Olfactory families

According to the Societé Française des Parfumeurs, there are 7 olfactory families in perfumery divided in 15 subfamilies.

**Citrus *
A family with an acid, fresh and strong personality. It is also known as Hesperides, referring to the essential oils extracted from the zest of fruits such as lemon, orange, bergamot, and grapefruit. Citrus fragrances are often fresh and soft, with a versatile style that has no gender or age. We can wear them all year long, but they are more common in warm weather or summer season.



The first Eau de Cologne created in Italy during the 16th century was a citrus perfume. The Eau the Cologne name comes from the city of Cologne in Germany where its use was popular during the 18th century.



Some citrus perfumes are: CK One, Acqua di Parma and Eau de Rochas.



*Floral **
Floral family has a long tradition and it’s one of the greatest families of the classification. Its perfumes have flowers as a common denominator: using one or combining several types in a bouquet. It is a family that inspires femineity and historically linked to women perfumery. Luckily, the differences between genders are disappearing in perfumery, expanding the use of ingredients.



In this classification there’s a huge variety of fragrances since floral combinations are infinite. Thanks to the ‘Headspace’ technology perfumers can identify and recreate floral scents that are too fragile to use traditional extraction techniques.



There a plenty of floral perfumes such as: Chanel nº5, Gucci Bloom, Hermès 24 Faubourg and Nina Ricci L’Air du Temps.

**Aromatic Fougère (fern) *
The name of this family composed of green fragrances is reminiscent of a forest. Its name refers to ferns and comes from the iconic perfume Fougère Royale created in 1882 which created a scent for this plant, that has no smell in real life. In a way, this family symbolizes fantasy in perfumery. Traditionally, fougère fragrances tend to have notes of lavender, moss, geranium, coumarin and aromatic herbs such as rosemary. They are often associated with masculine perfumes.



Perfumes such as Dior Sauvage, Solo by Loewe and Paco Rabanne Phantom belong to this family.


*Chypre **
The name of this family comes from a perfume created by François Coty in 1917. A sales success but also a great inspiration for the perfume industry. Fragrances of this family take us back to a forest with multiple scents of nature that include ingredients such as moss, ciste-labdanum and bergamot.



Some perfumes of this family are : Clinique Aromatics Elixir and Diptyque Orphéon.

**Woody *
This olfactory family is composed by notes of wood, resin, roots, bark, and moss. It has a lot of ranges from smoky to damp, with sandalwood, patchouli and oud. Woody notes are present in most fragrances and although, they used to be considered masculine, today there is no gender distinction.



Famous woody perfumes: Comme des Garçons Wonderwood, Egoïste by Chanel and Diptyque Tam Dao.



*Amber **
Also known as oriental perfumes, are warm, musky, sweet and intense. First, they were mainly composed by oriental ingredients such as vanilla, resins like incense and balsams. Amber perfumes are rich in nuances and dreamy. They are known for their intensity and durability which makes them perfect for winter and cold weather.



The most famous amber perfumes: Yves Saint Laurent Opium, Shalimar by Guerlain and Tom Ford Noir.



Leather
This family has smoky notes reminiscent of leather and tobacco. Leathery perfumes are quite unique since they try to emulate the scent of skin and leather. Traditionally they have been used in masculine perfumery.



Perfumes like Ombré Leather by Tom Ford, Chanel Cuir de Russie and Eau d’Hermes belong to this family.