Fragrance Note Glossary

This glossary defines the perfume notes and accords used across the Gouttes Rares catalogue of niche, ultra-niche and indie fragrance decants. Each entry explains how the material actually smells, so you can read any fragrance's scent pyramid with confidence. 425 terms.

Agarwood: Dense, smoky resinous wood, warm and animalic with leathery, sweet-balsamic and barnyard facets; the dark, precious heart of Middle Eastern perfumery.
Agarwood (Oud): Dense, smoky resinous wood, warm and animalic with leathery, sweet-balsamic and barnyard facets; the dark, precious heart of Middle Eastern perfumery.
Aged Patchouli: Dark, earthy and damp, like wet soil and cellar wood with a sweet, almost chocolatey depth; a tenacious, head-shop base.
Airy Note: Weightless and transparent, cool ozone and clean breeze, a sense of open space and breathable lift rather than a scent itself.
Akigalawood: Woody-spicy patchouli derivative, peppery and dry with smoky oud-like and grapefruit facets; radiant and faceted, a modern textured wood.
Al Hashimi Oud: Dark resinous agarwood: animalic, smoky and barnyard-warm, with a medicinal woody depth that smoulders for hours as a base.
Aldehydes: Soapy, fizzy, abstract sparkle, waxy-metallic and faintly citrus-snuffed-candle, lifting a perfume into shimmering champagne brightness; the famous Chanel No. 5 top.
Almond: Sweet and nutty with a marzipan-cherry softness and a faint bitter edge; a powdery, comforting gourmand accent.
Amaretto: Bitter-almond liqueur, marzipan, cherry stone and a warm boozy syrup; nutty, sweet and faintly woody.
Amaryllis: Crisp, fresh green floral with a faintly sappy stem; soft petals carrying a clean, watery lily-like calm.
Amber: Warm, golden and resinous, sweet honeyed labdanum melting into soft powder; a glowing base built from balsams rather than fossilised sap.
Ambergris: Salty, mineral and warm, marine air over sweet driftwood with a faintly animalic, skin-like glow; a radiant, sea-tinged base and fixative.
Amberwood: Dry, radiant and woody-warm, a clean ambrox glow with mineral, slightly salty depth; a modern, diffusive base.
Ambrette: Soft, warm seed musk, faintly fruity-floral with a pear-and-skin sweetness; a natural, velvety musky base.
Ambrette (Musk Mallow): Plant-derived musk, nutty and warm with a brandy-pear softness and skin-close intimacy; a refined natural musk for the base.
Ambrofix™: Dry, mineral ambergris warmth, clean, salty and woody with a velvety radiant glow; a bio-based Ambroxan that lifts and diffuses a scent.
Ambroxan: Dry, mineral, ambergris-like warmth with a salty woody glow and skin-clinging radiance; the modern engine behind many sheer amber bases.
American oak: Toasted barrel-wood sweetness, vanilla, coconut and caramel from charred staves; warmer and softer than the spicy bite of European oak.
American Rosa rugosa: Bright seaside rose, crisp petals with a tart green snap and salty coastal air; fresher and less jammy than garden rose.
Amyl Salicylate: Sweet green-floral with a powdery clover-and-orchid hum; warm, mildly herbal, a classic diffusive cushion in florals.
Amyris: Soft, faintly sweet wood often called West Indian sandalwood: creamy, dry and gently resinous, a quiet woody foundation.
Angelica: Earthy, musky-green root with a bittersweet, slightly musty herbal warmth and a peppery, gin-like edge; rooty and animalic.
Animal notes: Warm, skin-like and slightly feral, hints of leather, fur, sweat and honeyed musk; a sensual, body-warm depth in the base.
Anise: Cool, sweet liquorice, fresh and slightly peppery with a faint medicinal lick; the bright herbal sparkle of pastis and star-anise.
Apple: Tart-sweet and watery, the green snap of just-bitten skin, juicy and fresh with a cool orchard brightness.
Apple cider: Fermented tart apple, fizzy, fruity and faintly boozy, with a vinegary edge and a warm autumnal sweetness.
Apple Pie: Baked apple folded into cinnamon, butter and warm pastry crust; cosy, sugary and homely, with a caramelised golden edge.
Applewood: Mild, faintly sweet smoke, dry pale wood with a soft fruity hum; gentler and rounder than oak or hickory char.
Apricot: Velvety, plush stone-fruit, sun-warmed and honeyed with a slightly fuzzy tartness; soft, golden and nectar-sweet.
Ash: The cold grey aftermath of fire, dry, mineral and dusty, with a faint charred bitterness and the ghost of extinguished smoke.
Atlas cedar: Resinous and slightly sharp, pencil-shavings warmth with a faintly camphorous balsam; crisper and more austere than soft Virginia cedar.
Australian Sandalwood: Drier, sharper and more resinous than Mysore, with a balsamic-woody warmth and far less of the creamy, milky softness.
Barley malt: Toasted-grain sweetness with a faintly beery, biscuity edge, like a brewery's mash steaming on a damp morning.
Basil: Crisp, peppery green herb shot through with sweet aniseed and clove, snapped fresh from the stem; a lively aromatic lift in fougères.
Bay Leaf: Dry, resinous herb with a warm spiced-clove undertone and a cool eucalyptus edge, like a simmering pot just lifted off the heat.
Beeswax: Honeyed warmth with a faintly powdery, hay-like animal hum, rounded and golden; lends body and sweetness to florals.
Benzoin: Sweet, vanillic resin with a warm, balsamic, almost caramelised amber glow and a faint cinnamon edge; a soft, sticky fixative base.
Bergamot: Bright, green-edged citrus with a bitter floral lift and a whisper of Earl Grey tea; the sparkling top note of classic colognes.
Birch: Tarry and smoky: charred bark and old leather with a campfire bite, dry and slightly medicinal in the base.
Birch Tar: Pungent, sooty smoke and creosote with a campfire-and-leather bite, oily and tarry; the source of every smoked-leather accord.
Bitter Almond: Cool marzipan-cherry sweetness with a faint medicinal, nutty edge; the heliotrope-tinged whisper of almond paste and stone-fruit kernel.
Bitter Orange: Sharp, rind-forward citrus with a green, almost medicinal bitterness behind the juice; the sour-edged top note of neroli and petitgrain.
Black Amber: Resinous, brooding warmth fusing labdanum, smoke and vanillic sweetness into a thick, almost tarry glow; a dark base.
Black Cherry: Deep, syrupy cherry with a boozy, almond-bitter kernel, jammy and dark rather than bright and fresh.
Black Currant: Tart, juicy berry carrying a sharp, almost sulphurous green-leaf bite; fruity and slightly catty, a vivid jolt in fresh and floral tops.
Black Pepper: Dry, prickling spice with a warm woody bite and faint terpenic sparkle; adds crackling lift and texture to tops and woods.
Blackberry: Dark, jammy purple sweetness with a tart, winey depth and a green-bramble bite; richer and more brooding than red berries.
Blackcurrant: Tart, juicy and faintly sulphurous, a purple-red burst of crushed berry with a green, catty bite that shadows top notes.
Blood: A cold, metallic tang of iron and salt, faintly meaty and mineral, like a copper coin held on the tongue.
Blood Mandarin: Juicy mandarin sweetness deepened by a tart, almost berry-red undertone; brighter and rounder than ordinary tangerine.
Blood Orange: Sweet-tart orange with a darker raspberry-tinged depth and bitter rind edge, more sanguine and rounded than common orange.
Blue Cypress: Dry, resinous evergreen with a faintly smoky, dusty-green chill, like sun-baked Mediterranean woodland and crushed needles underfoot.
Blue Lotus: Cool, watery and green-floral with a faintly spicy, narcotic sweetness; an aquatic, mystical petal note.
