CITRUS SMELLS

Most often by citrus in perfumery we describe the whole spectrum of hesperidic fruits (Hesperidia),
named after the Hesperides, nymphs from Greek mythology. These are fruits or citrus-smelling raw
materials (notably verbena and lemongrass) and a few are among the most ancient ingredients in
perfumery alongside resins. The more modern variations, such as pomelo, grapefruit, yuzu and
hassaku, are relatively recent developments in the area of perfume extraction.
The citrus essences are expressed or cold-expressed in most cases to preserve their inherent
freshness. Petitgrain is an exception, as it comes from the steam distillation of the twigs and leaves of
the bitter orange tree.
Citruses provide a refreshing and effarvescent quality to fragrances, accounting for the top note which
tickles our noses with pleasure. They're helpful for clearing one's mind and feel sunny and optimistic,
lending an air of easy elegance and cleanness. Bergamot especially is an integral part of the classic
Eau de Cologne formula. Citruses are a classic companion to more tenacious floral and resinous
notes in oriental fragrances and they also provide a good companion to other fruity notes, cutting the
sugar and injecting tartness.
Methyl Pamplemousse
Bergamot
Bitter Orange
Blood Orange
Citron
Citruses
Clementine
Grapefruit
Hassaku
Kumquat
Lemon
Lemon Verbena
Lemongrass
Lime
Litsea Cubeba
Mandarin Orange
Orange
Petitgrain
Pomelo
Tangerine
Yuzu
Neroli
Lemon Balm
Lemon tree
FRUITS, VEGETABLES AND NUTS
Fruity notes beyond citrus (which form a class of its own) have become so popular in recent years
that they deserve a category of their own. Vegetable notes are more unusual, sometimes rendered
through illusion: an example would be the turnip note that iris rhizome sometimes produces.
As a rule fruits and vegetables are resistant to distillation and extraction processes due to the very
high percentage of water in their natural make-up, and they remain a reconstructed note in
fragrances. Their effect ranges from the refreshing to the succulent, all the way to the musty and
mysterious.
Fruits and vegetables provide a nuanced texture and a refreshing feel in fragrances. Fruits especially
have been extremely popular in the floral fruity category in the 2000s, while peach and plum have
been major components in classical perfumers' "bases" (such as the famous Persicol) which
produced many of the iconic fragrances of the first half of the 20th century.
Nuts in perfumes usually include the very popular almond (sometimes confused with the cherry-pie
tree, which is a heliotrope and most often replicated through the same materials used for heliotrope
and mimosa reconstructions), peanuts (as in Bois Farine), hazelnuts (as in Praline de Santal and
Mechant Loup). They are all recreated notes. Nutty notes can be beautiful anchors to more ethereal
or earthy materials, such as vetiver, as evidenced in Vetiver Tonka in the Hermessences.
Amyl Salicylate
Black Currant Blossom
Osmanthus
Passion Flower
Almond
Apple
Apricot
Banana
Bearberry
Black Currant
Blackberry
Blueberry
Brazil nut
Carambola (Star Fruit)
Carrot
Cassowary fruit
Cherry
Coconut
Cranberry
Cupuacu, Cupuassu, Copoasu
Cyperus scariosus
Dried Fruits
Fig
Forest fruits
Fruity Notes
Gooseberry
Grapes
Guarana
Guava
Hazelnut
Jackfruit
Japanese Loquat
Kiwi
Litchi
Malt
Mandioca
Mango
Mangosteen
Melon
Mirabelle
Mulberry
Nectarine
Olive
Papaya
Passionfruit
Peach
Peanut
Pear
Persimmon
Pineapple
Pistachio
Pitahaya
Plum
Pomegranate
Pumpkin
Quince
Raspberry
Red Apple
Red Berries
Red Currant
Sour Cherry
Soybean
Star apple
Strawberry
Tayberry
Tropical Fruits
Walnut
Watermelon
White Currant
Wild Strawberry
Winterberry
Wolfberry
Yellow Cherry
Currant leaf and bud
Carob tree
FLOWERS
A self-evident category of fragrance notes, directly smelling of fragrant blossoms, often rich in nuance:
from the banana top note of ylang-ylang, the wine nuances in fresh roses and the powdery, almond-
like character of heliotrope, to the camphorous side of freshly-picked tuberose, all the way through the
apricot scent of osmanthus, the lemony touches of magnolia and the caramelic facets of lavender,
flowers can present surprising sides which never cease to fascinate not just insects, but humans as
well.
