This style guide is the guideline for all written work that is made for Le Parfum haute magazine. As a professional organization it is important that we maintain a consistent writing style in all communications on our website, social media, our magazine, in newsletters, press releases, and in print. The Le Parfum style guide is intended for everyone who works for Le Parfum haute magazine: from editors and designers to marketing and communication employees.

All agreements are listed in this style guide. About punctuation marks, accents, abbreviations, citation, and everything else you need to know. It is useful to save this style guide, so that you can always double check when in doubt.

In case of doubt about style rules that do not appear in this style guide, the rules as on Cambridge Dictionary Grammer and the spelling of words as on Cambridge Dictionary apply.

For questions, comments and additions, please contact Team Le Parfum.

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Le Parfum is both written with a capital letter (so not le parfum), haute magazine is without capital letters (so not Haute Magazine). Web pages of Le Parfum haute magazine always go through leparfummagazine.com.

The tone of Le Parfum is usually informal, but it is important to appear professional. When writing, always keep in mind which target group(s) are being addressed. When you write to consumers or influencers, the tone of voice is informal, playful, modern, and we use a contemporary language.

Le Parfum uses puns and taglines. Feel free to use puns, but make sure it’s appropriate and doesn’t get too jolly. The taglines have the function to inspire. Keep this in mind when formulating a tagline.

Important note:
Your tone of voice is usually more professional towards retailers and brands. 

The function of the headlines is mainly to attract attention and not to summarize the entire content of the article. Headlines should be especially striking and short. Ideally, the number of words is a maximum of 10. Don’t use more than 50 characters, including spaces.

Le Parfum haute magazine has opted for British English spelling. Below are some key differences from American English spelling:

Important note:
Keep in mind that not all rules always apply. There are still many exceptions to the rules and conventions that are constantly changing! If you’re still in doubt…check a dictionary!

Capital letters are used with certain types of nouns, at certain places in sentences, and with some adjectives. Capital letters must always be used in the following cases:

Words without capitals

Click on a topic below to learn more about it.

Numbers
Spell out whole-number words for one to ten, use figures for numbers above ten.

Use a combination of a figure and a word for very large round numbers (such as multiple millions/billions etc), or abbreviate it to ‘m’, ‘bn’ etc.

If there are a lot of figures in a paragraph or text, some above ten and some below, use figures throughout to allow easy comparison by readers.

Spell out words for ‘first’, ‘second’ and so on up to and including ‘tenth’. Use numbers and ‘st’/ ‘nd’/ ‘rd’/ ‘th’ for larger ordinal numbers.

Always use figures and symbols for percentages, measurements, and currency. Use commas to punctuate large numbers.

Times
Use either the 12- or 24-hour clock – not both in the same text. The 12-hour clock uses a full stop between the hours and minutes; the 24-hour clock uses a colon and omits am/pm.

Use ‘noon’ or ‘midnight’ instead of ‘12’, ‘12 noon’ or ‘12 midnight’.

If using the 12-hour clock, don’t use additional ‘.00’ for times on the hour, and close up space between the number and the ‘am’ or ‘pm’.

Dates
Always put the date before the month and don’t use ‘th’ etc with dates – just the number and month – and never precede the number with ‘the’. 

Use days with dates only for emphasis or the avoidance of confusion/ambiguity.

Spans of numbers and years
Shorten periods where it is not ambiguous to do so and use the shortest text possible. However, do not elide numbers between 11 and 19, which must always be written in full (as they would be spoken).

To refer to an – for example – financial year, you can use either the format ‘2011–12’ or ‘2011/12’ – but ensure you are consistent throughout the text.

If using ‘from’ with a start date/time, always use ‘to’ to indicate the end date/ time rather than an n-dash; alternatively, just use an n-dash without ‘from’.

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Apostrophe
An apostrophe is used to indicate possession. Use ’s after singular nouns, plural nouns which do not end in s and indefinite pronouns.

Use just ’ after plural nouns ending in s.

If a name ends in s or z and is difficult to pronounce with an extra s at the end, consider rewriting the sentence to avoid the difficulty.

In compound nouns and where multiple nouns are linked to make one concept, place the apostrophe at the end of the final part (and match it to that noun).

Do not use an apostrophe in its with the meaning ‘belonging to it’ (this is analogous with his/hers/theirs): note that it’s is a contraction of ‘it is’.

Use apostrophes with noun phrases denoting periods of time (use an apostrophe if you can replace the apostrophe with ‘of’).

But do not use an apostrophe in adjectival phrases.

Do not use an apostrophe to make a plural, even with a word/phrase that is not usually written in the plural or which appears clunky. All of the following examples take an s as normal in English to make their plurals.

Brackets
Round brackets ( )
Use in place of a pair of dashes or commas around a non-defining phrase (one which adds extra information, a translation, dates, an explanation or a definition).

Using other punctuation with brackets Include full stops/exclamation marks/question marks before the closing bracket only if the complete sentence/quote is in brackets; otherwise, punctuate after the closing bracket.

Square brackets [ ]
Use to enclose comments, corrections, references or translations made by a subsequent author or editor.

Bullet points
Use to enclose comments, corrections, references or translations made by a subsequent author or editor.

If the bullet points form a complete sentence with preceding text, add a full stop to the end of the last point.