Blue Oud: Dark resinous agarwood: animalic, smoky and barnyard-warm, with a medicinal woody depth that smoulders for hours as a base.
Borneo Oud: Dark resinous agarwood: animalic, smoky and barnyard-warm, with a medicinal woody depth that smoulders for hours as a base.
Bourbon Vanilla: Dark vanilla with rummy, boozy depth and a creamy resinous sweetness; warmer and smokier than the plain pod.
Bran: Dry, dusty cereal warmth, faintly nutty and papery, like the husk-scent of a flour mill or freshly milled oats.
Brandy: Heady, boozy fruit and oak with an alcoholic burn and dried-grape sweetness; a spirituous lift over deeper notes.
Brazilian Orange: Bright, juicy and sun-sweet orange, less bitter than Mediterranean fruit, with a soft tropical roundness; a cheerful top note.
Bread: Yeasty crust and steam, toasty and faintly sweet with a comforting bakery doughiness.
Broom: Warm, hay-like and honeyed, somewhere between dried apricot and almond with a leathery, sun-baked floral hum; a soft amber-yellow heart.
Brown sugar: Molasses-rich sweetness with a damp, caramelised depth and a faint burnt-toffee edge; gourmand warmth in the base.
Brunei Oud: Dark resinous agarwood: animalic, smoky and barnyard-warm, with a medicinal woody depth that smoulders for hours as a base.
Bubble Gum: Synthetic, candied pink fruitiness, sugary and slightly waxy, conjuring chewed gum and childhood sweet shops.
Bulgarian Rose: Dewy damask rose with a green, lemony brightness over soft honeyed depth; the fresher, more luminous reading of the same rose.
Butter: Creamy, faintly lactic richness with a salted, melting warmth; adds a rounded gourmand fattiness.
Cacao: Dry, bitter and dusty, raw cocoa powder without the sweetness, edged with roasted earth and a chalky cling; deepens gourmand bases.
Cacao Pod: Raw, green-edged cocoa with a bitter, earthy fruitiness; rougher and woodier than finished chocolate, closer to the cracked husk.
Cade oil: Smoky, tarry juniper-wood distillate, dry and leathery with a campfire-and-pine bite; a phenolic smoked base.
Cake: Warm sponge and vanilla-buttery sweetness with a soft sugared crumb; a comforting, frosting-tinged gourmand.
Calabrian bergamot: Sparkling green citrus from southern Italy, crisp and bitter-fresh with floral lift and oily peel zest; the gold-standard cologne top note.
Calla Lily: Cool, dewy white-floral freshness, clean and green-edged with a faint waxy petal softness; quiet and watery rather than heady.
Calone: Sharp, oceanic ozone with a melon-and-sea-air coolness; the synthetic watermelon-marine note behind every 90s aquatic.
Candied Almond: Sugared marzipan sweetness with a warm toasted-nut depth and a cherry-tinged kernel bitterness; a praline gourmand.
Candied Fruits: Sticky, sugar-glazed and jammy, sun-dried orange peel and glacé cherry boiled down to a chewy, syrupy sweetness.
Candle Wax: Soft, faintly milky and warm, melted paraffin and a snuffed wick, smooth and slightly fatty with a quiet, near-scentless hush.
cannabis: Green, resinous and herbal, dried hemp leaf with a skunky, smoky tang and a slightly dirty edge over the foliage.
Caramel: Burnt sugar gone golden, buttery and sticky with a faint bitter scorch at the edges; a rich, warm gourmand sweetener.
Cardamom: Cool, green and aromatic, fresh spice with a citrusy, eucalyptus-like lift over a warm, slightly resinous core; a sparkling spicy top note.
Carnation: Spicy, peppery petals with a warm clove bite over soft floral sweetness, the old-fashioned heart of vintage florals and barbershop fougères.
Carob tree: Dark, roasted sweetness like cocoa crossed with dried fig and molasses, a sticky brown gourmand warmth without the bitterness of true chocolate.
Carrot Seeds: Earthy and rooty with a powdery, slightly sweet warmth, like damp soil clinging to a freshly pulled root, soft and ambery in the base.
Cashmeran: Velvety, musky woods with a warm peppery glow and a faint sweet-pine resin, a soft synthetic blur that wraps blends in plush, skin-close warmth.
Cashmere Wood: Soft, dry and musky-woody, a smooth velvety warmth that blurs woods and skin into a faintly powdery, ambery glow.
Cassia: Hot, sweet cinnamon with a rougher, woodier bite than the delicate kind, all baked spice and red-brown bark.
Cassis: French for blackcurrant: tart, dark-purple and juicy with a sharp green, faintly animalic snap that brightens fruity accords.
Castoreum: Deeply animalic and leathery: warm, smoky and faintly sweet, a tarry hide-and-musk growl anchoring the base.
Cedar: Dry, sharp pencil-shavings woodiness, clean and faintly resinous with a sweetish bite; a crisp, structural woody base.
Cedarwood: Dry pencil-shaving wood: clean, slightly sharp and resinous, a pale aromatic warmth that smells of sharpened graphite.
Ceylon Cinnamon: Softer, true cinnamon, more delicate and floral than common cassia, with a warm honeyed bark sweetness rather than a fiery sting.
Ceylonese Sandalwood: Sri Lankan sandalwood, creamy and milky-soft with a rosy, slightly sharper edge than buttery Mysore, woody and warm in the base.
Champaca: Lush tropical bloom between magnolia and tea, with apricot-honey fruitiness and a warm spicy-leathery undertone, heady and golden.
Cherry: Juicy, candied red fruit with a faintly bitter almond-stone twist, syrupy and lipstick-sweet, the playful heart of gourmand cherry blends.
Chestnut: Warm, roasted nuttiness with a faint smoky sweetness, like chestnuts cracked over coals on a cold street, soft and autumnal.
Chinese Black Tea: Dry, smoky tea leaves with a tannic, slightly leathery bitterness and a whisper of dried fruit, brisk and amber-brown.
Chinese Osmanthus: Apricot-and-leather sweetness over fresh tea and ripe peach skin, a velvety golden floral with a suede underside.
Chocolate: Rich, bittersweet cocoa, dusty and dark with a roasted edge, the deep brown anchor of gourmand bases.
Cigar: Dry, fermented tobacco leaf wrapped in sweet cedar smoke and old leather, dark and resinous, the scent of a smoke-stained study.
Cinnamon: Hot, sweet and dry bark spice, woody and slightly biting with a reddish gourmand warmth; a cosy, festive heart for oriental blends.
Cistus: Sticky labdanum resin, warm and ambery with a leathery, balsamic depth and a hint of incense smoke, a dark sun-baked base.
Cistus Incanus: The pink rockrose itself, herbal and resinous, with a honeyed, slightly medicinal balsam warmth baked by Mediterranean sun.
Citron: Tart and zesty with a thick bitter-pith bite and a candied-peel sweetness; a textured, slightly resinous citrus.
Civet: Fecal, musky animal funk that softens into golden, skin-like sensuality once diluted; an old-school carnal undertone in classic florals.
Clary Sage: Herbal and ambery-musky, dry and slightly sweet with a leathery, nutty edge and a soft tobacco-like warmth.
Clementine: Sweet, juicy little citrus, softer and rounder than orange with a candied, slightly floral sparkle, bright and cheerful up top.
Clove: Hot, dry and pin-sharp, a tingling medicinal spice with a numbing bite and dark, almost smoky warmth underneath.
Clover: Green meadow sweetness with a soft hay-like, faintly coumarinic warmth, like crushed grass and honeyed wildflowers in summer fields.
