Fragrance Families & Favorite Natural Perfumes

Formulating Natural Perfume

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

• ginger, allspice, nutmeg, cardamom, pink pepper, black pepper, clove

Natural Perfume Example: Samarinda, Providence Perfume

Floral

• jasmine, geranium, neroli, ylang ylang, rose, frangipani, mimosa

Natural Perfume Example: Visions in the Garden, Kindred Earth Botanicals

Animalic

• ambrette, costus, civet, ambergris, africa stone

Natural Perfume Example: Skive, J Hannah Co.

Herbaceous

• anise, basil, sage, lavender, mint, rosemary, tarragon, basil, fennel

Natural Perfume Example: Vera, Roxana Illuminated Perfume

Citrus

• bitter orange, bergamot, lime, lemon, grapefruit, litsea cubeba, mandarin

Natural Perfume Example: Etrog, Ayala Moriel Parfums

Edible

• cognac, cocoa, coffee, vanilla, tonka, bitter almond

Natural Perfume Example: Cafe Providence, Kindred Earth Botanicals

Resinous

• benzoin, frankincense, myrrh, Peru balsam, elemi

Natural Perfume Example: Song of Songs, Ayala Moriel Parfums

Woody

• fir, pine, rosewood, cedarwood, sandalwood, spruce, oud

Natural Perfume Example: Fir, Aftelier Perfumes

Earthy

• vetiver, patchouli, oakmoss, labdanum, tobacco, cepes

Natural Perfume Example: Labyrinth by Kindred Earth Botanicals (coming soon)

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What are *your* favorite fragrance families? Let me know in the comments below!