Everything You Need To Know About Them Before Picking A Perfume
If you are looking for a signature fragrance but have little knowledge about perfume, here is a guide to some key fragrance families.
When buying perfume, there are endless fragrances to pick from. Some scents smell fresh and light while others have an enchanting depth, and a few are sweet-smelling like candy. We all have our fragrance preferences, and if you don’t, you will eventually find a perfume that suits you best. But if you are a beginner, where should you start? Explore the four key fragrance families and find out which one is for you.
Floral Family
The floral scent is one of the most adored and popular fragrance families. It is particularly preferred by ladies. The floral family is also identified as one of the widest olfactive families — ranging from mild fragrance profiles to more complex and dense scents. The smell of florals can be described as a flower bouquet featuring various blooms with different aromas. Floral scents are either created from soliflore (single flower notes) or bouquets (many flowers). Floral perfumes that are created for women typically include notes like lily, rose, peony, and jasmine, while floral scents for men include notes like lavender or orange blossom.
Oriental Family
The scent of the oriental family is often described as exotic, warm, and spicy. The aromas of this family can be traced back to the bygone era when the craft of perfumery in the Orient – Arabia and India – was in its nascent phase. Rich spices like cloves, vanilla, cinnamon, and balmy resins including myrrh, incense, benzoin, and amber, are a few prominent notes that belong to this beloved fragrance family.
Woody Family
Woody scents are used to craft evening perfumes for women or men. The fragrances of this family boast musky middle notes and light top notes. Woody fragrances are extracted from ingredients like sandalwood, patchouli, cedarwood, amber, and oakmoss to create earthy and soothing scents that exude an exotic warmth.
Chypre Family
Chypre is sophisticated and elegant. Fragrances belonging to the Chypre family set themselves apart from the other families with their delicate floral notes, underplayed with dry and warm elements of wood and fruit. Chypre fragrances date back to Roman times, and the perfume manuals of the 18th century are replete with its mention. The Chypre family is named after Aphrodite's birthplace – Cyprus – popular for being home to Chypre-scented flowers and aromatic plants.
Ared with this knowledge about various fragrance families, you are now ready to find the best scent for yourself.