Cloves: Hot, sweet-spicy and numbingly medicinal, with a dry woody bite recalling dentist's eugenol; pungent warmth in spiced carnation accords.
Coal: Cold, mineral blackness shot through with dry soot and a faint sulphurous, smoky bite, the inky scent of a dormant hearth.
Coconut: Creamy, milky and sun-lotion sweet, soft tropical flesh with a faintly toasted, lactonic warmth.
Coconut Milk: Creamy, milky coconut, soft and tropical without the suntan-oil sweetness, a smooth lactonic warmth like fresh coconut flesh.
Coffee: Dark-roasted and bittersweet: toasted beans, burnt sugar and a smoky, slightly oily warmth, rich and almost gourmand.
Cognac: Boozy, warm and oaky, aged brandy with dried-fruit sweetness, a spirituous burn and a vanillic glow from the barrel.
Comorian Vanilla: Warm, creamy and sweet with a soft balsamic edge, like custard and cured pods; the cosy heart of countless gourmand bases.
Concrete: Cool, dusty grey stone after rain, dry and mineral with a damp cement chill, the scent of bare urban pavement.
Copaiba balm: Warm, peppery resin with a soft woody-balsamic sweetness and a faint green bite, smooth amber depth in the base.
Copal: Bright, piney tree resin burning to a fresh citrusy smoke, lighter and greener than frankincense, a clear golden incense.
Coriander: Peppery, faintly soapy spice over a warm sweet-citrus woodiness, aromatic and rosy; a lively lift in fougères and colognes.
Coriander Seed: Warm, peppery-citrus spice with a soft woody sweetness and a faint floral lift, dry and aromatic in fougère hearts.
Cork: Dry, dusty woody-earthiness with a faint winey, slightly nutty warmth, like the inside of an old wine-cellar drawer.
Costus: Greasy, animalic and oddly human, scalp and unwashed hair over a damp, rooty earthiness; a dirty natural fixative used sparingly.
Coumarin: Sweet, soft and powdery, freshly mown hay crossed with almond and vanilla; the warm hum at the heart of every fougère.
Cranberry: Tart, jewel-red berry with a juicy bite, somewhere between sour rind and sweet jam, lending a crisp, cool sparkle to fruity openings.
Credit Cards: The slick, cool tang of embossed plastic and warm electronics, faintly chemical and metallic, a sterile modern shorthand for status and gloss.
Cumin: Warm, sweaty spice with a pungent, oily and unmistakably bodily muskiness; carnal and divisive, adding skin-like heat in trace amounts.
Custard: Warm, eggy sweetness thickened with vanilla and cream, a soft gourmand wobble sitting dense and comforting at the heart.
Cut Grass: Sharp, green and watery, the bruised-stem freshness of a newly mown lawn with a faint hay sweetness beneath.
Cypress: Dry, resinous evergreen with a faintly smoky, dusty-green chill, like sun-baked Mediterranean woodland and crushed needles underfoot.
Cypriol: Dry, earthy and smoky, nagarmotha's woody-leather depth with a vetiver-like dampness and incense edge; a dark, rooty base.
Cypriol Oil or Nagarmotha: Smoky, leathery sedge root, earthy and woody with dry incense and faint oud-like funk; an inky, mysterious depth in dark woody bases.
Damask Rose: Deep, jammy rose with honeyed, faintly spiced warmth lifted by a sharp green-lemony edge; the velvety, full-bodied heart of countless classic florals.
Damp Earth: Wet soil after rainfall, dark and mineral with a green, rooty mustiness; the petrichor scent of a forest floor freshly turned over.
Dates: Sticky, dark-sugar fruit, almost toffee-like, with a wrinkled, honeyed richness and a hint of dried prune that warms oriental bases.
Davana: Shape-shifting Indian herb, fruity and boozy like apricot brandy on the skin, with a balsamic, slightly metallic green undertone.
Deer Musk: Soft, warm and skin-clinging, clean and slightly powdery with an animalic hum; the radiant, intimate veil that lingers in the base.
Deertongue: Hay-sweet and coumarin-rich, smelling of dried tobacco leaf, fresh-mown meadow and warm vanilla, a soft tonka-like base accent.
Dried Fruits: Sticky, jammy and concentrated, the dark sweetness of raisin, fig and date with a boozy, sun-baked richness; a plush gourmand accent.
Dust: Dry, powdery stillness of sunlit motes and untouched shelves, faintly mineral and papery, the quiet air of an undisturbed room.
East Indian Oud: Dark resinous agarwood: animalic, smoky and barnyard-warm, with a medicinal woody depth that smoulders for hours as a base.
Eau de Cologne Mint: Cool, aromatic spearmint scrubbed clean of sweetness, crisp and herbal, the bracing minty lift of a traditional splash cologne.
Egyptian Jasmine: Heady, lush white-floral sweetness with a fruity, narcotic indolic undertone bordering on dirty; a sensual heart-note bloom that fills a room.
elemi: Bright, resinous lemon-pine sap with a peppery snap and faint frankincense coolness; a crisp, balsamic top-to-heart accent.
Elemi Resin: Sticky and amber-sweet with a faint smoky, pine-sap tackiness; a glowing balsamic base that anchors and rounds a composition.
Eucalyptus: Sharp, camphorous green that opens the sinuses, cool and medicinal with a faintly sweet wood beneath, like crushed silver leaves.
Evernyl: Smooth synthetic oakmoss, dry and faintly sweet with a clean mossy-woody hum, supplying the green, shadowy floor of chypres.
Fig: Green, milky and fruity at once, sappy leaf and bark wrapped around creamy, jammy pulp; cool shade on a hot day.
Finger Lime: Crisp citrus caviar bursting tart and effervescent, more zesty and green than lemon, a bright, slightly bitter sparkle up top.
Fir: Crisp evergreen resin: cold pine needles, sticky balsam and clean forest air, green and bracing with a sappy sweetness.
Fir Balsam: Sticky, resinous conifer sap, sweet and faintly piney with a warm balsamic depth, like sun-warmed bark and crushed needles.
Fir Needle: Crisp, cool evergreen freshness, green and slightly sharp, smelling of a freshly cut Christmas tree and clean forest air.
Flowers: A soft, diffuse floral wash, neither one bloom nor another, petals and pollen blurred into a gentle, dewy bouquet.
Frangipani: Creamy tropical white flower, suntan-warm with apricot and almond-milk softness over a heady jasmine sweetness.
Frankincense: Cool, lemony resin curling into peppery smoke and dry church incense; meditative and balsamic, a luminous spine for woody-orientals.
Freesia: Airy, dewy petal with a peppery-green sparkle, lightly sweet and watery, a fresh, modern floral that glows without weight.
Fruity Notes: Bright, jammy sweetness of mixed ripe fruit, succulent and rounded, lending a playful lift to florals and gourmands.
Galbanum: Sharp, bitter-green sap like snapped stems and crushed leaves, with a cold, almost piney bite; the bracing green opening of vintage chypres.
Gallic Rose: Old-garden Rosa gallica, deep and wine-dark, jammy and spiced with a velvety, almost balsamic richness rooted in apothecary tradition.
Gardenia: Creamy, opulent white petals with a buttery, faintly mushroomy lushness and a banana-coconut warmth underneath; heady and tropical.
Gasoline: Sharp, volatile petrol fumes, oily and faintly sweet with a metallic chemical edge, the heady reek of a forecourt pump.
Georgian Rose: Dewy, layered petals balancing honeyed sweetness, green stems and a peppery, lemony bite; the velvety floral heart of countless perfumes.
Georgywood: Refined Iso E relative, dry and velvety woody-ambery, soft and transparent with a faint cedar glow that hums close to skin.
Geranium: Crisp rosy-green with a minty, peppery facet, cool and slightly metallic; a fresh rose-leaf note that lifts masculine fougères.