Many of the flowers are rendered through natural sources: Rose and jasmine are notoriously prized
for their incomparable essences, rendered through many different techniques (solvent extraction,
enfleurage, distillates). The other natural flower extracts include broom, tuberose, lavender,
osmanthus, immortelle, ylang ylang and marigold.
Other flowers refuse to yield their core aroma, or the yield is so minute that replicating the scent in the
lab is the way to go. Violet, lotus and water lily do produce an absolute, but it's very expensive and the
yield is so small that only niche and artisanal/all-natural brands can afford to use them.
The following flowers are typically reconstructed in the lab via several synthetic molecules: freesia,
peony, lily of the valley, mimosa, heliotrope, violet (most of the time), jonquil, narcissus, hyacinth...
Floral scents add a romantic and often feminine touch to a composition, augmenting the feel of
natural beauty derived from smelling a composition, fanning the fleeting top notes onto a tapestry
where everything has its place and alleviating some of the heaviness of more tenacious materials,
such as resins and balsams. Natural flower extracts also work with the psyche, if we are to believe
aromatherapy, in ameliorating the contact with the natural world and providing spiritual uplift.
Flowers play an important role in the floral fragrance family, obviously, but they manage to enter
almost all perfume compositions in one form or another, from the lightest eau de cologne to the most
lush oriental, even in some masculine colognes. They notably play an intriguing part in "floral
orientals" (florientals), where they shine clearest amidst the opulence of materials of Eastern origin.
Aglaia
Almond Blossom
Amarillys
Anemone
Angel's Trumpet
Apple Blossom
Apricot Blossom
Barbery
Belladona
Bellflower
Black Elder
Blue Poppy
Bougainvillea
Calycanthus
Camellia
Carnation
Champaca
Cherry Blossom
Chimonanthus or Wintersweet
Chocolate Flower
Christmas Tree or Flame Tree
Clover
Coffee blossom
Cornflower, Sultan seeds
Costus
Cotton Flower
Cyclamen
Dahlia
Daisy
Dandelion
Desert Rose
Dove tree
Dyer's Greenweed
Edelweiss
Encian
English marigold
Flax
Floral Notes
Forget me not
Fragonia
Freesia
Fuchsia
Geranium
Gerbera
Gladiolus
Gorse
Hawthorn
Heather
Heliotrope
Hellabore Flower
Hemlock
Hibiscus
Hortensia
Hoya carnosa, wax plant
Hyacinth
Impatiens
Iris
Kiwi blossom
Kudzu
Laburnum
Lavender
Liatris
Lilac
Lily-of-the-Valley
Lime (Linden) Blossom
Lotus
Lydia Broom
Magnolia
Mango blossom
Mignonette
Mimose
Mirabilis
Myrtle
Narcissus
Nasturcia
Nerium Oleander
Olive flower
Opium
Orchid
Pandanus
Pansy
Papaya blossom
Peach Blossom
Pear Blossom
Pelargonium
Peony
Pittosporum
Plum blossom
Poinsettia
Pomegranate Blossom
Poplar (Populus) buds
Poppy
Primrose
Privet
Prunella
Raspberry blossom
Rhododendron
Rose
Rose Hip
Rose Japanese (Hamanasu)
Rose Mallow
Safflower
Silk Tree Blossom
Snowdrops
Sour Cherry Blossom
Spanish Broom
St. John's Wort
Strelitzia
Sunflower
Sweet Pea
Tabacco blossom
Taif Rose
Tulip
Violet
Violet Woodsorrel
Wallflower
Water Hyacinth
Water Lily
Wildflowers
Wisteria
Ylang-Ylang
Hyssop
Orris Root
WHITE FLOWERS
This is a subgroup within the Flowers group, but it merits its own entry due to the fact that "white
flowers" are the basis for a whole fragrance sub-category: the "white florals." By white flowers, we
refer to orange blossom, jasmine, gardenia, tuberose, frangipani. Even though honeysuckle can
actually be yellow-colored in nature, its scent profile is not that of yellow flowers (such as mimosa,
and it's typified by the sweet, nectarous headiness of white flowers.
