I've read descriptions of fragrances so many times, and not really understood it all. Some of the terms are pretty basic, especially scent groups like Floral or Citrus but when they start throwing worlds like Fougere at me, I'm lost.
To go with a couple of other posts I have posted or have planned I thought I would add a little description of what scents groups actually are and give you a few examples so you can put words with scents.
Floral
This is pretty obvious, and the one thing I did understand when reading about fragrances. It's probably the most popular group of fragrances for women and the scent is created from flowers. These kind of scents are general considered to be delicate and ultra feminine. They are slight more sophisticated than others can be and are quite romantic.
Paul Smith Rose is a good example of a classic floral scent.
Fougere
Fougere is a French word for fern and describes scents that have notes of wood and mossy/herbal elements in them. Basil, Sage, Lavender and Oakmoss are often included in the formulas, and these scents are predominantly male fragrances. They can be quite bitter and sharp but they do work really well for male scents.
These types of fragrances are often joined with oriental scents and Jean Paul Gautier Le Male is a good example of this scent group.
Chypre
This is another French word, which probably didn't help my confusion. I'm a bit dense when it comes to languages that aren't English. Well, in fact, I'm a bit dense when it comes to English too. Anyway, it means Cyprus in French and this group actually has 'creator'. Francois Coty created this with elements that reminded him of Cyprus. These types of fragrances contain woodsy scents like tuberose, sandalwood and patchouli and have some leathery type undertones.They are recognizable from that 'warm' scents you get with fragrances.
These scents works well when paired with things of floral nature, and a good example of a Chypre fragrance is Dior Poison.
Citrus
This is another obvious group, I know. I won't talk to much on it. I'm sure you all know that lemon, grapefruit and tangerine types scents are going to be present in these fragrances. CK1 (my favourite perfume EVER) and Elizabeth Arden Green Tea are great examples of these types of fragrances. They are slightly more subtle citrus scents, but if you want in your face citrus then try Lacoste Joy of Pink.
If you couldn't tell from the multiple recommendations, this is my favourite scent group. The scents are generally summery, uplifting and have a nice tang to them. They can lend themselves to both sexes and are just all around fabulous.
Oriental
This scent group confused me to no end and I have no clue why. It's not hard to understand but this is what prompted me to look up scent groups in the first place. Anyway, these kinds of fragrances are warm and spicy. They can be quite sensual and tend to dominate the male fragrances. They often have notes of vanilla and musk alongside cinnamon and pepper type scents.
Woods, flowers and spices are main notes you can normally pick out in oriental fragrances. Viktor and Rolf Flowerbomb and D&G The One for men are great examples of these fragrances.
Gourmand
I didn't know what this was before this, but I get it know. This fragrance group is probably the newest for the bunch and describes scents that are based around food. The scents that are used in fragrances range from sweets like chocolate and caramel, to drinks like coffee and whiskey and they also describe fruity scents like cherry.
These scents are often very sweet and fruity, but fruit based scents are now practically a group of their own. The fragrances like Britney Spears Fantasy and Kylie Minogue Sweet Darling are examples of Gourmand fragrance which are modern and rich.
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To go with a couple of other posts I have posted or have planned I thought I would add a little description of what scents groups actually are and give you a few examples so you can put words with scents.
Floral
This is pretty obvious, and the one thing I did understand when reading about fragrances. It's probably the most popular group of fragrances for women and the scent is created from flowers. These kind of scents are general considered to be delicate and ultra feminine. They are slight more sophisticated than others can be and are quite romantic.
Paul Smith Rose is a good example of a classic floral scent.
Fougere
Fougere is a French word for fern and describes scents that have notes of wood and mossy/herbal elements in them. Basil, Sage, Lavender and Oakmoss are often included in the formulas, and these scents are predominantly male fragrances. They can be quite bitter and sharp but they do work really well for male scents.
These types of fragrances are often joined with oriental scents and Jean Paul Gautier Le Male is a good example of this scent group.
Chypre
This is another French word, which probably didn't help my confusion. I'm a bit dense when it comes to languages that aren't English. Well, in fact, I'm a bit dense when it comes to English too. Anyway, it means Cyprus in French and this group actually has 'creator'. Francois Coty created this with elements that reminded him of Cyprus. These types of fragrances contain woodsy scents like tuberose, sandalwood and patchouli and have some leathery type undertones.They are recognizable from that 'warm' scents you get with fragrances.
These scents works well when paired with things of floral nature, and a good example of a Chypre fragrance is Dior Poison.
Citrus
This is another obvious group, I know. I won't talk to much on it. I'm sure you all know that lemon, grapefruit and tangerine types scents are going to be present in these fragrances. CK1 (my favourite perfume EVER) and Elizabeth Arden Green Tea are great examples of these types of fragrances. They are slightly more subtle citrus scents, but if you want in your face citrus then try Lacoste Joy of Pink.
If you couldn't tell from the multiple recommendations, this is my favourite scent group. The scents are generally summery, uplifting and have a nice tang to them. They can lend themselves to both sexes and are just all around fabulous.
Oriental
This scent group confused me to no end and I have no clue why. It's not hard to understand but this is what prompted me to look up scent groups in the first place. Anyway, these kinds of fragrances are warm and spicy. They can be quite sensual and tend to dominate the male fragrances. They often have notes of vanilla and musk alongside cinnamon and pepper type scents.
Woods, flowers and spices are main notes you can normally pick out in oriental fragrances. Viktor and Rolf Flowerbomb and D&G The One for men are great examples of these fragrances.
Gourmand
I didn't know what this was before this, but I get it know. This fragrance group is probably the newest for the bunch and describes scents that are based around food. The scents that are used in fragrances range from sweets like chocolate and caramel, to drinks like coffee and whiskey and they also describe fruity scents like cherry.
These scents are often very sweet and fruity, but fruit based scents are now practically a group of their own. The fragrances like Britney Spears Fantasy and Kylie Minogue Sweet Darling are examples of Gourmand fragrance which are modern and rich.
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Thanks for this, I've always been confused with perfumes & fragrances & this has helped out so much. I'm quite surprised at the caterioges that my favorite perfumes fall into as some I would of thought based on the caterioge that I wouldn't of liked that scent one bit!
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna be a bit cheeky & ask if you could maybe blog about top, middle & bottom notes in perfumes as that confuses me too lol!
xxxx
I have a post on notes coming up, I just didn't want to bombard people with all fragrance post! Keep and eye out for it soon.
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