Ginger: Fresh, fiery and zesty, sharp root spice with a soapy, lemony sparkle and a peppery warm bite; a vivid, energising top-to-heart accent.
Grapefruit: Tart, juicy and bittersweet citrus with a slightly sulphurous, rosy-pink tang; a fresh, mouth-watering top note brighter than orange, sharper than lemon.
Grass: Sharp, green snap of freshly cut lawn, sappy and cool with a faintly sweet, watery vegetal juiciness, like a summer mow.
Green Apple: Crisp, tart, juicy bite of skin-on apple, watery and faintly sour-sweet, with a cool snap that brightens fruity-floral tops.
Green Notes: Crisp, leafy freshness of crushed stems and snapped foliage, sharp and watery, evoking the cool bite of a dewy garden.
Green Tea: Cool, bitter and vegetal, steeped leaves with a dry astringent edge and faint grassy, smoky steam; calm and translucent.
Green tobacco: Fresh, unsmoked tobacco leaf, sappy and hay-like with a herbal-green bitterness, lighter and cooler than its cured, smoky form.
Grey Ambergris: Salty, mineral and warm, marine air over sweet driftwood with a faintly animalic, skin-like glow; a radiant, sea-tinged base and fixative.
Guaiac Wood: Smoky, tarry wood softened by a sweet rose-and-vanilla glow; oily and resinous, lending leathery warmth to bases.
Guatemalan Cardamom: Bright, aromatic cardamom with a cool eucalyptus snap and lemony-camphorous lift, cleaner and greener than its earthier Indian counterpart.
Guava: Juicy tropical sweetness over tart green skin, with pulpy pink flesh and a faint sulphurous funk; bright and watery-fruity in fragrance tops.
gunpowder: Acrid, sulphurous smoke and hot flint, a metallic spark over a singed mineral edge; the dry crack of a spent match.
Gurjan balsam: Warm woody-balsamic resin with smoky, almost tar-edged depth and faint pine; a dark fixative base often standing in for oud.
Haitian Vetiver: Cool, rooty and earthy with smoky, grassy and faintly citrus facets; a dry, austere base smelling of damp soil and freshly cut roots.
Hawaiian sandalwood: Creamy and soft with a brighter, slightly sweeter, rosier facet than Mysore; smooth milky woods without much sharpness.
Hay: Sun-dried grass and warm coumarinic sweetness, dusty and nostalgic, with a tobacco-leaf, faintly honeyed hum of a summer barn.
Hazelnut: Toasted, oily and sweet, roasted nut skins with a praline warmth and a cocoa-edged richness; a cosy gourmand accent.
Hazelnut cocoa spread: Toasted hazelnut and milky cocoa, glossy and gourmand-sweet like warm chocolate-nut paste straight from the jar.
Hedione: Soft, airy jasmine-tea transparency, dewy and faintly citrus-petal; lends radiant lift and diffusion rather than a smell of its own.
Heliotrope: Powdery and almond-like, all marzipan, vanilla and cherry-pie warmth; a soft, comforting cosmetic sweetness in the base.
Hemlock: Cool resinous conifer with a sharp green-needle bite and damp forest-floor edge; austere, faintly bitter evergreen air.
Herbal Notes: Crushed leaves and stems, cool and aromatic, faintly bitter and medicinal; a sun-warmed apothecary tangle of mint, sage and thyme.
Hibiscus: Tart red-berry sharpness with watery floral coolness; lightly fruity and pleasantly sour, more sensation than heady bloom.
Himalayan Rose: Dewy, layered petals balancing honeyed sweetness, green stems and a peppery, lemony bite; the velvety floral heart of countless perfumes.
Holy Water: Cool clean mineral wetness laced with faint incense and stone; the hushed font and damp candle-lit air of a cathedral.
Honey: Thick, golden and waxy, floral nectar tipped with a warm animalic muskiness and a beeswax hum; sweet but slightly feral.
Honeysuckle: Heady nectar-sweet white floral with a green, slightly fruity-tropical lift; warm honeyed petals on a summer evening.
Honeysuckle Otto: Distilled honeysuckle at full strength, deep and golden-nectared, its sweetness thicker and more honeyed than the fresh bloom.
Hyacinth: Cool, green and watery, a crisp spring stem with a sharp metallic-floral bite and a bruised-leaf bitterness beneath the petals.
Ice: Cold near-scentless clarity, a frozen mineral hush with a metallic prickle; the airy sensation of crisp, breath-fogging chill.
Immortelle: Warm and intense, burnt curry, maple syrup and dried hay rolled together; the unmistakable fenugreek sweetness of everlasting flower.
Incense: Cool, smoky resin smelling of burning frankincense in stone churches, peppery and dry with a sacred, meditative haze; a contemplative base.
Indian Oud: Dense, animalic agarwood, leathery and barnyard-funky over a sweet woody-resinous heart; warmer and more fecal-honeyed than clean Cambodian oud.
Indian Patchouli: Earthy, dark and damp with rich winey-camphorous depth; the dense, almost chocolatey patchouli of Indian-grown leaf.
Indian Rose: Dewy, layered petals balancing honeyed sweetness, green stems and a peppery, lemony bite; the velvety floral heart of countless perfumes.
Indonesian Oud: Smoky leathery agarwood, sweeter and more balsamic and less barnyard than Indian; warm resinous woods and dried fruit.
Indonesian Patchouli Leaf: Greener, fresher patchouli with a bright camphor lift over the usual earthiness; clean damp soil and a leafy herbal snap.
Indonesian sandalwood: Drier and sharper than Mysore, with a smoky, slightly sour-resinous edge; less creamy but still warmly woody.
Ink: Cool, metallic and slightly bitter, wet fountain-pen ink on paper with a sharp inorganic tang and a whisper of iron.
Iodine: Sharp briny medicinal sting of antiseptic and seawater, metallic and mineral; the salt-tang of kelp and wet skin.
Iris: Cold suede and damp carrot root dusted with violets, powdery and earthy; the expensive, melancholic heart of orris.
Italian Lemon: Sharp, zingy and clean, bright rind sourness with a juicy, sunlit sparkle; an effervescent top note that fades fast but lifts everything.
Italian Mandarin: Sweet sunny citrus, softer and rounder than orange, with honeyed zest and a faint bitter-green rind; a juicy, cheerful top note.
Japanese Yuzu: Tart citrus poised between lemon, grapefruit and mandarin, with fragrant floral zest and a crisp, slightly resinous rind; clean and sparkling.
Jasmine: Heady, lush white-floral sweetness with a fruity, narcotic indolic undertone bordering on dirty; a sensual heart-note bloom that fills a room.
Jasmine Sambac: Heady white-floral sweetness with a green, faintly animalic edge and a hint of tea; brighter and less indolic than grandiflorum, the heart of tropical bouquets.
Jasmine Tea: Green-tea leaf scented with soft jasmine; gently floral, faintly bitter and steamy, like a freshly poured cup.
Juniper Berries: Cool, piney and resinous with a dry gin bite; a crisp, bittersweet green sharpness lending woody freshness up top.
Kadam: Golden-floral honey with a fruity, slightly powdery warmth; the heady tropical bloom of the Indian kadam tree.
Kannan Koh Oud: Dark resinous agarwood: animalic, smoky and barnyard-warm, with a medicinal woody depth that smoulders for hours as a base.
King Super Oud: Dark resinous agarwood: animalic, smoky and barnyard-warm, with a medicinal woody depth that smoulders for hours as a base.
Koh Kong Cambodian Oud: Dark resinous agarwood: animalic, smoky and barnyard-warm, with a medicinal woody depth that smoulders for hours as a base.