Lily of the valley, although white in color, is classified as a "green floral" as it lacks some of the
characteristics of the other white florals and shares facets with other members of the "green floral"
groups (according to Edmond Roudnitska's classification): hyacinth and narcissus.
White flowers have the most narcotic scent of all flowers; lush, opulent and truly intoxicating, almost a
code for intense femininity in any fragrance they star in.
Arum Lily
Black Locust
Boronia
Carissa
Datura
Frangipani
Gardenia
Grapefruit blossom
Honeysuckle
Indole
Jasmine
Karo-Karounde
Lemon Blossom
Lily
Mandarin orange blossom
Melati
Night Blooming Cereus
Orange Blossom
Stephanotis
Syringa
Tangerine blossom
Tiare Flower
Tuberose
White Flowers
White Tobacco
Camphor
GREENS, HERBS AND FOUGERES
By the term "green" we refer to notes of snapped leaves and freshly-cut grasses, which exude a
piquant quality. In this classification we find some of the classic pungent essences, such as
galbanum, which is actually a resin from a tall type of grass with a bracing, piercingly bitter green odor
profile. This is the decidedly spring-like top note of vintage Vent Vert by Balmain where it was first put
to use in a starring role.
Fig leaf is a unique note rendered through synthetics which gives the modern "fig" fragrances their
bitter-green-allied-to-coconut-sweet scent. Another peculiar leaf note that has a special character is
tomato leaf, featured in Eau de Campagne by Sisley, Folavril by A.Goutal and Liberte Acidulee by Les
Belles de Nina Ricci.
Violet leaf is a modern green "leaves" note which is very popular. It gives an aqueous feel reminiscent
of freshly-cut cucumber to many compositions, especially masculine ones. A subcategory apart are
tea leaves notes which infuse blends with their unique aromatic profile, according to which variety the
perfumer picks (green, red, white, black, Oolong, etc).
Herbs are refered to as "aromatic notes" by perfumers. These include herbs which we know from
cooking, such as rosemary, thyme, mint, tarragon, marjoram, fennel, basil (which is considered a
spicy note thanks to its eugenol content), sage, anise. Others, such as artemisia, calamus, angelica
and spikenard (jatamansi) have an intensely herbaceous quality that is so distinctive as to
immediately characterize the compositions in which they enter.
Fern is the anglification of the fragrance term fougre (fern in French), which is not exactly derived
from nature (ferns have minimal scent themselves) but from an historical "accord" between lavender-
oakmoss-coumarin which was devised to produce the mysterious note of a green, damp forest. The
archetype of this type of fragrance is Fougre Royale by Houbigant, created by Paul Parquet in 1882.
The effect was an interplay between sweet and bitter with a woody, damp and cool character,
establishing fougres as the quintessential masculine fragrances.
Ferny fragrances recreate the earthy, damp and dark scents of a forest and largely rely on fantasy
notes, even though extraction with volatile solvents of the Aspidium fern is possible, though hardly
satisfactory in quantity. The subcategory of aromatic fougres, adding spices and herbal notes to the
classic structure, is perhaps the most populated masculine colognes category thanks to its pliability.
