Fragrances are typically categorized into a set of fragrance families. These are simply ways to group the scents according to their various similar attributes.
There are many industry standards for how these fragrance categories are organized. After studying these category systems, we have taken the best of each and combined them into the following fragrance family guide.
Floral
Evoking true floral scents, floral oils represent a slightly feminine and highly traditional component of the perfumer’s table. Floral essences include Rose, Jasmine, Lavender and Honeysuckle, adding charm to nearly any scent.
Fruity
These scents bring the cool freshness of fruit to the perfumery. This category includes fruits of numerous types and origins, and can be further subdivided into fruity and citrus. Examples of fruity perfume scents include:
Each provides a touch of subtle sweetness to the perfumer’s formulations.
Foody
We call the scents that bring to mind the lusty passion of fragrant edibles "Foody." Foody oils bring deep, heady notes to a fragrance—as decadent as the foods from which their scents derive. Examples of foody fragrance notes include:
Woody
Woody scents bring forth the character of woods and resins. Woody scents represent some of the most historic and storied scents available to the perfumer, including:
Green
Composed of lush, green scents that call forth the fresh vegetation of spring and summer, greens are a breath of renewal in almost any fragrance. Included in this category are:
Earthy
For the deep, alluring scent of nature’s rebirth, one must look to the earth below. Earthy scents do just this, evoking the subtle tones found in fields and forest floors. This category can further be subdivided into earthy and animalistic. Earthy scents include:
Try making your own perfume fragrance using scents from each family and color coding them with our purse atomizers.