Kyara Incense: The rarest agarwood smoke: bittersweet, spicy and balsamic with a cool minty-resinous depth; refined, meditative temple incense.
Kyara Oud: Dark resinous agarwood: animalic, smoky and barnyard-warm, with a medicinal woody depth that smoulders for hours as a base.
Labdanum: Sticky, dark resin smelling of sweet leather, honey, tobacco and warm balsam; the amber-tinted, animalic backbone of oriental bases.
Laotian Oud: Animalic leathery agarwood with dense smoky-fermented funk and dark dried-fruit sweetness; one of the more rugged, barnyard ouds.
Lavender: Crisp, herbal-floral freshness, aromatic and cool with a clean, slightly camphorous, soapy edge; the backbone of fougère and barbershop scents.
Leather: Smoky, dry and animalic, tanned hide laced with birch tar, smoke and a faint sweetness; the rugged, suede-to-saddle base of leather scents.
Lemon: Sharp, zingy and clean, bright rind sourness with a juicy, sunlit sparkle; an effervescent top note that fades fast but lifts everything.
Licorice: Sweet-anise warmth over a dark, slightly bitter, chewy depth; black and resinous, faintly medicinal, both candied and herbal.
Lily: Pollen-dusted, faintly green white petals with a spicy-sweet richness and a cool metallic edge; clean yet narcotic.
Lily-of-the-Valley: Dewy, green-white florality, fresh and watery with a soft soapy cleanness; the airy muguet heart of springtime fragrances.
Lime: Sharp, zesty and faintly bitter, that fizzy green-rind tang with a cool, slightly soapy sparkle in classic colognes.
Linden Blossom: Delicate honeyed-green floral with a soft, slightly minty-tea freshness; airy and nostalgic, like a flowering lime tree in early summer.
Litchi: Juicy, translucent and rosy-sweet, a watery tropical fruit with a faint floral musk; a delicate, modern fruity top note.
Litsea Cubeba: Bright lemony freshness with a sweet, grassy-herbal lift, softer and rounder than lemongrass; a clean, sparkling citrus-green top.
Lotus: Pale, aquatic and faintly green, dewy petals over still pond water; a clean, translucent floral with a cool watery hush.
Lychee: Juicy and rose-tinged, with a watery floral sweetness and a faint musky skin beneath the fruit; a translucent top note in pink, feminine accords.
Lysylang: A rounded, creamy facet of ylang-ylang that softens its banana-floral sweetness into a smoother, jasmine-tinged, slightly powdery glow.
Madagascar Vanilla: Rich, dark and boozy vanilla, deeply creamy with rum-raisin and tobacco facets; a rounded, edible warmth in the base.
Magnolia: Dewy lemon-cream petals, fresh and slightly fruity with a green, sappy lift; lighter and more citric than other heady whites.
Mahonia: Green-yellow florals over a tart berry edge, suggesting Oregon-grape blossom: honeyed and slightly herbal with a crisp, leafy bitterness.
Mahonial: A muguet aroma-chemical: clean, dewy lily-of-the-valley with green watery transparency and a soft aldehydic lift, used to build fresh white florals.
Malayan Oud: Dark resinous agarwood: animalic, smoky and barnyard-warm, with a medicinal woody depth that smoulders for hours as a base.
Malt: Toasted, biscuity warmth with a grainy beer-and-bread sweetness, like roasted barley still steaming; rounds out gourmand and boozy accords.
Maltol: Warm, sugary and slightly burnt, smelling of candy floss and caramelised toffee; a sweetening aroma-chemical that pads out gourmand bases.
Mandarin Orange: Soft, sweet and a touch tangy, gentler than orange with a sunny peel-oil glow; a smiling, slightly candied citrus top note.
Mango: Thick, golden and tropical, with creamy peach-pineapple flesh and a green resinous skin underneath; a sunny, juicy fruit top note.
Martini: Cold, dry and herbal-boozy, the juniper bite of gin laced with bitter vermouth and a twist of citrus oil over glass.
Massoia bark: Rich coconut-lactonic creaminess with a milky, slightly waxy warmth and a soft woody underpinning; lends a buttery, skin-like sweetness to bases.
Mastic or Lentisque: Resinous and piney-green, with a turpentine brightness softened by sweet incense; the chewy Mediterranean tree-gum used in fresh aromatic accords.
May Rose: Soft, honeyed and jammy, the Grasse rose de mai with a fresh green-spicy lift; rounder and more delicate than damascena.
Melon: Watery and faintly green, with a honeydew sweetness that verges on rind; a dewy, transparent fruit note in summery compositions.
Meringue: Airy whipped sugar and toasted egg-white, lightly vanillic and caramelised at the edges; a soft, sweet gourmand top with a baked crispness.
Metallic notes: A bloodless tang of cold steel and wet coins, sharp and slightly ozonic; lends a polished, synthetic gleam to modern accords.
Milk: Soft, lactonic and faintly sweet, with a warm skin-like creaminess and a powdery comfort; rounds the edges of gourmand and musky bases.
Mimosa: Powdery and soft, sweet yellow pompoms with a cucumber-green coolness and a faint almond dustiness; gentle and silky.
Mineral notes: Wet stone and flint, faintly salty and dusty like rain on slate; an airy, inorganic freshness that adds grey transparency.
Mint: Icy, sharp and breath-cool, a tingling green chill of crushed leaves that snaps a composition awake.
Money: The inky, metallic tang of fresh banknotes and handled coins, papery and faintly soiled with a worn cotton dryness.
Mongolian musk: Warm, skin-close and animalic, a soft deer-musk sweetness with a faint leathery, fecal undertone smoothed to a clean radiant glow.
Moroccan Rose: Deep, jammy and honeyed, the warm rose of Rosa centifolia with a velvety, slightly fruity richness distinct from sharper Bulgarian damascena.
Moss: Damp forest floor and wet stone: earthy, inky and faintly bitter, the green-black backbone of every chypre.
Mushroom: Cool, damp and earthy, the bruised fungal smell of a forest floor after rain, savoury and faintly metallic with a sweet undertone.
Musk: Soft, warm and skin-clinging, clean and slightly powdery with an animalic hum; the radiant, intimate veil that lingers in the base.
Myanmar Oud: Dark resinous agarwood: animalic, smoky and barnyard-warm, with a medicinal woody depth that smoulders for hours as a base.
Myrrh: Bittersweet medicinal resin, dusky and balsamic with a cool earthy mushroom edge; smoky and ancient, anchoring incense and amber bases.
Mysore Sandalwood: Prized Indian sandalwood: buttery, creamy and lactic, gently sweet without the sour edge of cheaper sources, deep and lingering.
Mystikal: A modern musk-amber aroma-chemical: warm, slightly powdery and clean with a soft skin-like radiance, smoothing and extending floral-woody hearts.
Nagarmotha: Smoky, earthy cypriol root, leathery and bittersweet with a tarry oud-like resin and a dry incense edge; a brooding woody base.
Narcissus: Heady and green-floral, hay and bitter sap laced with an animalic, faintly horsey indole; narcotic and a touch dirty.
Nard Himalayan (Jatamansi): Mossy, animalic and earthy spikenard, musky with a bitter herbal-medicinal warmth and a damp rooty undertone; an ancient, meditative balsam.
Natural Musk: Warm animalic skin-scent: faintly sweaty, sweet and intimate, a soft radiant body-heat that hums beneath everything.
Neroli: Bittersweet orange blossom steam-distilled from petals: green, honeyed and clean, with a soapy brightness that lifts the top of a fragrance.
New Guinean Oud: Dark resinous agarwood: animalic, smoky and barnyard-warm, with a medicinal woody depth that smoulders for hours as a base.