Coumarin
Toscanol
Chamomile
Chrysanthemum
Immortelle
Marigold
Avocado
Celery
Cucumber
Juniper Berries
Tomato
Aloe Vera
Arnica
Artemisia
Banana Leaf
Basil
Bulrush
Cactus
Calamus
Calycanthus
Cannabis
Clary Sage
Corn Silk
Fern
Fig Leaf
Ginseng
Grass
Green Notes
Green Pepper
Hay
Ivy
Jatamansi or Spikenard
Lantana leaf
Limnophila aromatica
Marjoram
Mate
Mint
Mistletoe
Nettle
Olive Leaf
Palm leaf
Palmarosa
Pear Leaf
Reed
Rhubarb
Rice
Roiboos Red Tea
Rosemary
Sage
Satureja
Seaweed
Shiso
Sideritis, Mountain tea
Silk Vine or Milk Broom
Strawberry Leaf
Tarragon
Tea
Thyme
Tobacco
Tomato Leaf
Tulsi
Vine
Violet Leaf
Wheat
Wormwood
Yunnan Red Tea
Galbanum
Celery Seeds
Origano
Juniper
SPICES
The Spices group is a familiar category of perfume notes, thanks mainly to their long-standing
inclusion in food. Some of them have pride of place in any self-respecting kitchen spice cabinet, such
as cinnamon, pepper, cloves, coriander, ginger. Others are more unusual, from the precious hand-
picked saffron, to tamarind and caraway and the very gentle, rose-hued pink pepper. True spices are
always dried, but there are some herbs which have a spicy tang to them, such as oregano. These can
be used both fresh or dry.
Spices are classified as "hot/short" (intense and burning for a short duration) such as cinnamon, and
"cold/long" (gentler, giving a cooling sensation rather than burning, with a prolonged aftertaste) such
as coriander, caraway and cardamom. This helps the perfumer give the desired effect when handling
spices according to his or her concept of a fragrance. They can be coupled with similar materials to
reinforce their message, or they can provide a juxtaposing element.
Safraleine
Anise
Fennel
Oriental notes
Allspice
Asafoetida
Bay Leaf
Cacao Pod
Caraway
Cardamom
Cassia
Chutney
Cinnamon
Cloves
Coffee
Coriander
Cumin
Curcuma (Turmeric)
Dill
Fenugreek
Galanga
Ginger
Indian Spices
Licorice
Mace
Masala Chai
Nutmeg
Pepper
Pimento
Pink Pepper
Saffron
Sesame
Sichuan Pepper
Spicy Notes
Star Anise
Tamarind
Tonka Bean
Vanilla
West Indian Bay
Curry tree
SWEETS AND GOURMAND SMELLS
This succulent group of scent notes has really established itself and multiplied henceforth with the
advent of "gourmand" fragrances, a sub-division of the Oriental fragrance group, in the 1990s and
2000s. These fragrances, largely built on vanilla, are reminiscent of foody smells, specifically sweets
and desserts; ranging from the simpler chocolate, fresh cream and caramel smells to complex or
more exotic recipes such as macaroons, crme brule, the ever popular cupcakes and chewy nougat.
The first successful "gourmand" fragrance was Angel, launching in 1992, which produced a caramel
and chocolate effect through the use of ethyl maltol (the scent of cotton candy/sugar caramel), natural
patchouli (which has a cocoa facet) alongside industry standard ethyl vanillin. From then on, given
Angel's commercial success, dessert smells flourished and this group of notes is among the most
important in contemporary perfumery. Although some natural materials do present facets that are
sweet or foody, the vast majority of these notes are reproduced via clever intermingling of naturals
and synthetics.
Although mostly used in feminine fragrances, which can more easily encompass sweeter notes,
gourmand notes are not excluded from masculine or unisex scents.
These edible notes produce a feeling of euphoria and playfulness, resulting in a tingling of the taste
buds in addition to the nostrils, thus confirming the fact that flavor is a combination of taste and smell.
They make us see our perfume in a completely novel way and are intriguing when used by a skilled
perfumer who can manipulate them to create increasingly complex aromas.
Dates
Brown sugar
Candies
Caramel
Cotton Candy
Cream
Crme brle
Croissant
Cupcake
Custard
Dark Chocolate
Gingerbread
Macarons
Maple syrup
Marmalade
Marron glac
Marshmallow
Marzipan
Meringues
Milk Mousse
Nougat
Panna cotta
Popcorn
Praline
Spun sugar
Sugar
Toffee
White Chocolate
WOODS AND MOSSES
Woody notes are dependable and pliable, a sort of a Jack in the deck of a skilled perfumer, providing
the bottom of a composition and reinforcing the other elements according to their olfactory profile.
