum, or between Eau De Parfum and Parfum. Other companies use the term to describe an Eau De Toilette concentration.

To further confuse matters, some companies use different notes, or different proportions of notes, in the different forms of fragrance they offer. In addition, some companies reserve costly fragrance oils for their parfum, and use synthetic substitutes in lighter concentrations.

http://nowsmellthis.blogharbor.com/blog/_WebPages/PerfumeFAQ...


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 25 mins (2008-05-22 09:03:32 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Finally, here's an Yves Rocher site that uses both terms for one of its products:

Agua Fresca Eau fraîche

La manzana de los más pequeños
Su primer perfume, con las notas deliciosamente verdes y frescas de la manzana verde. ¡Un aroma que les encantará!
Referencia:29793 Frasco 75 ml
http://www.yves-rocher.es/shop_app_ES/app_ES/jms.jsp;jsessio...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2008-05-22 10:06:13 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

No problem Owen - I see what you mean - but I'd challenge that he knows nothing about them, even if he says so himself: judging from the excerpt he does seem to know the difference between an "agua fresca" and a cologne - and as you can see from the list above, the difference can be quite subtle! Was he de-briefed at any point? :O)
Selected response from:

moken
Local time: 06:24
Grading comment
Many thanks to everyone for all your help. Once again, it would've been nice to be able to spread the points out (thanks Cinnamon for your suggestion). In the end, the client preferred to rearrange all the references made by the interviewee to the products, since his references were so confused. But now I know that another type of perfume exists, even if the term does seem very new here in Spain. Who'd have thought that 'smellies' could be so complicated!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4scented water (splash)
Cinnamon Nolan
4light cologne
Noni Gilbert Riley
3Light fragrance
ServingMed.com
2 +1eau fraiche
moken


Discussion entries: 2





  

Answers


15 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
Light fragrance


Explanation:
In products at Amazon.com they describe it as a light-hearted fragrance, and light fragrance seems to work well as a contrast to cologne or perfume.


    Reference: http://www.amazon.com/Colonia-Fresca-200ml-Hierbas-Ibiza/dp/...
ServingMed.com
Netherlands
Local time: 07:24
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

13 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5 peer agreement (net): +1
eau fraiche


Explanation:
Hi Owen,

Don't know much about this, but the French expression "eau fraiche" seems quite common in English and would translate to agua fresca in Spanish.

I believe the difference is that it has less or no alcohol content compared to other scents.

Good luck!

Álvaro :O)


REF:

Eau Fraiche (Usually 3% or less perfume oil)
Eau de cologne - EDC (2 - 5% perfume oil)
Eau de toilette - EDT (4 - 10% perfume oil)
Eau de parfum - EDP (8 - 15% perfume oil)
Soie de Parfum (15 - 18% perfume oil)
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080322125507AA...

(Don't know how reliable this is!)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 17 mins (2008-05-22 08:54:49 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

From a different website:

What are Eau De Toilette, Eau De Parfum, etc?
These terms refer to the strength of the fragrance, or more specifically, to how much high grade alcohol and/or water has been added to the fragrance oils. Parfum (generally the most concentrated form you can buy) has 15-25% perfume oil dissolved in alcohol. Any mixture with a lower proportion of oil to alcohol is an eau (water).

Eau Fraiche (Usually 3% or less perfume oil)
Eau de cologne (2 - 5% perfume oil)
Eau de Toilette (4 - 10% perfume oil)
Eau de parfum (8 - 15% perfume oil)
Soie de Parfum (15 - 18% perfume oil)
PARFUM or Perfume (15 - 25% -- also sometimes referred to as extract or extrait)
Perfume oil (15-30% perfume oil in an oil rather than alcohol base)

You may also see the term Parfum de Toilette. Most companies use this term to describe a concentration that is either the same as Eau De Parfum, or between Eau De Parfum and Parfum. Other companies use the term to describe an Eau De Toilette concentration.

To further confuse matters, some companies use different notes, or different proportions of notes, in the different forms of fragrance they offer. In addition, some companies reserve costly fragrance oils for their parfum, and use synthetic substitutes in lighter concentrations.

http://nowsmellthis.blogharbor.com/blog/_WebPages/PerfumeFAQ...


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 25 mins (2008-05-22 09:03:32 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Finally, here's an Yves Rocher site that uses both terms for one of its products:

Agua Fresca Eau fraîche

La manzana de los más pequeños
Su primer perfume, con las notas deliciosamente verdes y frescas de la manzana verde. ¡Un aroma que les encantará!
Referencia:29793 Frasco 75 ml
http://www.yves-rocher.es/shop_app_ES/app_ES/jms.jsp;jsessio...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2008-05-22 10:06:13 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

No problem Owen - I see what you mean - but I'd challenge that he knows nothing about them, even if he says so himself: judging from the excerpt he does seem to know the difference between an "agua fresca" and a cologne - and as you can see from the list above, the difference can be quite subtle! Was he de-briefed at any point? :O)

moken
Local time: 06:24
Native speaker of: Spanish
PRO pts in category: 8
Grading comment
Many thanks to everyone for all your help. Once again, it would've been nice to be able to spread the points out (thanks Cinnamon for your suggestion). In the end, the client preferred to rearrange all the references made by the interviewee to the products, since his references were so confused. But now I know that another type of perfume exists, even if the term does seem very new here in Spain. Who'd have thought that 'smellies' could be so complicated!
Notes to answerer
Asker: Hi Álvaro. It's a nice idea but I don't think the interviewee would use such a term (he's a typical guy who confesses to knowing nothing about these things). I need something much simpler without it being vague. Difficult.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Margarita Gonzalez: Even my husband knows, and he's never used any.
2 hrs
  -> Thanks Marga. I never use any type of scents either. In all honesty though, although I know the term, I would't have been able to tell an eau fraiche from a cologne. :O) :O)
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
scented water (splash)


Explanation:
There are many Google hits for this, although I wasn't familiar with it. Apparently, it's normally a mixture of flowers or fruits with water, often home-made, but now there are many commercial products.

"Light cologne" also exists, usually as "light cologne spray", which I have seen before; however, perhaps it's too similar to cologne for this interview.

5.0 ml Alcohol Free Scented Water. Autenticidad 100% garantizada. Género: Hombre. Tipo de Producto: Fragancia. Tamaño: 5.0 ml. Nuevo en caja (No probador) ...
articulo.mercadolibre.com.mx/MLM-17646566-bvlgari-petits-et-mamans-para-dama-50ml-_JM

Purchase Athena's Dolce Tentazione Scented Water products here or in my Spatique. A leading online shopping experience for Dolce Tentazione products.
www.stormsister.biz/dolce tentazione/scented water.html

Scott County Lavender - [ Traducir esta página ]The essential oil floats to the top of the collection flask and leaves scented water on the bottom. This highly scented water is "Hydrosol". ...
www.scottcountylavender.com/hydrosol.htm



Cinnamon Nolan
Spain
Local time: 07:24
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 8
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
light cologne


Explanation:
Bearing in mind Owen's comments about what the chap in question is likely to know about this are of cosmetics...

Noni Gilbert Riley
Spain
Local time: 07:24
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
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