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Fragrances can be classified into several olfactive families, by the themes, or accords, of these fragrances.
- Floral: Fragrances that are dominated by the scent of one or more types of
flowers. When only one flower is used, it is called a soliflore (as in Dior's
Diorissimo, with lily of the valley).
- Chypre: Fragrances built on a similar base consisting of bergamot, oakmoss
and labdanum. This family of fragrances is named after a perfume by François
Coty by the same name. Meaning Cyprus in French, the term alludes to where
this base was inspired. This fragrance family is characterized by a scent
reminiscent of apricot and custard.
- Aldehydic: Fragrances that incorporate the family of chemicals known as
aldehydes. Chanel No 5 was the first aldehydic perfume (created by the royal
Russian perfumer Ernest Beaux in 1921). Others include Je Reviens and Arpege.
Aldehydic perfumes have the characteristic "piquant" note produced
by materials like Aldehyde C12 MNA.
- Fougère: Fragrances built on a base of lavender, coumarin and oakmoss.
Many men's fragrances belong to this family of fragrances, which is characterized
by its sharp herbaceous and woody scent.
- Leather: A family of fragrances which features the scents honey, tobacco, wood,
and wood tars in its middle or base notes and a scent that alludes to leather.
- Woody: Fragrances that are dominated by the woody scents, typically of sandalwood
and cedar. Patchouli, with its camphoraceous smell, is commonly found in these
perfumes.
- Orientals or ambers: A large fragrance class featuring the scents of vanilla
and animal scents together with flowers and woods. Can be enhanced by camphorous
oils and incense resins, which bring to mind Victorian era imagery of the Middle
East and Far East.
- Citrus: An old fragrance family that until recently consisted mainly of "freshening" Eau de colognes due to the low tenacity of citrus scents. Development of newer fragrance compounds has allowed for the creation of primarily citrus fragrances.
- Fragrance Notes
A mixture of alcohol and water is used as the solvent for the aromatics. On application, body heat causes the solvent to quickly disperse, leaving the fragrance to evaporate gradually over several hours. The rate of evaporation (vapor pressure) and the odor strength of the compound partly determine the tenacity of the compound and determine its perfume note classification. - Top notes: Scents that are perceived immediately on application of a perfume.
Top notes create the scents that form a person's initial impression of a
perfume. Because of this, they are very important in the selling of a perfume.
The scents of this note class are usually described as "fresh," "assertive" or "sharp." The
compounds that contribute to top notes are strong in scent, very volatile,
and evaporate quickly. Citrus and ginger scents are common top notes.
- Heart notes or Middle notes: The scent of a perfume that emerges after
the top notes dissipate. The heart note compounds form the "heart" or
main body of a perfume and act to mask the often unpleasant initial impression
of base notes, which become more pleasant with time. Not surprisingly, the
scent of heart note compounds is usually more mellow and "rounded." Scents
from this note class appear anywhere from 2 minutes to 1 hour after the application
of a perfume. Lavender and rose scents are typical heart notes. Top notes
and heart notes are sometimes described together as Head notes.
- Base notes: The scent of a perfume that appears after the departure of the top notes. The base and middle notes together are the main theme of a perfume. Base notes bring depth and solidness to a perfume. Compounds of this class are often the fixatives used to hold and boost the strength of the lighter top and heart notes. The compounds of this class of scents are typically rich and "deep" and are usually not perceived until 30 minutes after the application of the perfume or during the period of perfume dry-down. Musk, vetiver and scents of plant resins are commonly used as base notes.
- Concentration and composition
Perfumes oils, or the "juice" of a perfume composition, are diluted with a suitable solvent to make the perfume more usable. This is done because undiluted oils (natural or synthetic) contain high concentrations of volatile components that will likely result in allergic reactions and possibly injury when applied directly to skin or clothing. - Although dilutions of the perfume oil can be done using solvents such as jojoba, fractionated coconut oil, and wax, the most common solvents for perfume oil dilution is ethanol or a mixture of ethanol and water. The percent of perfume oil by volume in a perfume is listed as follows:
- Perfume extract: 20%-40% aromatic compounds
Eau de parfum: 10-30% aromatic compounds
Eau de toilette: 5-20% aromatic compounds
Eau de cologne: 2-3% aromatic compounds
As the percentage of aromatic compounds decreases, the intensity and longevity of the scent decrease. It should be noted that different perfumeries or perfume houses assign different amounts of oils to each of their perfumes. As such, although the oil concentration of a perfume in eau de parfum (EDP) dilution will necessarily be higher than the same perfume in eau de toilette (EDT) form, the same trends may not necessarily apply to different perfume compositions much less across different perfume houses. - To complicate matters more, some fragrances with the same product name
but having a different concentration name may not only different in their
dillutions, but actually use different perfume oil mixtures altogether. For
instance, in order to make the EDT version of a fragrance brighter and fresher
than its EDP, the EDT oil may be "tweaked" to contain slightly
more top notes or less base notes. In some cases, words such as "extrême" or "concentrée" appended
to frangrance names might indicate completely different frangrances that
relates only because of a similar perfume accord. An instance of this would
be Chanel‘s Pour Monsieur and Pour Monsieur Concentrée.
- Celebrity Scents
- David Beckham: Instinct
- Cher: Uninhibited
- Alan Cumming: Cumming
- Paris Hilton: Paris Hilton, Paris Hilton for Men, Just Me, Just Me for Men
- Beyoncé Knowles: True Star, True Star Gold
- Jennifer Lopez: JLo, Still, Live, Glow, Miami Glow, Love at First Glow
- Sarah Jessica Parker: Lovely
- Derek Jeter: Driven[2]
- Britney Spears: Curious, Fantasy, In Control
- Elizabeth Taylor: Passion, White Diamonds, Forever Elizabeth, Black Pearls,
Diamonds & Emeralds, Diamonds & Rubies
- Celine Dion: Celine, Celine FEMME, Celine Dion Notes,
- Celine Dion Belong
- Scarlett Johansson: Eternity Moment
- Catherine Zeta Jones: Provocative, After Five
- Shania Twain: Shania by Stetson
- Antonio Banderas: Spirit, Meditaraneo, Diavolo Hypnotic, Diavolo Donna,
Diavolo
- Enrique Iglesias: True Star
- Ashanti (singer): Precious Jewel
