There are so many terms used to describe fragrance, but what in the world do they all mean?
It can definitely get confusing!
Here's a glimpse at some basic fragrance families. A fragrance family organizes a group of aromatics with similar scent characteristics. This is not an exhaustive list (there are so many ways to categorize scent), but it's a good place to start. It's fun and insightful to develop a fragrance vocabulary - I hope you learn something new!
This list is adapted from Mandy Aftel's newest book, Fragrant, which I highly recommend!
Spicy
Floral
Animalic
Herbaceous
Citrus
Edible
Resinous
Woody
Earthy
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What are *your* favorite fragrance families? Let me know in the comments below!
It can definitely get confusing!
Here's a glimpse at some basic fragrance families. A fragrance family organizes a group of aromatics with similar scent characteristics. This is not an exhaustive list (there are so many ways to categorize scent), but it's a good place to start. It's fun and insightful to develop a fragrance vocabulary - I hope you learn something new!
This list is adapted from Mandy Aftel's newest book, Fragrant, which I highly recommend!
Spicy
- ginger, allspice, nutmeg, cardamom, pink pepper, black pepper, clove
Floral
- jasmine, geranium, neroli, ylang ylang, rose, frangipani, mimosa
Animalic
- ambrette, costus, civet, ambergris, africa stone
Herbaceous
- anise, basil, sage, lavender, mint, rosemary, tarragon, basil, fennel
Citrus
- bitter orange, bergamot, lime, lemon, grapefruit, litsea cubeba, mandarin
Edible
- cognac, cocoa, coffee, vanilla, tonka, bitter almond
Resinous
- benzoin, frankincense, myrrh, Peru balsam, elemi
Woody
- fir, pine, rosewood, cedarwood, sandalwood, spruce, oud
Earthy
- vetiver, patchouli, oakmoss, labdanum, tobacco, cepes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What are *your* favorite fragrance families? Let me know in the comments below!