A Guide to Scent Profiles:
Perfume classifications encompass Fragrance families which separate scents in groups depending on qualities and smells, providing laymen and connoisseurs a perspective into perfumes. Both families are different and each one determines the mood, style, attitude, as well as the development of a fragrance on the skin. Here, we discuss the leading fragrances families, all subclasses, leading notes, and examples of the families themselves: floral, oriental, fresh, spices, water, woody, and sweet.
Floral Fragrance Family:
Floral is one of the biggest and most beloved families of fragrances. Its primary theme is flowers and it can include fresh and light flowers all the way to deep, exotic flowers. Dried flowers are believe to have earned the reputation of being spectacular and extremely popular as a result of their classic and elegant appearance.
Characteristics: Feminine, soft, often sweet.
Popular Notes: Six classified flowers are roses, jasmine, lilies, peonies, tuberoses and gardenias.
Subcategories:
- Single Floral (Soliflore): Specializes in one flower note for instance rose or jasmine flower.
- Floral Bouquet: A single compound of many different floral notes.
Example: Its women’s perfume Chanel No.5, getting its notes from jasmine, rose and aldehyde.
Oriental Fragrance Family:
The oriental family is basically classified today as “amber” and has a warm, sensual character. Popular for exotic and spicy scents, orientals are luxurious and are most appropriate for evening or colder climates.
Characteristics: It turned out to be warm, spicy and again occasionally sweet.
Popular Notes: Sweet smells which include vanilla, amber, musk, cinnamon, and cloves just to mention but a few.
Subcategories:
- Soft Oriental: The less bright ones that are milder and come with some flowers.
- Floral Oriental: Raises floral notes with deep spices, rose and vanilla, for example.
- Woody Oriental: Extends with warm and natural-like sandalwood or patchouli from the woody family of notes.
Example: YSL’s Opium, which carries spices, amber and woods, represents the oriental family in all its warm intensity.
Woody Fragrance Family:
Many woody fragrances have a base note and are associated with bringing conservation of the earth. Used by men and women, mostly these fragrances are associated with mysterious and elegant connotations.
Characteristics: Salty, piquant, oily, outside grilling usually accompanied by dry or creamy sauces.
Popular Notes: Sandalwood, cedar, vetiver, anthea, and patchouli.
Subcategories:
- Woody Oriental: Combines warmth of spices with woody tones.
- Dry Woods: A more concise and stronger scent of some specific types of wood.
- Mossy Woods: It identifies itself and incorporates several mossy, green bodies such as oakmoss and galbanum.
Example: Tom Ford’s Oud Wood, an exquisite fragrance that contains note of oud, sandalwood and rosewood.
Fresh Fragrance Family:
New fragrances are defined by its purity, brightness and feeling of refreshment. Appropriate for sunny or warm weather, and directly associated with morning and early afternoon, fresh scent is invigorating and positively charged.
Characteristics: Bland, white, fresh, sometimes compared to citrus fruits.
Popular Notes: Lemon, bergamot, mint and green are all notes.
Subcategories:
- Aquatic: Reminisces the sea by containing a water like aroma.
- Citrus: Contains zesty citrus fruit peels such as lemon and oranges.
- Green: Clean, green and sharp; somewhat similar in character to the smell of mown lawn.
- Herbal: Very often it is used together with rosemary, basil or lavender to get the smell of the garden.
Example: Light Blue, an upbeat fragrance with citrus, green apple note and a base of cedar wood inspired from Dolce & Gabbana.
Fougere Fragrance Family:
Fougere in French means ‘fern like’ and it is a fragrance family with fresh green, woody and sometimes floral overtones. Used in many scents for men it’s associated with elegance and a traditional alluring scent.
Characteristics: Clean, chlorophyll, somewhat menthol.
Popular Notes: This Acqua di Gio by Gucci for men includes notes of lavender, oakmoss and coumarin.
Subcategories:
- Fresh Fougere: Is associated with washed and clean smell.
- Oriental Fougere: Enhances bitter tones and puts spicy or oriental notes into a green background.
Example: Houbigant Oriental Fougere is the first of its kinds and defines the classic fougere accord containing lavender, oakmoss, and tonka beans.
Gourmand Fragrance Family:
Foodie fragrances are a slightly younger group that was created based on-discussed food and its smell. They are associated with warmth, sweetness and lush – emotions that can be related to baking and temptation as well as sweet tasty chocolate and caramel scents.
Characteristics: Sweet, warm, often decadent.
Popular Notes: Ice cream, soda pop, honey, and java.
Example: Those who want to be pioneers of scent and go for a sniff outside the traditional resolve can try Thierry Mugler’s Angel, which is a gourmand perfume with a chocolate, caramel and vanilla note.
Chypre Fragrance Family:
The members of chypre type can be described as most specific and profound ; they are composed of woody moss accords and citrus. Stemming from the fundamentals of Mediterranean recipes, chypre perfumes have a freshness and richness blended into them.
Characteristics: Earthy, warm, sophisticated.
Popular Notes: Oakmoss, patchouli, bergamot and labdanum.
Subcategories:
- Floral Chypre: Amends floral undertone for example of rose or jasmine.
- Fruity Chypre: Introduces some fruit elements for example peach or berries.
Example: Guerlain’s Mitsouko, exquisite chypre for which there is oakmoss and spices and peach.
Leather Fragrance Family:
Leather fragrances are so called because they mimic the smell of leather and are typically warm, animalistic and frequently have a burnt quality. Originally, this family was used mainly for fragrances for men but in recent years it has also been used by women.
Characteristics: Smoky, sometimes spicy, rich.
Popular Notes: Leather, birch tar, tobacco and woody notes were acknowledged.
Example: Tom Ford’s Tuscan Leather mixing the smell of leather with saffron and raspberry to give a luxurious and mature fragrance.
Never use fragrances but always select the right family of scents. Every group of fragrances has its own temper and the nature of its velvet mist: from the warm orientals to the fresh citruses. If you have an affinity to floral, woody or gourmand then it becomes easier to select scents that would retail with your personality.
Conclusion:
An appreciation of fragrance families is key to the unraveling of perfumes, and therefore, the initial process of classification. Such classification lets people enjoy the specific type of fragrance and develop the personalities of specific fragrances and their associations with human feelings and emotions, fragrance families let people have a better and closer look at perfume.