Olfactory Families Part II

We have already talked about them in other articles, but there’s also an ingredient family classification, that started to develop beginning of 20th century.



With the evolution of synthetic perfumery in the 19th century, the vast number of scents and ingredients needed an order. These families have grown during the years, and they keep adding new ingredients thanks to new extraction methods and synthetic molecules.



It is a more subjective classification and can vary depending on the source. In Wikiparfum we follow a similar structure to the perfume’s classification.

Citrus Ingredients: Are fresh and energetic such as bergamot, lemon, orange, neroli, verbena, citronella and lemon balm.



Green Ingredients: Are dynamic and natural scented like blackcurrant bud, sap, bamboo or tea.



Aldehydic Ingredients: They remind us of clean scent, cotton and soap.



Watery Ingredients: evoke the scent of sea, rain, salt, air, even ozone.



Aromatic: Ingredients Are energetic and sexy such as spruce, rosemary, lavender, thyme or eucalyptus.



Floral Ingredients: Are essential for perfumery, rich and delicate like rose, gardenia, camelia, jasmine, narcissus or tuberose.



**Fruity Ingredients: *Are mainly recreated since they cannot be naturally extracted. They can be sweet, juice, acid, velvety- Some examples are pear, apple, fig or apricot.



*Spicy Ingredients: **Warm, refreshing and intense, such as cardamom, pepper, ginger, turmeric or clove.

**Woody Ingredients: **Are elegant, sensual and warm like ambergris, oud, cedarwood and sandalwood.



Tobacco Ingredients: Are ingredients used to give tobacco flavor, they are silky and rich such as tobacco leaves, ash and hay.



Gourmand Ingredients: Directly linked to taste: sweet, acid or salty like cocoa, coffee, licorice, nut and caramel.



Amber Ingredients: Are warm, voluptuous and captivating, the most important are ciste labdanum, amber, resin, tonka bean, incense or vanilla.



Leather Ingredients: Are smoky, sensual and velvety like birch, saffron, leather, civet and smoke.



Musk Ingredients: Are soft, reassuring and contribute to the perfume’s persistency such as musk and skin accord.