Perfume Classification and Notes
Our Scent Collections are a practical way to organize our fragrance formulas into families of scents. These scents have an aromatic profile in common, for example the so-called White Flowers, or Green perfumes.
But in classic perfumery, and more specifically, French haute-parfumerie, perfumes are traditionally arranged according to what we call a Fragrance Wheel. Our scents are not only arranged in families of scents, they also follow the principles set forth in a Fragrance Wheel. This growing list explains the profiles in a Fragrance Wheel, and is intended as an educational and informational tool, to help you pick and become familiarized with your favorite aromatic profiles. Overtime, it will become easier to identify an aromatic profile and look for the myriad -almost infinite- variations within them.
Here are the aromatic profiles found in our scents:
- Chypre: A traditional aromatic profile that is warm and dry, built around components like bergamot, oakmoss, patchouli and labdanum or cistus. The word is French for Cyprus, an island country in the Eastern Mediterranean.
- Fougère: French for "fern," a fine perfumery aromatic profile usually built around bergamot, lavender, and oakmoss.
- Leather aromatic profile: A fine perfumery composition that includes accords reminiscent of leather hides and the smell of tanneries. Usually achieved combining synthesized materials like quinolines but sometimes also achieved by combining different materials of P&N (Pure & Natural) origin like birch tar, cadé oil, styrax and other resins. The materials used in our leather compositions include both, although our synthesized materials are isolates of vegetable origin like resins, seeds and woods.
- Green aromatic profile: A fine perfumery classification where most of the ingredients are derived from herbs, trees, and flowers that render intensely leafy, grassy raw materials. Some examples of materials used to reinforce a green fragrance include galbanum, rosemary, and tomato leaves.
- White floral or white flowers: In perfumery, it is a classification for all white flowers that exude strong perfume, particularly at night. Being white and with reduced visibility, these flowers rely on their stronger volatile concentration to attract pollinators. Sometimes other flowers not necessarily white are included in this classification due to their strong perfume, but white flowers usually mean jasmine, tuberose, orange blossoms, lilies, white roses, peonies, and freesia.
- Gourmand: A fine aromatic profile recalling edibles. This particular scent includes our in-house created reconstitutions of fruit aromas and flavors, paired with other ingredients of P&N (Pure & Natural) origin.
- Citrus aromatic profile: A fresh, zesty combination of different raw materials of the citrus family, usually with a significant content of essential oils and isolates derived from the peel, leaves and young branches of lemon, lime, bergamot, orange and clementine. Sometimes grapefruit or citron oils are included for bitter effects, or blood orange and mandarine for sweeter effects. Citrus profiles are further softened or rounded with floral or agrestic accords like jasmine, Neroli, hay, grass and fern.
- Eau de Cologne aromatic profile: Eau de Cologne, French for the German Kölnisch Wasser, literally "Water from Cologne" was a perfumed water created in the German town of Cologne and launched for the first time in 1709, by Johann Maria Farina, at a 2% to 5% dilution of perfume oil into water and alcohol. Usually, with a high content of essential oils versus synthetics, it became a particular category marketed to men as "cologne." Its main components are usually citrus and lavender oil, but sometimes includes herbs and spices. Its typically fresh, crisp, aromatic profile makes it very popular and genderless, much akin to its original intended purpose when launched in the XVIII Century. Our blend remains loyal to the true aromatic profile, but the concentration in our candle oscillates between 10% and 12%.
- Amber aromatic profile: Amber is a fantasy perfumery profile that has regained popularity among niche fragrance enthusiasts. For decades, it was associated with everything "Oriental", and it has evolved from a perfumery accord into a perfumery classification on its own. Inspired by the beauty of fossilized amber, and the unique nuances of ambergris, amber as an accord attempts to reproduce what real amber would or could smell like. Usually built with materials like labdanum, benzoin, vanilla and various citrus accents, a trained perfumer would develop their own amber bases to use on different formulations, aiming at specific results. As such, an amber base used for a floral composition may differ from another used in a woodsy or spice formula. Most of our candle and diffuser formulas contain an amber accord, whether it is sourced directly from our suppliers, or created in-house.