Fragrance Glossary: Understanding Notes, Families & Concentrations

Find fragrance terms confusing? You’re not alone. An extensive fragrance vocabulary can leave many people feeling a little alienated from the perfume world. But, we’re hoping to change this; we’ve decoded fragrance families, notes and common scent terms so you’ll be talking like a perfume expert in no time.

Notes are the building blocks of a fragrance. They refer to the individual ingredients or combinations of ingredients that create a scent. Think of them as musical notes that come together to form a melody.

• Top Notes: These are the first notes you smell when you spray a fragrance. They are often light, fresh, and vibrant, creating the initial impression. Think citrus fruits, herbs, or aquatic notes.
• Heart Notes: Also known as middle notes, these emerge as the top notes fade. They form the core of the fragrance and are typically floral, spicy, or fruity.
• Base Notes: These are the foundation of the fragrance, providing depth and longevity. They are often rich, warm, and sensual, such as woods, amber, musk, and vanilla.
• Dry Down: This is the final stage of a fragrance's evolution, the scent that lingers on your skin after the top and heart notes have disappeared. It's the lasting impression a fragrance leaves.
• Fragrance Pyramid: This visual representation illustrates the evolution of a fragrance, with the top notes at the top, heart notes in the middle, and base notes at the bottom. It helps to understand how a fragrance unfolds over time.
• Soliflore: A fragrance built around a single dominant floral note, showcasing its unique character.
• Accord: A blend of several notes that create a distinct impression, like a "green accord" (combining notes of leaves and grass) or a "marine accord" (evoking the smell of the ocean).

Fragrances are often categorised into families based on their dominant characteristics. Here are some of the most common:

• Chypre: Traditionally mossy and woody, featuring notes like bergamot, oakmoss, patchouli, and sandalwood. Think classic elegance.
• Citrus: Zesty and refreshing, dominated by notes of lemon, orange, grapefruit, and lime.
• Floral: Romantic and feminine, showcasing the beauty of flowers like rose, jasmine, lily of the valley, and tuberose.
• Fougère: Aromatic and herbaceous, blending notes of lavender, oakmoss, coumarin, and woods. Often used in men's fragrances.
• Fresh: Light and invigorating, featuring aquatic notes, marine accords, and ozonic elements.
• Oriental: Warm, spicy, and sensual, with notes like vanilla, amber, musk, and spices.
• Gourmand: Sweet and delicious, featuring edible notes like chocolate, vanilla, caramel, and honey.
• Woody: Earthy and grounding, with notes of cedarwood, sandalwood, patchouli, and vetiver.
• Transparent: Clean and sheer, with light floral and aquatic notes. Popular in the 1990s.
• Aldehydes: Characterized by a unique powdery-waxy effect, often used to create abstract and classic fragrances.

The concentration of fragrance oils determines the intensity and longevity of a scent.

• Parfum (Extrait): The highest concentration (15-40%), offering the richest and longest-lasting experience.
• Eau de Parfum (EDP): A popular choice (10-20%), offering good projection and longevity.
• Eau de Toilette (EDT): Lighter and fresher (5-15%), ideal for everyday wear.
• Eau de Cologne (EDC): The lowest concentration (2-5%), offering a refreshing splash of scent.
• Eau Fraiche: Similar to EDC but often alcohol-free, perfect for hot weather.

• Pulse Points: Areas where the blood vessels are close to the skin, such as the wrists, neck, and behind the ears. Applying fragrance to these points helps to diffuse the scent.
• Layering: Using different products from the same fragrance line (e.g., shower gel, body lotion, and perfume) to enhance and prolong the scent.
• Spritzing: Lightly spraying the fragrance over a wider area.
• Pouring: Applying fragrance directly from the bottle, typically for more concentrated perfumes.

• Signature Scent: A fragrance that someone wears regularly and is associated with their personal style.
• Ancillary: Body products (lotion, shower gel, etc.) that complement a fragrance.
• Flacon: The bottle that holds the fragrance.
• Flanker: A variation of an existing fragrance, often with a slight twist in the notes or concentration.

Headspace Technology is a technique used to capture the scent of objects and environments, allowing perfumers to recreate natural smells like flowers, rain, or freshly cut grass.