Your guide to understanding fragrances
Photos Rachelle Simoneau
Words Matthieu Morge-Zucconi
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and impressing people with your scent-related knowledge
Taking an interest in perfumes often means setting foot in an entirely new world. With this new world come new terms. If you've always wanted to know what "notes", an "accord", or "fougère" mean, we have the perfect guide for you.
Accord: Blend of at least two raw materials to create a new, completely different scent. The quality of this blend depends on the balance of each ingredient, as well as their respective olfactory strength.
Aromatic: Pleasant scent derived from several plants, including sage, lavender, thyme, rosemary, and basil. It can also refer to the olfactory family composed of aromatic-scented fragrances. These notes are the base of most men's fragrances.
Base: Elementary olfactory element on which a perfumer builds his composition. Pretty straightforward, this one.
Base notes: Notes that linger and last the longest. In our perfume, & Horace, these notes are sandalwood, woody, and musk, with animal notes. They are said to represent the last five to six hours of a perfume's evaporation. In other words, they are the slowest to evaporate and the most persistent - they can last up to several days.
Chypre: Olfactory family that takes its name from a perfume designed by René Coty in 1917. Chypre fragrances are powerful and often contain oak moss, patchouli, bergamot, and rose accords.
Citrus: Olfactory family, which includes fragrances made from citrus zest, such as eau de Cologne perfumes, for example.
Compound/Composition: Result of the assembly of the different raw materials used in a fragrance.
Eau de Cologne: Eau de Cologne was invented in the 17th century by an Italian established in Germany (in Cologne, as you'd probably guessed), and was a massive success in the 18th century, during which it was used for its healing, toning and invigorating benefits. Today, the term refers to a specific olfactory accord and a low concentration of perfume in alcohol.
Eau de parfum: Eau de parfum is composed of 7 to 14% essential oils, diluted in 90° alcohol. It contains 40% top notes, 30% heart notes, and 30% base notes. Interesting tidbit: Eau de parfum was initially created for tax reasons. Indeed, at the end of the 1970s, when VAT was increased to 33% on luxury items, Cacharel had the idea of selling an "eau de parfum" version of their best-selling Anaïs Anaïs fragrance. While an eau de parfum is more concentrated than an eau de toilette, it is not considered a luxury product, and therefore benefits from lower VAT rates. In this case, taxes turned out to be a good thing: for example, & Horace is an eau de parfum.
Eau de toilette: Originally, an eau de toilette contained a lower perfume concentration, mixed with lower alcohol content (50° to 60°). Nowadays, it refers to a perfume solution containing less than 10% concentrate: 50% top notes, 30% heart notes, and 20% base notes.
Essence: Another word for an essential oil.
Fougère: Olfactory family in which fragrances revolve around citrus, lavender, woody, and coumarin notes. It takes its name from Guy de Maupassant's favourite perfume, Fougère Royale.
Fragrance: Unlike the word odour, which has negative connotations, fragrance refers to the pleasant smell of a scented product.
Juice: Refers to the alcoholic solution of a perfume. If a perfumer offers you alcoholic juice, use it to smell good, not to get drunk.
Leather: Fragrance family with powerful and masculine scents, with notes of honey and tobacco in particular.
Middle or 'heart' notes: Notes found at the heart of the perfume: they appear after the top notes have evaporated and last for a few hours. In our eau de parfum & Horace, you'll smell floral, woody, and light iris root, as well as cedar wood, which gives the perfume its distinctive "pencil shavings" touch. These notes are the ones that leave a scent trail as hours go by.
Nose: Nickname given to fragrance creators. We'll let you guess why.
Olfactory family: Categories in which perfumes are classified. There are generally seven different families: citrus, woody, leather, floral, fougère, chypre, and oriental (also called amber).
Oriental: Fragrance family with soft, powdery, full-bodied, and amber notes. Guerlain's Shalimar is an excellent example of an oriental scent if that helps.
Perfumer's organ: Piece of furniture on which perfumers store the various fragrant raw materials they use. Unlike a Hammond organ, it does not play music but still helps to produce exquisite accords.
Tonality: A fragrance's dominant note or scent.
Top notes: First olfactory impression left by a perfume. The notes you smell as soon as you apply your fragrance, and which last for a limited time: from a few minutes to two hours. & Horace's top notes are fresh (bergamot) and spicy (white pepper).
Trail: Olfactory impression left in the air when a person wearing perfume walks by. In other words, the scent trail ensuring any (lucky) person who crosses your path knows you smell very good.
Woody: Fragrance family dominated sandalwood, cedar, patchouli, or vetiver notes. For example, our eau de parfumis woody.