Precious few of the woody notes can serve as a top note or middle note, namely rosewood.
The scent profile of woods ranges wildly across the different trees. Some of them can be tarry and
phenolic smelling, like guiacwood. Others are austere and reminiscent of a case of new pencils; think
cedarwood. Others still are creamy, milky, nuzzling and deeply soft, like sandalwood. And there are
those woody notes which are so individual that they can characterise the whole composition:
Agarwood/Oud, rather the byproduct of the Aquillaria tree's fighting of a fungus disease, is so rich and
complex that it encompasses nutty, woody, musty, even camphoraceous scents. Or think how pine or
fir reminds us of specific seasons, thanks to their associations.
Thought some woody notes are produced via natural means, such as maceration and distillation of
the actual wood chips, several other notes, as well as some of the ones that could be produced via
the natural product, are produced via lab synthesis. The reasons include sustainability, cost efficiency
and safety.
Vetiver and patchouli are interesting exceptions in the group of woody notes, in that vetiver is actually
a grass with an intricate root system and patchouli is the leaf of an Eastern bush, but their scent
profile is woody, hence the classification. Woody notes are par excellence the domain of masculine
fragrances, thanks mostly to the robust association the trees bring to mind and less due to their scent,
but their pliability makes them an essential component in feminine and unisex fragrances are well.
Indeed there are very few fragrances not boasting at least one woody note in their make-up.
Mosses comprise a sub-group, as they consist of parasitical lichen organisms growing on trees, such
as oakmoss (Evernia prunastri) and tree moss (Evernia furfuracea). The scent profile of mosses is
irreplaceable, though major efforts are made in the fragrance industry to produce scent-identical
molecules now that these raw materials have fallen under rationing from the International Fragrance
Association (IFRA).
Mosses are inky-bitter in scent, with a deep, disturbing murkiness, darkly green, replicating the forest
floor during autumn. For this reason they're notoriously used as the backbone of the chypre and
fougre fragrance families; indeed, oakmoss is one foot of the triad of the accords which comprise the
skeleton of these two categories. Their properties are grounding, pensive, introspective and darkly
sensual, giving retro fragrances a distinctive quality.
Amyris
Papyrus
Agarwood (Oud)
Almond tree
Apple Tree
Bamboo
Birch
Black hemlock or Tsuga
Black Spruce
Blackwood
Brazilian Rosewood
Buxus
Cashmir wood
Cedar
Cocobolo
Cypress
Cypriol Oil or Nagarmotha
Driftwood
Ebony tree
Eucalyptus
Fig tree
Fir
Guaiac Wood
Hinoki Wood
Larch
Mahogany
Manuka
Maple
Massoia
Muhuhu
Neem
Oak
Oakmoss
Olive Tree
Palisander Rosewood
Paperbark
Patchouli
Pear Tree
Pine Tree
Plum Tree
Princess Tree (Paulownia)
Sandalwood
Satinwood
Sequoia
Siam
Spruce
Sycamore
Teak Wood
Thuja
Vetiver
Woody Notes
RESINS AND BALSAMS
The raw materials falling under the umbrella of resins and balsams are among the most ancient
components of perfumes, often the basis of the Oriental family of scents. They are classified into
different olfactory profiles according to their aromatic properties.
Soft balsamic-smelling ingredients include vanilla, benzoin, Peru balsam, Tolu balsam (close to Peru
but a little sweeter and fresher). They have a gentle tone, while at the same time they're softly
enveloping and have a pronounced character. They fix flowers into lasting longer, and thanks to their
properties when used in large quantities, they produce the semi-Orientals or the florientals (in
conjunction with rich floral essences).
Resinous balsamic ingredients include opoponax, frankincense/olibanum, myrrh, birch tar, elemi and
styrax. These materials are deeper, with a lingering trail which adds originality and projection to a
composition. Since they themselves come from the bark of trees in the form of crystalised resin
"tears," they pair very well with woody scents.
