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Step 1: Fragrance Categories
Amber (sometimes called ‘oriental’)
Defined by warmth, richness, and sensual sweetness, the amber family uses heady, long-lasting ingredients. Key notes include sweet vanilla, exotic spices (like cinnamon and clove), and fragrant resins such as frankincense and myrrh. These fragrances are often heavy, luxurious, and best suited for evening wear.
Aromatic (sometimes called ‘fougère’)
This classic fragrance family is defined by its sharp, green, and often herbaceous qualities. Aromatic scents are typically built around notes of lavender, coumarin (which provides a sweet, hay-like scent), and a foundation of oakmoss. This family is traditionally and widely featured in men's fragrances, lending them a clean, barbershop-style freshness.
Chypre
Chypre is a highly complex, classic, and elegant structure defined by three key elements: a sparkling bergamot top note, a rich floral or herbal middle, and a distinctive base of oakmoss combined with deep patchouli or sticky labdanum. The resulting aroma is earthy, mossy, dark, and sophisticated, suggesting a damp forest floor.
Citrus
This is the most volatile and refreshing family, dominated by the zesty and clean notes extracted from fruit peels. Key ingredients include lemon, lime, grapefruit, and mandarin. Citrus scents are known for their initial bright burst of energy and are essential for creating invigorating, summery, and clean fragrances.
Floral
The largest and most versatile family, encompassing any scent that is dominated by flowers. This can range from simple, single-note soliflores (like a pure rose or jasmine) to complex, lavish floral bouquets. These scents form the heart of countless perfumes and can be fresh, creamy, heady, or green.
Leather
This fragrance family is dedicated to notes that evoke the smell of cured hide and smoke. It is largely composed of synthetic (not entirely derived from nature) notes, often achieved by blending smoky materials like birch tar with dry, woody notes. The resulting profile is deep, warm, and can sometimes carry nuances of tobacco or burnt sugar.
Oud (sometimes called ‘woody-oriental’)
A highly distinct and trendy sub-family that highlights the deep, animalic, and smoky scent of oud wood (also known as agarwood). The potent, musty nature of this prized wood is typically blended with creamy sandalwood, earthy patchouli, or warm spices to create rich, complex, and dark fragrances.
Spicy
This family focuses on the sharp, warm, and stimulating aromas provided by culinary spices. Common notes are cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and cardamom. Spicy notes are rarely used alone, but they are crucial for lending warmth and zest to amber, woody, and even some floral compositions.
Woody
Scents dominated by trees, shrubs, and roots, the woody family provides a dry, earthy, and warm foundation for almost all fragrances. Essential components include creamy sandalwood, dry cedarwood, smoky vetiver, and damp patchouli. They are essential as base notes to ground a composition and enhance its longevity.
STEP 2: Continue the journey by creating your own custom scent. Choose two or three elements from ‘top notes,’ ‘middle notes,’ and ‘base notes.’
[By selecting elements across all three levels, you ensure your fragrance evolves beautifully on the skin, presenting a dynamic story from the first application to the final, intimate dry-down.}
Top Notes (the opening):
This group is defined by its bright, fleeting, and highly volatile nature. It includes an array of citruses: bergamot, lemon, lime, mandarin red, neroli, petitgrain, pink grapefruit, sweet orange, tangerine, and white grapefruit. These are complemented by fresh, herbaceous, and piny elements: bay leaf, black pepper, cajeput, coriander, cypress, eucalyptus, fir needle, lemongrass, litsea cubeba, melissa, rosemary, sweet fennel, and verbena. Finally, the opening can be rounded out by light, fruity scents.
Middle Notes (the heart):
These elements form the core theme of your fragrance blend, offering complexity and warmth once the top notes fade. This ‘note level’ is rich in florals, including calendula, chamomile, French lavender, gardenia, geranium, jasmine, lavender, plumeria, rose, and ylang ylang. They can be balanced by warm spices and herbs: basil, cardamom, carrot seed, cinnamon leaf, clary sage, clove bud, clove leaf, clove pennyroyal, ginger root, juniper berry, nutmeg, sage, star anise, tulsi, and turmeric root.
Base Notes (the foundation):
These long-lasting notes anchor and fix the scent to the skin, providing richness, warmth, and depth. This strong ‘note level’ is composed of rich woods and resins like benzoin, black oud, black pine, cassia, cedarwood, elemi, frankincense, galbanum, myrrh, rosewood, and sandalwood. They can be complemented by heavy, earthy, and sweet elements such as amber, fig, oakmoss, patchouli, vanilla, and vetiver. The category is completed by specialty and fixative materials: aloe vera, Egyptian musk, leather, musk, and rose hip seed.