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Perfumery
terms

Absolute
Concentrated aromatic oil extracted from botanicals through solvent extraction, providing a rich and intense representation of the plant’s fragrance, often used in perfumery for depth and complexity.
Accord
A harmonious blend of multiple fragrance notes that, when combined, create a unique and balanced olfactory composition, allowing perfumers to craft nuanced and distinctive scents.
Animal
Fragrance notes derived from animal sources or synthetically recreated to evoke animalic characteristics, adding sensuality and warmth to perfumes while often mimicking the scent of musk or leather.
Aromatic
A fragrance category characterized by strong, herbal, and often spicy notes, creating bold and invigorating scents.
Aquatic
A fragrance category inspired by the scent of the ocean or water, often featuring fresh and marine notes for a clean and refreshing profile.
Base
The foundation of a fragrance, consisting of long-lasting notes that persist after the top and middle notes have evaporated, contributing to the overall character and depth of the scent.
Base Notes
The long-lasting and often rich fragrance notes that become more apparent as the perfume dries down, creating the perfume’s final and lingering impression.
Balsamic
Fragrance notes with a warm, sweet, and resinous quality, often derived from balsamic resins like benzoin or myrrh.
Chord
A combination of different notes that are played together to create a specific effect in a fragrance, contributing to its overall harmony.
Chypre
A fragrance category featuring a harmonious blend of citrus top notes, floral middle notes, and mossy, woody, or animalic base notes, resulting in a sophisticated and timeless scent profile.
Concrete
A fragrant substance obtained through solvent extraction from plant material, typically waxy and solid at room temperature, before being further processed into absolute or resinoid forms.
Core Notes
The central and defining elements of a fragrance, forming the heart or middle notes, providing the main character and theme of the perfume.
Distillation
The process of extracting essential oils from plant materials through steam or water, capturing the aromatic compounds and creating concentrated oils used in perfumery.
Dry
A term used to describe fragrances that lack sweetness or moisture, often featuring earthy, woody, or powdery notes.
Dry Down
The final stage of a fragrance’s development on the skin, where the base notes become prominent as the top and middle notes dissipate.
Essential Oils
Volatile oils extracted from plants, capturing their distinct scents and used as key ingredients in perfumery.
Eau de Cologne
A light and refreshing fragrance formulation with a lower concentration of aromatic compounds, typically featuring citrus and herbal notes.
Eau de Parfum
A higher concentration of aromatic compounds, providing a more intense and long-lasting fragrance experience than eau de toilette.
Eau de Toilette
A moderately concentrated fragrance with a balanced composition of top, middle, and base notes, offering a lasting yet lighter scent compared to eau de parfum.
Feminine
A fragrance classification typically associated with scents that are perceived as traditionally feminine, often floral, fruity, or sweet.
Fixative
A substance, often a base note or material, used to stabilize and prolong the longevity of volatile fragrance components in a perfume.
Fougère
A fragrance category featuring a blend of lavender, oakmoss, and coumarin, creating a fresh, herbaceous, and often masculine scent profile.
Gourmand
A fragrance category featuring notes that evoke edible and sweet aromas, such as vanilla, caramel, or chocolate.
Green Notes
Fragrance components that impart a fresh, leafy, and sometimes herbal quality to a perfume, often associated with the outdoors.
Headspace
A technique in perfumery that captures and analyzes the scent of living plants, allowing perfumers to replicate natural fragrances.
Heart Notes
Also known as middle or core notes, these fragrance components emerge after the top notes fade, providing the main theme and character to the perfume.
Hesperidic
Fragrances characterized by the bright and citrusy notes of hesperidic fruits like bergamot, orange, and lemon, often found in the top notes.
Maceration
The process of soaking plant materials in a solvent to extract fragrance compounds, often used in the extraction of aromatic oils.
Masculine
A fragrance classification associated with scents perceived as traditionally masculine, often featuring woody, spicy, or earthy notes.
Maturation
The period during which a perfume blend is allowed to rest and mature, allowing the ingredients to harmonize and the fragrance to reach its optimal scent profile.
Middle Notes
See Heart Notes.
Molecular Distillation
A technique used to separate and purify fragrance compounds based on their molecular weights, refining and concentrating essential oils.
Natural
Fragrance ingredients derived from natural sources, such as plants, flowers, or animals, providing a more authentic and traditional approach to perfumery.
Olfactive Families
Categories that classify fragrances based on shared olfactory characteristics, helping to categorize and understand different scent profiles.
Olfactory
Relating to the sense of smell, crucial in the creation and appreciation of fragrances.
Oriental
A fragrance category characterized by rich, warm, and often spicy notes such as amber, vanilla, and exotic spices, creating a sensual and opulent scent profile.
Ozone
Fragrance notes designed to evoke the clean, fresh, and airy scent associated with the air after a thunderstorm or rain.
Parfum
A concentrated fragrance formulation with the highest concentration of aromatic compounds, providing a rich and long-lasting scent experience.
Perfumer
A skilled individual who creates fragrance compositions, combining various aromatic ingredients to develop unique and harmonious scents.
Projection
The extent to which a fragrance diffuses and becomes noticeable to others, often describing the radius or intensity of the scent.
Pungent
Fragrance notes with a sharp, strong, and sometimes spicy quality, contributing intensity to a perfume.
Radiant
Describing fragrances that emit a bright and vibrant aura, often characterized by the inclusion of citrus or other uplifting notes.
Resinoide
A fragrant substance obtained through the extraction of resinous materials, typically thick and sticky at room temperature.
Sillage
The trail or lingering scent that a perfume leaves in the air as the wearer moves, contributing to the overall impression of the fragrance.
Serene
Fragrances that evoke a sense of calmness and tranquillity, often featuring soft and gentle notes.
Smokey
Fragrance notes that impart a subtle or pronounced smokiness, providing depth and complexity to a perfume.
Solar
Fragrances inspired by the warmth and radiance of the sun, often featuring notes like amber, heliotrope, or sun-kissed florals.
Solvent Extraction
A method of obtaining fragrance oils from botanical materials using solvents, resulting in absolutes or concretes.
Sparkling
Describing effervescent and lively fragrances that evoke a sense of freshness and vitality.
Spicy
A fragrance category featuring warm and pungent notes, often derived from spices like cinnamon, cloves, and pepper.
Sweet
Fragrance notes with a sugary or honeyed quality, contributing a sense of indulgence and warmth to a perfume.
Synthetic
Fragrance ingredients created through chemical processes, often used to replicate natural scents or to provide innovative and unique olfactory experiences.
Tincture
An extraction method where plant materials are soaked in alcohol to capture and preserve their fragrance, commonly used for botanicals that do not yield essential oils.
Top Notes
The initial and volatile fragrance notes that are perceived immediately upon application, forming the opening and first impression of a perfume.
Transparent
Describing fragrances that have a light and airy quality, allowing the wearer to perceive individual notes clearly without overwhelming complexity.
Warm Notes
Fragrance components that convey a sense of warmth, often associated with rich and comforting aromas like amber, vanilla, or certain woods.
Woody
A fragrance category characterized by the inclusion of notes derived from various types of wood, such as cedar, sandalwood, or vetiver.
Yield

The quantity and quality of aromatic compounds obtained from a specific amount of raw material during the extraction process, influencing the overall fragrance formulation