The
Fragrance Wheel
Fragrances and perfumes have been categorised into fragrance
families, sorted by what notes appear and in what order they
are layered.
Most fragrances have an Aromatic Fougère Base. Aromatic
Fougères are a universal group that include elements
of most of the individual sub categories; for example they
retain the refreshing qualities of Citrus based scents, Floral
notes such as lavender, spicy and sweet textures of a Floral
Oriental, the amber notes associated with Oriental perfumes
and the aromatic Moss Woods and Sandalwoods of Woody fragrances.
Perfume
Categories
Floral Oriental
These fine fragrances and perfumes are soft, spicy and distinctly
feminine. Many of these perfumes for women contain spicy orange
flower, mixed with tart Aldehydes and sweet oriental spices.
Floral Oriental Fragrances for women first appeared in the
early 1900’s and quickly became one of the most popular
fragrance categories of the first few decades of that century.
They became unfashionable in the 1930’s but by the 1970’s
this fragrance category had enjoyed a revival to become a
staple of most people’s fragrance wardrobe.
Soft Oriental
Soft Oriental perfumes and fine fragrance often add incense
to a Floral Oriental base and layers of spices and amber to
create their uniquely soft appearance and texture. The base
of this particular type of Oriental fragrance comprises of
less heady and sweet textures to their Traditional Oriental
counterparts and thus they retain a lighter feeling.
Oriental
Traditional Oriental Fragrances are often extremely exotic,
sensual and heavy fragrances. These sensual scents contain
oriental resins, exotic flowers, vanilla and musk. Some are
lightened with fruits and others are changed by the addition
of tangy green notes this makes the Traditional Oriental Fragrance
group a delight to explore.
Woody Oriental
Woody Oriental Fragrances are unusual, diverse and plentiful;
if you love woody oriental fragrances then you will have a
wide variety to choose from. Woody Oriental Fragrances combine
essences of rich Oriental notes, such as Patchouli with floral
tones and spices. These notes, unlike other Oriental Perfume
categories, are dominated by sandalwood and/or Patchouli to
give a sensually deep woody effect to the fragrance.
Mossy Woods
Mossy Woods Fragrances for Men and Perfumes for Women are
often termed Chypre Boisé. Perfumers delineate these
fragrances and perfumes according to the content of oakmoss
woods and citrus tones. Most of this fragrance category have
Oakmoss as their central theme.
Dry Woods
This particular type of Woody Fragrance takes on its dryer
character with the addition of notes such as Cedar, Leather,
Tobacco and Burnt Woods. These smoky, musty woody fragrances
are sensual and often lightened by fresh citrus notes that
cut through these animalic heart notes.
Citrus
These perfumes contain predominant notes of citrus and fruit
oils, including lemon, orange, peach, apricot, lime and grapefruit.
They tend to be light, juicy and tangy fresh without the sharp
quality of a Fresh Green Fragrance.
Green
These perfumes and aftershaves tend to be fresh with a sharper
edge. This is often due to the aromatic addition of green
leaves and the essence of freshly cut grass. A touch of Fresh
Green notes will make a perfume or aftershave feel crisp but
a predominance of these notes will make the fragrance feel
refreshing and aromatic.
Water
These perfumes are often the lightest and brightest in this
category and are great as fresh summer fragrances. They are
dominated by water notes such as sea air, water and fresh
water plants and often mixed with Fresh Citrus and Fruit tones
and touches of Green Leaves.
Floral
These fine fragrances contain essences of stark white flowers,
linens and softer sweeter notes of jasmine, gardenia, freesia
and white honeysuckle. This produces a soft but fresh floral
burst and as a result is closely associated with both the
floral and fresh sub-categories. The repertoire of the Fresh
Floral category is vast and wide ranging. Designer Fragrance
houses have produced Fresh Floral Fragrances that concentrate
on a single note, as well as those that give a full and exciting
bouquet of flowers.
Soft Floral
The designer fragrances contain soft floral notes combined
with Aldehydes and powdery textures. The Soft Floral Category
is again diverse and often produces abstract and unusual fragrances.
Most of the Soft Floral Perfume group contains Aldehydes,
a natural fragrance that forms part of the bouquet found in
roses and citrus oils. On there own Aldehydes can smell quite
sharp and metallic or burnt and waxy but when they are combined
with floral notes they change the texture of these highly
perfumed flowers, soften them and create subtle blossoms from
full bouquets.
Aromatic Fougere
These fragrances and perfumes form a universal fragrance family.
They take on elements of all the previous categories and blend
them into a beautiful bouquet of scents. They contain sexy
oriental tones, with Aromatic Herbs and Grasses, Citrus notes,
Sweet Spices, Soft Florals and Oriental Woods. This fragrance
category has always been the most popular with men. This is
because they are zesty, masculine but light, airy and fresh.
However, recently they have taken a hold on the female Fine
Fragrance market.
Special Thanks to Perfumeguide.co.uk
for this review.
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