Nigerian Ginger: Hot, dry and peppery, sharper and more pungent than milder gingers, with a fizzy lemony bite and a woody, resinous heat.
Nutmeg: Dusty, warm and slightly resinous, a rounded baking spice with a faintly woody, almost dizzying sweetness.
Nympheal™: An aquatic-floral aroma-chemical evoking white water-lily: green, watery and slightly muguet-clean with a transparent, airy radiance.
Oak: Dry, tannic woodiness with a faint vanilla and toasted-barrel sweetness, hinting at cask and forest bark; a sturdy, grounding wood note.
oak moss: Damp forest-floor green, inky and slightly leathery with a bitter, earthy dampness; the dark, mossy backbone of classic chypres.
Oakmoss: Damp forest floor, inky and bitter-green over a leathery, slightly salty undertone; the mossy backbone that gives chypres their shadowy depth.
Old Books: Warm vanillic dust of yellowed paper and crumbling glue, faintly woody and almond-sweet with the quiet mustiness of old libraries.
Olibanum: Frankincense by its older name: bright terpenic citrus lifting off dusty resin, drier and more lifted in the raw gum than in burning smoke.
Olibanum Sacra Resin Green: Bright frankincense with a fresh terpenic lift, cool pine-citrus over smoky resin; the green, peppery facet of holy incense before it warms.
Opoponax: Sweet, smoky balsam of warm honey, lavender-hay and soft incense; resinous and slightly animalic, a rounded amber depth often called sweet myrrh.
Orange: Round, sweet-tart juiciness with a bitter rind edge and a burst of sun-warmed peel oil; a cheerful citrus opener.
Orange Blossom: Honeyed white floral over a green, slightly bitter citrus-peel freshness and a clean indolic warmth; sunlit, bridging neroli and heady florals.
Oregano: Dry, peppery herb with a warm camphor edge and a savoury Mediterranean bite, lending green spice to fougères and aromatic blends.
Orris: Cool, powdery violet-tinged earth with a buttery, suede-like, faintly carroty rootiness; expensive, melancholic, dry.
Orris Root: Powdery, cool and suede-soft: the rooty, faintly carrot-and-violet smell of aged iris, silvery and costly in the heart.
Osmanthus: Apricot skin and warm suede wrapped in tea-like florals, faintly leathery and ripe-fruit sweet without ever turning sugary.
Oud: Dark resinous agarwood: animalic, smoky and barnyard-warm, with a medicinal woody depth that smoulders for hours as a base.
Ozonic notes: The clean, charged smell of air after a storm; pale, weightless and metallic-fresh, evoking sea spray and open sky in modern aquatics.
Palisander Rosewood: Warm, rosy and faintly spicy wood, sweet sawn timber with a soft floral lift and a smooth, mellow grain.
Palo Santo: Sweet, resinous holy wood: smouldering incense smoke laced with citrus pith, mint and a soft creaminess hovering between sacred and balsamic.
Pandanus (Kewda): Warm, nutty green leaf with a rice-like, vanilla-jasmine softness; a Southeast Asian sweetness recalling toasted basmati and pale custard.
Papua oud: Bright, fruity-leathery agarwood from New Guinea, less barnyard than Hindi oud; tangy, resinous and faintly honeyed over warm wood.
Papyrus: Dry, smoky vetiver-and-paper, woody and slightly ashen with an inky, rooty bitterness; a parched, mineral base.
Passionfruit: Tart, juicy tropical pulp with a sulphurous green tang and floral sweetness, splashing exotic ripeness across fruity tops.
Patchouli: Dark, earthy and damp, like wet soil and cellar wood with a sweet, almost chocolatey depth; a tenacious, head-shop base.
Peach: Velvety, blushing and nectar-sweet, fuzzy skin over ripe flesh with a creamy lactonic warmth; a plush fruity-floral accent.
Pear: Cool, juicy and green-skinned, that dewy first-bite crunch of ripe flesh, watery-sweet and refreshing up top.
Peony: Crisp, dewy pink petals with a watery rose-apple freshness and a peppery green snap; an airy, modern floral heart.
Pepper: Sharp, dry crackle of freshly ground peppercorns; hot, woody and biting, a spicy lift that sparks at the opening of countless blends.
Peppertree: Rosy-pink Schinus berries: bright, dry and sparkling with a soft peppery warmth and faint fruity glow, lighter than black pepper.
Persimmon: Honeyed orange flesh, mellow and faintly tannic; a soft, glowing autumn fruit between apricot and ripe tomato sweetness.
Peru Balsam: Warm, sticky vanilla-cinnamon resin with a deep, slightly smoky benzoin sweetness; a rich, balsamic base note.
Petalia: A bright fruity-floral aroma-chemical, fresh and slightly green-rosy, lending a transparent, dewy lift and radiant volume to bouquets.
Petitgrain: Bitter green twig and leaf of the orange tree; crisp, woody-floral and slightly soapy, drier than neroli, a classic cologne backbone.
Pimento: Hot, peppery allspice warmth, clove-like and faintly sweet with a dry, woody bite; a spicy lift in oriental hearts.
Pine Absolute: Thick, dark pine resin: sticky balsamic sweetness over smoky, tarry wood, denser and more honeyed than the crisp green needle.
Pine Tree: The whole conifer at once: cool sap, green needles and bark, a snow-dusted forest with a fresh, slightly camphorous chill.
Pineapple: Bright tropical tang, juicy and tart-sweet with a faintly boozy, rum-like edge and a sun-warmed fruity sharpness.
Pink Flamingo Heliconia: An imagined tropical bloom rendered as dewy pink petals and green watery sap, lush and humid with a soft fruity-floral glow.
Pink Lotus: Cool, watery petals carrying a powdery, slightly green sweetness; serene and aquatic-floral, like a pond bloom opening at dawn.
Pink Pepper: Bright, rosy-spicy sparkle, peppery yet fruity and slightly sweet without real heat; a fizzy, modern top note that lifts florals.
Pinyon Pine Resin: Smoky, amber-gold pitch of high-desert pine; sweet, sticky and incense-like with a sun-warmed woody bite, more balsamic than fresh.
Pitahaya: Dragon fruit's pale, watery flesh: mild, juicy and faintly melon-sweet with tiny crunchy seeds, a soft, transparent tropical freshness.
Plastic Bag: The flat, synthetic tang of polyethylene; airless, faintly sweet and chemical-clean, a cool urban plastic with no warmth or texture.
Plum: Dark, jammy stone fruit ripe to the edge of fermentation; wine-sweet and faintly boozy with soft velvety skin, a rich fruity heart.
Poplar: Sticky green resin from poplar buds: balsamic, slightly honeyed and propolis-like, with a warm sweet woodiness beneath the sap.
Powdery Notes: Soft, dry and cosmetic, the hush of face powder and iris with a faint vanillic-musky warmth; a velvety, comforting veil.
Praline: Toasted caramelised sugar and roasted nuts, buttery and warm with a faint burnt-sugar edge; a gourmand sweetness.
Precious Woods: A blended impression of fine timbers, sandalwood, cedar and oud; creamy, dry and resinous warmth layered into a smooth, polished base.
Priest’s Clothes: The hushed scent-image of incense-soaked cloth and old linen: cool frankincense smoke, candle wax and dusty fabric in a stone chapel.
Pu-erh tea: Dark, fermented leaf brewed strong: earthy and damp with wet bark, leather and forest floor, deeper and mustier than black tea.
Purple Sultani Oud: Dark resinous agarwood: animalic, smoky and barnyard-warm, with a medicinal woody depth that smoulders for hours as a base.
Rain Notes: Petrichor on hot stone and dust: cool, mineral and slightly green, the grey-fresh smell of falling water meeting warm pavement.
