Perfume in all its incarnations can lift or create a mood, evoke powerful memories or just make you smell really good. But how do you know which scent is the best fit for you?
Navigating the perfume hall of a department store or duty free can be an overwhelming experience – indeed, an assault on the senses – with so much marketing hype and so many scents clamouring for attention. That’s perhaps not the ideal way to choose one’s fragrance de jour, but the scent selection process is not always a rational experience to begin with.
‘You may feel that there can be no logic in your choice of perfumes because sense of smell is so emotional, but the fragrances you most enjoy will probably belong to just one or two of the 14 fragrance families,’ according to renowned ‘nose’ Michael Edwards, a British fragrance expert, author and founding editor of Fragrances of the World and its sumptuous annual reference book.
With an online database, FOTW is widely regarded as an olfactory bible, with more than 21,000 separate classifications to date. Michael is one of the only impartial and independent voices in the industry, an expert’s expert who consults to perfume creators and retailers around the world, dividing his time between London, New York, Australia and a Paris office he shares with Pierre Dinand, designer of iconic bottles for YSL, Givenchy and Calvin Klein.
His lectures and writings, including the book Perfume Legends: French Feminine Fragrances, pioneered critical scholarship on the history of perfumery, while his Fragrance Wheel marked a major innovation in perfume retail. ‘Like most good things, it takes a little effort to find a new perfume that is just right,’ says Michael. ‘Start by understanding the difference between the fragrance families.’
Which family do you belong to?
The classification system of the Fragrance Wheel is based on four major groups – Florals, Fresh, Woods and Orientals – and 14 subcategories or families. The outer ring shows which ingredients are added to move a scent from one family to the next. For example, adding orange blossom and sweet spices to Soft Florals transforms them into Floral Orientals, incense and amber then transform Floral Orientals into Soft Orientals, and so on.
Floral
Probably the most popular fragrance category, floral perfumes aren’t just for young girls or grandmas. Florals encompass a wide range of blooms, from a single rose petal to a medley of floral bouquets. Most of these scents will be romantic and feminine, but depending on the ingredients can be soft (subtle whiffs and powdery notes), fresh (like newly cut flowers) or intense (with hints of fruit and sweet spices). Common floral notes include jasmine, rose, gardenia and iris. In this classification scheme, Chanel No5, which is traditionally classified as a Floral Aldehyde, would be located under Soft Floral sub-group.
Today, most mainstream fragrances are made with a large share of synthetic fragrances. Chanel No5, introduced in 1921, was the first big seller to include them in the form of aldehydes. They’re said to have a soapy, floral, citrusy aroma.
Fresh
Michael Edwards’ scale of fresh notes is broken down into greens, aquatics and citrus, with notes on either side of those blurring into the floral and woody categories that make up his fragrance wheel. Green notes are often associated with the crisp scents of the outdoors – newly cut grass, green flowers and herbs. Water notes invoke the spirit of the sea or the smell of rain. One of the oldest fragrance families, citrus is comprised of the juices of lemons, oranges, bergamot, grapefruit and mandarins.
Oriental
Just like its name suggests, the Oriental group is comprised of notes that are sweet, spicy and overall exotic. Notes like amber and vanilla are oftentimes present in the Oriental group. Michael Edwards’ Oriental group includes Soft Oriental, Oriental and Woody Oriental before officially crossing into the Woody notes group.
Oriental notes are richer and bolder. Spices like cardamom and clove make up the oriental notes, as well as chocolate.
Woody
If you didn’t already guess, the Woody group consists of your aromatic wood notes – sandalwood, cedarwood and oak. You will commonly find patchouli mixed in with the woody notes as well.
In a nutshell, according to Michael Edwards:
- Floral notes are a range of flowers
- Fresh notes are greens and water scents
- Oriental notes are rich, bold and spicy
- Woody scents are aromatic wood notes.