If text inside the bullet point is a complete sentence in its own right, add a semicolon to the end of each point, ‘or’ or ‘and’ (depending on the sense of your sentence) to the end of the penultimate point, and a full stop to the end of the last one.

Colon and semicolon
Use a colon to introduce a subclause which follows logically from the text before it, is not a new concept and depends logically on the preceding main clause.

Do not use a colon if the two parts of the sentence are not logically connected.

Use a semicolon to link two related parts of a sentence, neither of which depends logically on the other and each of which could stand alone as a grammatically complete sentence.

Use semicolons in place of commas in a complicated list or sentence if it will improve clarity, particularly if list items already include commas.

Comma
Use a pair of commas to surround a non-defining clause (one which adds descriptive information but which can be removed without losing the meaning of the sentence) – note that only ‘which’ or ‘who’ can be used in this type of clause, not ‘that’.

Do not use commas to surround a defining clause (which cannot be removed without losing the meaning of the sentence) – note that ‘which’ or ‘who’ can be replaced by ‘that’ in this type of clause.

Use commas to surround a non-defining word or phrase (which adds information but could be omitted without changing the sense of the sentence), and follow the non-defining word/phrase with a single comma if it is at the start of the sentence

Do not use a comma where defining information is used at the start of a sentence.

Defining vs non-defining information
Do not use a comma to join two main clauses, or those linked by adverbs or adverbial phrases (eg ‘nevertheless’, ‘therefore’, ‘however’). This is sometimes referred to as ‘comma splicing’. Either use a semicolon or add a coordinating conjunction (eg ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘so’).

Use a comma after an introductory adverb, adverbial phrase or subordinate clause; or use a pair of commas surrounding it if it is in the middle of a sentence

Do not use a comma after a time-based adverbial phrase

Use a comma between multiple qualitative adjectives (those which can be used in the comparative/superlative or modified with ‘very’, ‘quite’ etc).

Do not use a comma between multiple classifying adjectives: absolutes which either are or are not, such as ‘unique’, ‘English’, ‘black’ etc (although note that stylistically these can be modified).

Do not use a comma between classifying and qualitative adjectives.

Use a comma between items in a list.

Note that there is no comma between the penultimate item in a list and ‘and’/‘or’, unless required to prevent ambiguity – this is sometimes referred to as the ‘Oxford comma’. However, always insert a comma in this position if it would help prevent confusion.

Dashes and hyphens
m-dash (—)
In Le Parfum haute magazine we don’t use the m-dash; we use an n-dash instead.

n-dash (–)
Use in a pair in place of round brackets or commas, surrounded by spaces.

Use singly and surrounded by spaces to link two parts of a sentence, in place of a colon

Use to link concepts or sequences of numbers, with no spaces on either side.

Use between names of joint authors/creators/ performers etc to distinguish from hyphenated names of a single person.

Hyphen (-)
When to use a hyphen
In an adjectival phrase before a noun.

In an adjectival phrase including a verb participle.

With prefixes only if required to avoid confusion/mispronunciation, such as where prefixes themselves or letters are repeated.

With prefixes before a proper name, number, or date.

In numbers which are spelt out.

In compass points (unless used geographically rather than as directions).

Important note: 
Never use a hyphen instead of an n-dash (or an m-dash).

Try to break words at the end of the sentence as little as possible. If you need to hyphenate a word for readability or aesthetic reasons, it’s important to hyphenate a word on a syllable.

Because hyphenation in English can be tricky, it is wise to look up the words in a dictionary. What works even faster is the tool that you can use for long texts, namely on the site of www.juiciobrennan.com.

Ellipsis
Use an ellipsis to show that some text is missing, usually from a quotation – do not surround it with spaces. There is no need to add square brackets around an ellipsis.

Use an ellipsis to indicate a pause for comic or other effect – follow the ellipsis with a space in this case, as it stands in place of a comma or full stop.

Note that, if used either in place of omitted text at the end of a clause/ sentence or to indicate a pause for effect, a full stop/comma should not follow the ellipsis. However, an exclamation mark or a question mark can and should follow the ellipsis if required.

Use an ellipsis to indicate a trailing off in speech or thought.

Full stop, exclamation mark and question mark
Use one – but only one – at the end of each sentence. Don’t use a period at the end of titles, even if they’re a sentence, but if a title ends with an exclamation mark or question mark, add it. Also, don’t use a period if it is followed or preceded by an ellipsis.

Use a full stop, not a question mark, at the end of a reported question – only use a question mark for a direct question (whether in quotation marks or not).

Use a full stop, not a question mark, at the end of a reported question – only use a question mark for a direct question (whether in quotation marks or not).

Quotation marks
Use single quotation marks for direct speech or a quote, and double quotation marks for direct speech or a quote within that. Use no quotation marks if the quote is displayed (which means not in line with the rest of the text).

Use single quotation marks and roman (not italic) type for titles that are not whole publications: eg short poems, short stories, songs, chapters in books, articles in periodicals etc.

Vertical bar (|)
Le Parfum uses the vertical bar (|) to separate words. For example: perfume type, volume, and price are separated from each other with a vertical bar. Also the credits are displayed with a vertical bar.

Important note:
A matching icon is placed with the Instagram and the website url. The texts are shown in capitals.

• (University of Oxford , 2016)

• (University of Oxford , 2014)