Raspberry: Jammy berry tartness with a fuzzy, faintly violet-tinged sweetness; juicy and pink, a playful fruity sparkle in modern tops.
Raw Agarwood: Dense, smoky resinous wood, warm and animalic with leathery, sweet-balsamic and barnyard facets; the dark, precious heart of Middle Eastern perfumery.
Rayong Oud: Dark resinous agarwood: animalic, smoky and barnyard-warm, with a medicinal woody depth that smoulders for hours as a base.
Red Berries: Bright, tart-sweet burst of redcurrant and raspberry, juicy and slightly jammy with a mouth-watering snap atop fruity florals.
Red Currant: Tart, jammy berry with a sharp green-leaf snap and bright juicy crackle, fruitier and more acidic than blackcurrant; a fresh, biting top note.
Red Pine: Resinous, sappy conifer with warm bark sweetness and dry needle sharpness, less camphorous than fir; a woody, forest-floor aromatic.
Red rose otto: Deep, honeyed rose distilled to a warm spicy-clove richness, with a faint waxy, almost leathery petal weight; the dense, true heart of rose.
Red spruce: Crisp, frosty conifer with a bright resinous bite and a clean cold-air green edge; brisk, sappy, evergreen freshness.
Resin: Sticky and amber-sweet with a faint smoky, pine-sap tackiness; a glowing balsamic base that anchors and rounds a composition.
Resins: Warm, sticky amber and incense smoke, sweet and balsamic with a dry, church-like depth; the dense glow of an oriental base.
Rose: Dewy, layered petals balancing honeyed sweetness, green stems and a peppery, lemony bite; the velvety floral heart of countless perfumes.
Rose de Mai: Soft, honeyed May rose with fresh green dewiness and a peppery lift, jammier and more delicate than otto; a luminous floral heart.
Rose Water: Cool, watery rose, pale and faintly dusty, with a clean petal softness; gentle, transparent and quietly Levantine in feel.
Rosemary: Sharp, herbal and camphorous, with a cool pine-eucalyptus bite over warm woody herbs; a brisk aromatic green for fougeres and colognes.
Rubber: Dark, sulphurous and dry, like a new tyre or balloon, with a rasping, slightly smoky vinyl edge; a leathery, industrial accent.
Rum: Boozy caramelised sweetness with a spirituous kick of vanilla, molasses and dried fruit; warming and faintly fermented in gourmand bases.
Saffron: Warm, leathery and slightly medicinal with a dry, sweet-bitter, almost rubbery glow; a precious spice that lends amber and oud blends depth.
Sage: Cool, dry and herbal-green, with a bitter camphorous bite and dusty silver leaves; bracing and almost medicinal.
Sand Vetiver: Cool, rooty and earthy with smoky, grassy and faintly citrus facets; a dry, austere base smelling of damp soil and freshly cut roots.
Sandalowood: Creamy, milky-soft wood with a warm rosy-sweet smoothness and a faint sour-milk facet; a velvety, long-lasting woody base.
Sandalwood: Creamy, milky woods with a smooth nutty warmth and faint sourness; a velvety, lasting base that softens and rounds everything around it.
Santalol: The pure heart of sandalwood: smooth, creamy and milky-woody with a soft warmth and almost buttery roundness; a refined, lingering wood.
Santolina: Silvery, bitter herb with a camphorous chamomile-and-pine sharpness and a dry, dusty Mediterranean greenness; cool and astringent.
Sea Salt: Cool, mineral and briny, the damp lick of spray on skin, with a faint metallic, sun-warmed flatness; a clean coastal accent.
Seaweed: Briny, green and iodine-tinged, like wet kelp at low tide, with a salty marine funk and a faint oily darkness; a damp oceanic note.
Sequoia: Tall, dry red-cedar wood with warm resinous bark sweetness and a faint pencil-shaving sharpness; a grounding, ancient-forest base.
Siam Benzoin: Warm, vanillic and balsamic with a smooth caramel-amber sweetness and a faint cinnamon-resin glow; a soft, sticky, comforting base.
Siberian Musk: Animalic and skin-deep, with a faintly sweet leathery muskiness and a soft fur-like radiance; a clingy, sensual base.
Sichuan Pepper: Bright, tingling and rosy-citric, with a numbing peppery buzz and a fizzy floral sparkle; a lively, electric spice up top.
Sicilian Bergamot: Sparkling, green-edged citrus with a bittersweet floral lift and a fine zesty oil; the cool, elegant top note of classic colognes.
Sicilian Lemon: Juicy and zesty with a sun-warmed rind sweetness over a clean sour snap; a vivid, sparkling Mediterranean citrus top.
Sicilian Orange: Sweet, sun-ripe peel with a juicy pulp glow and a fresh zesty oiliness; a warm, cheerful citrus that rounds the top notes.
Skin: Warm, soft and faintly salty-musky, the close, lived-in scent of clean bare skin; an intimate, second-skin radiance.
Smoke: Charred and dry, the grey curl of woodsmoke and smouldering ember, tarry and faintly sweet; an atmospheric, brooding depth.
Snow: Cold, clean and almost odourless, a metallic mineral hush of frozen air and fresh-fallen ice; airy, crisp and faintly aldehydic.
Spices: A prickling warm heat, clove, cinnamon, pepper and nutmeg blurred together, dry and tingling at the back of the nose.
Spicy Notes: Warm, tingling and aromatic, a blended glow of pepper, clove and cinnamon; dry heat that adds bite and depth to the heart.
Sri Lankan Oud: Dark resinous agarwood: animalic, smoky and barnyard-warm, with a medicinal woody depth that smoulders for hours as a base.
Sri Lankan Sandalwood: Creamy, milky woods with a smooth nutty warmth and faint sourness; a velvety, lasting base that softens and rounds everything around it.
Storax: Dark, smoky-sweet balsam with a cinnamon-leather warmth and a faint vanilla-tar stickiness; a resinous, animalic base.
Strawberry: Jammy red sweetness, candied and slightly green-leafy, with a milky, sun-warmed ripeness; a playful gourmand fruit.
Styrax: Warm balsamic resin, leathery and cinnamon-sweet with a faint smoky-vanilla edge; a sticky, dark anchor in the base.
Suede: Soft, powdery leather, brushed-smooth and warm; less smoky than rawhide, with a faint sweet animal hush against bare skin.
Sugar maple: Warm, woody-sweet syrup boiled down to amber caramel, with a faint smoky-toasted edge of pancakes and bark; a cosy gourmand depth.
Suntan Lotion: Creamy coconut and salted monoï melting over warm skin, threaded with sweet benzyl salicylate; the nostalgic beach-day haze of SPF.
Sweet clover: Soft hay drying in the sun, dusted with almond and new-mown grass; coumarin-rich and powdery, like warm fields at dusk.
Sweet Orange: Bright and unmistakably sugary citrus, all ripe juice and candied peel with little bitterness; a joyful, sunny top note.
Taif Rose: Saudi mountain rose with a peppery, spiced-honey intensity and a green citrus lift; denser and more resinous than ordinary damask rose.
Tangerine: Juicy, sweet citrus with sun-warmed peel; rounder and less sharp than orange, all bright sticky rind and zest.
Tarragon: Cool, aniseed-green herb with a liquorice snap and bitter freshness; an aromatic, savoury top note that sharpens fougères.
Terengganu Oud: Dark resinous agarwood: animalic, smoky and barnyard-warm, with a medicinal woody depth that smoulders for hours as a base.
Thai Kinam Oud: Dark resinous agarwood: animalic, smoky and barnyard-warm, with a medicinal woody depth that smoulders for hours as a base.
Thai oud: Sweeter, fruitier agarwood with a fermented honeyed top and clean barnyard depth; less medicinal than Hindi oud, more resinous glow.
