PERFUME
"Perfume is like a parenthesis, a moment of freedom, peace, love and
sensuality in between the disturbances of modern living."
- Sonia Rykiel
Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds,
fixatives and solvents, used to impart an agreeable scent.
Perfume is described in a musical metaphor as having three sets of
notes. The notes unfold over time, with the immediate impression of the
top note leading to the deeper middle notes, and the base notes
gradually appearing as the final stage.
The family classification is a starting point to describe a perfume, but
does not fully characterize it. The traditional categories emerged
around 1900: single floral, floral bouquet, amber or “oriental”, woody,
leather, chypre, and fougère. Since 1945, new categories have emerged to
describe modern scents: bright floral, green, aquatic or oceanic,
citrus, fruity, and gourmand.
A newer classification method is widely used in retail and the fragrance
industry today. The new scheme simplifies classification and naming, as
well as showing the relationships among the classes.
Floral: Floral fragrance subfamilies are floral, soft
floral, and floral oriental. Popular floral perfume notes include
rose, jasmine, neroli, lily, violet, and narcissus.
Oriental (Warm & Spicy): Oriental fragrance subfamilies
are soft oriental, oriental, and woody oriental. Popular oriental
perfume notes include
vanilla, cinnamon, incense, benzoin, amber, myrrh, caramel, chocolate,
rum, and leather.
Woody: Woody fragrance subfamilies are woods, mossy
woods, dry woods, and aromatic. Popular woody perfume notes include
cedarwood, sandalwood, oakmoss, patchouli, vetiver, pine, cypress, and
oak.
Fresh: Fresh fragrance subfamilies are citrus, fruity,
green, and water. Popular fresh perfume notes include
lemon, bergamot, lime, pineapple, orange, ambroxan, sage, thyme, ocean
notes, and lavender.