Benzoin
Borneol
Canadian Balsam
Choya Loban
Copahu Balm
Copal
Elemi
Gurjun balsam
Incense
Mastic or Lentisque
Myrrh
Olibanum (Frankincense)
Opoponax
Peru Balsam
Resins
Styrax
MUSK, AMBER, ANIMALIC SMELLS
The term "animalic" refers to both raw aroma materials and "fantasy" notes (derived from synthesis in
the lab) which directly evoke a scent reminiscent of animalseither real ones, or more
metaphorically, the libidinous nature of our own human animal instinctsand their primal force.
In perfumery, animal notes were traditionally rendered through deer musk, castoreum, ambergris and
civet cats, but nowadays, ethical concerns for these animals' welfare have rendered their use
obsolete and the substitution with synthetic variants a rule. (Only ambergris is by its nature cruelty-
free, being naturally expelled by the sperm whale itself in the ocean, but it's a very rare and expensive
ingredient for most commercial use, so synthetics replicating its aroma are the standard practice).
Musk especially has been synthesized in the lab in hundreds of variants, resulting in slightly different
odor profiles for each (Galaxolide, Habanolide, Ethyl Brassylate, Allyl Amyl Glycolate etc).
Amber notes are different from ambergris in that the former is a mix of resins producing a warm,
sweetish and very deep scent (most often in the "Oriental" family), while the latter is a rather salty,
subtly skin-like deep note with no great sweetness to it.
A few cases of animals indirectly used for animalic noteswith absolutely no harm rendered to the
animal in questionare hyrax (the petrified excrement of which is used), goat hair tincture, roasted
sea shells and beeswax from beehives. Some plants, such as Angelica and Ambrette Seeds, also
produce animalic-smelling compounds that replicate musk.
Last but not least, perfumery makes use of "fantasy notes," rendered through creative mixing of
various ingredients or single synthetic reconstitution, that recall the ambience of some scents with
animal inferences, such as milk, caviar, starfish, skunk cabbage, bacon, bbq cuts, leather or suede
hide.
Amber
Ambergris
Bacon
BBQ
Beeswax
Castoreum
Caviar
Civet
Genet
Goat hair
Honey
Hyrax
Leather
Meat
Milk
Musk
Sea shells
Skunk Cabbage
Starfish
Suede
Ambretone
Cashmeran
Iso E Super
Kephalis
Cepes
Tuber
Ambrette (Musk Mallow)
Angelica
Lorenox
Ambrarome
Ambroxan
Cetalox
Labdanum
Tolu Balsam
Carrot Seeds
BEVERAGES
Fragrances often recreate the scent of popular beverages in some part of their formula, from the
festive fizz of Champagne and the caramelized toasty flavor of Coca Cola, to the tropical delights of
Pina Colada or the creaminess of a good cup of cappuccino. These recreations are made possible by:
* utilization of ingredients that make up part of the recipe for a given drink (Coca Cola, for instance, in
which lime juice, vanilla extract, cinnamon, neroli, orange, coriander and nutmeg feature prominently)
* the association of some raw materials with scents we know from beverages (i.e. the wine-like note in
some rose essences, or the gin-like scent of juniper berries, because the latter are actually used to
aromatize the former, etc.)
* synthetic molecules which have been engineered to produce the desired effect.
Beverage notes in fragrances provide a succulent, appetizing effect, often combined in fruity floral
blends or "gourmand" fragrances which seduce the taste buds as well as the nostrils.
Amaretto
Bellini
Campari
Cappuccino
Champagne
Coca-Cola
Cognac
Cognac
Cream Soda
Curacao
Gin
Grenadine
Lemonade
Limoncello
Martini
Mojito
Pina Colada
Red Wine
Rum
Tequila
Vodka
Whiskey
White wine
NATURAL AND SYNTHETIC, POPULAR AND WEIRD
In this group we place descriptive notes such as powdery, earthy, and some unusual smells which
could be found in perfume compositions.
Aldehydes
Calone
Vinil
Aluminum
Asphault
Brown Scotch Tape
Clay
Coal
Earth tincture
Geosmin
Gunpowder
Industrial Glue
Ink
Metallic notes
Peat
Pebbles
Powdery notes
Salt
Sand
Satin
Sea Water
Slate
Tennis ball
Water