The Language of Fragrances

by Valerie Gladstone — December 7, 2007

Describing scents is as difficult as describing wines, and often leads to the same kind of confusion and ambiguous and occasionally pretentious language. One person's light is another one's heavy. Floral, yes, but what kind of floral--like roses or gardenias? The best thing to do is ask yourself basic questions about what you want and what color a scent reminds you of or what texture. Or does it smell like a specific tree or flower or even the ocean? Is there another fragrance that's similar?

Here are some fragrance categories, what they mean, and scents that fall into them. Hope they help:

• Cologne (low concentration of perfume)--Fresh, transparent, light, clean, with main notes of lemon, orange, grapefruit, and leafy greens. Scents: Frederic Malle Bigarade Concentree and Annick Goutal Eau d'Hadrien
• Ozonics or Marines--Watery, transparent, natural, crisp, with synthetics made to smell like rain or sea air often mixed with watery fruits like cucumber and watermelon. They also work well with rose and white flowers, like white lily. Scents: Issey Miyake L'Eau d'Issey and Estee Lauder Pleasures
• Chypre--Deep, dark, dry, mysterious. Citrus, often bergamot, or florals, often heady ones like rose, combined with woody and mossy notes like patchouli, oak moss, and the resin labdanum, which can smell leathery. Scents: Clinique Aromatics Elixir, Dior Miss Dior, and Chanel Coco Mademoiselle
• Floral aldehydic--Urban, sophisticated, ladylike, fairly soft and warm. Floral aldehydics are a subset of the chypre category. They contain aldehydes, which are green-smelling chemicals, and florals like jasmine and rose. Scents: Lanvin Arpege, Estee Lauder White Linen, and Je Reviens by Worth
• Oriental--Warm, sensuous, powdery, comforting. Amber, vanilla, and musk are central to these compositions. Birch tar or animalic notes, synthetically created, often are included, which can give a fragrance a fur-coat smell. Scents: Cartier Must de Cartier and Guerlain Shalimar
• Spicy Oriental--Deep, sensuous, vibrant, hard and edgy. A mix of oriental and chypre smells, with spices such as pepper, clove, and cinnamon. Scents: Yves St Laurent Opium, Frederic Malle Noir Epices, and Dior Dioressence
• Floral Oriental--Soft, sweet, cuddly, dewy. A blend of fresh florals (such as orange blossom or iris) plus oriental notes like amber, sandalwood, and heliotrope. Scents: Guerlain l'Heure Blue, Jean Paul Gaultier Classique, and Oscar by Oscar de la Renta