Thailand Oud: Sweeter, fruitier agarwood with leathery warmth and a soft barnyard funk, less smoky and more honeyed than Hindi ouds.
Thyme: Dry, sharp herbal pungency, faintly medicinal and warm-peppery, like crushed Mediterranean scrub baking in the sun; bracing in fougeres.
Tiare Flower: Creamy Tahitian gardenia, sun-warmed and slightly waxy, with a tropical coconut-suntan glow; lush, fleshy white-floral sweetness.
Tibetan Musk: Soft, warm and skin-clinging, clean and slightly powdery with an animalic hum; the radiant, intimate veil that lingers in the base.
Tigerwood 1991 Oud: Dark resinous agarwood: animalic, smoky and barnyard-warm, with a medicinal woody depth that smoulders for hours as a base.
Tobacco: Dried-leaf warmth, sweet and hay-like with honeyed, leathery facets and a whisper of smoke; cosy and golden in orientals.
Tobacco Leaf: Dry cured leaf, hay-like and faintly sweet, with whispers of plum, honey and pipe smoke; a warm, masculine base.
Tolu Balsam: Warm sticky resin: cinnamon-and-vanilla sweetness over a soft amber depth, faintly floral and balsamic in the base.
Tonka: Almond, hay and vanilla with a faintly boozy, tobacco-tinged hum; a soft, cosy base from coumarin-rich beans.
Tonka Bean: Soft, sweet almond-and-hay warmth laced with vanilla, cinnamon and a hint of tobacco; a cosy, coumarin-rich gourmand base.
Tonkin Musk: Soft, warm and skin-clinging, clean and slightly powdery with an animalic hum; the radiant, intimate veil that lingers in the base.
Tree Bark: Dry, splintered woodiness with a green, resinous and faintly bitter edge, like fresh-stripped bark and sap-damp timber.
Tropical Fruits: A juicy splash of mango, pineapple and passionfruit, ripe and nectar-sweet with a tangy sun-baked tartness; a vivid fruity top.
Tuberose: Opulent, creamy white floral, almost narcotic, with green, mentholated and faintly meaty facets; rubbery and intoxicating, the diva of bouquets.
Tunisian Neroli: Bitter-orange blossom with a green, honeyed bite and a metallic-fresh sparkle; cleaner and more verdant than its indolic cousins.
Turkish Rose: Deep, honeyed damask rose, jammy and spiced with a dusky, clove-like richness; the warm, velvety face of distilled rose.
Tuscan Iris: Cool, powdery orris root with a buttery, root-vegetable suede texture and violet-grey shimmer; elegant, makeup-box refinement.
Vanilla: Warm, creamy and sweet with a soft balsamic edge, like custard and cured pods; the cosy heart of countless gourmand bases.
Vanilla Absolute: Dense, dark vanilla, rum-soaked pod, smoke and balsam, far richer and boozier than the powdery synthetic, with leathery resin depth.
Vanilla Bean: Real pod warmth: dark, boozy and slightly smoky, with a resinous depth beyond plain sweetness; a creamy, comforting base.
Vanille: Creamy, soft sweetness of cured pods, warm, milky and faintly smoky; the comforting golden base of countless gourmands.
Vermont honey: Thick wildflower honey, golden and waxy with a faintly animalic, beeswax muskiness and a tickle of pollen; rich and sticky-sweet.
Vermont sugar maple: Deep amber maple sap reduced to smoky-sweet syrup over toasted wood; the cosy bark-and-caramel warmth of a New England sugarhouse.
Vervain: Crisp lemon-verbena, green and herbal with a sharp citrus-leaf zing and a soothing tisane softness; a clean, sparkling freshener.
Vetiver: Cool, rooty and earthy with smoky, grassy and faintly citrus facets; a dry, austere base smelling of damp soil and freshly cut roots.
Vetyver: Earthy, smoky roots with a damp soil chill, grapefruit-bitter green and a faint roasted-hazelnut warmth; a dry, woody base.
Vietnamese oud: Refined agarwood balancing leather, dried fruit and a gentle smokiness; less medicinal than Hindi oud, with a sweet resinous calm.
Vintage Orris: Cool, powdery violet-tinged earth with a buttery, suede-like, faintly carroty rootiness; expensive, melancholic, dry.
Violet: Powdery and cool, hovering between fresh petals and the candied dust of violet sweets, with a faint metallic chill running through the green.
Violet Leaf: Cool, crushed-green sap with a cucumber-watery freshness and a faint metallic, leafy bitterness; crisp rather than floral.
Virginia Cedar: Dry pencil-shavings cedar, sharp and slightly sour-resinous with a dusty aromatic bite; a clean, pale woody backbone.
Wallflower: Honeyed, spicy-sweet blossom with clove and orris facets and a soft violet warmth; an old-fashioned, slightly powdery floral.
Whiskey: Caramelised malt, oak char and a peaty smoke, boozy and warm; a heady alcoholic glow with sticky amber sweetness.
White Ambergris: Salty, mineral skin-warmth with a clean marine glow and faint sweet driftwood; airier and brighter than dark, animalic grey ambergris.
White Carnation: Spicy, peppery petals with a warm clove bite over soft floral sweetness, the old-fashioned heart of vintage florals and barbershop fougères.
White Chocolate: Sweet cocoa butter and warm milk, creamy and vanillic without bitterness; a soft, lactonic gourmand with a powdery edge.
White Flowers: A heady bouquet of jasmine, gardenia and tuberose, creamy and narcotic with a green indolic hum; opulent, fleshy petals.
White Musk: Clean, soft and laundered: a fluffy, slightly sweet cotton-fresh warmth smelling of fresh linen and bare skin.
White Oud: Clean, pale agarwood stripped of barnyard funk, all smooth woody-resinous warmth with a soft incense smoke; modern and skin-close.
White Peach: Downy, juicy flesh, delicately sweet and floral-skinned with a dewy, milky ripeness; gentler than golden peach.
White Pepper: Sharp, dry crackle of freshly ground peppercorns; hot, woody and biting, a spicy lift that sparks at the opening of countless blends.
White Rose: Dewy, layered petals balancing honeyed sweetness, green stems and a peppery, lemony bite; the velvety floral heart of countless perfumes.
White Tobacco: Pale, sweet cured leaf softened with creamy vanilla and hay, the smoke barely there; a gentle, powdery-warm tobacco.
Wild Fig: Green, milky and fruity at once, sappy leaf and bark wrapped around creamy, jammy pulp; cool shade on a hot day.
Wild Sri Lankan Oud: Dark resinous agarwood: animalic, smoky and barnyard-warm, with a medicinal woody depth that smoulders for hours as a base.
Woods: A blend of dry, warm timbers, cedar, sandalwood and amber-woods, smooth and resinous; the grounding woody spine of a fragrance.
Woodsy Notes: Sawn timber and bark, cedar, sandalwood and vetiver blurred together, warm, grounding and faintly resinous, like a sun-warmed forest floor.
Woody Notes: A dry, warm blend of sawn timber and bark, grounding and slightly resinous, the sturdy backbone holding lighter accords up.
Wormwood: Bitter, dry, herbaceous green with a liquorice-anise edge and a cold, medicinal sharpness; the bite of absinthe.
Yellow Mandarin: Sweet, sun-warmed citrus with a soft floral nuance, rounder and less sharp than orange, its rind faintly honeyed; a bright, juicy top note.
Ylang-Ylang: Creamy, banana-tinged tropical floral, heady and sweet with custard, jasmine and a faint medicinal rubber edge; an exotic, opulent heart note.
Yunnan Oud: Dark resinous agarwood: animalic, smoky and barnyard-warm, with a medicinal woody depth that smoulders for hours as a base.