The world of perfumes is a rich and complex universe, where each fragrance tells a unique story through its notes and accords.
To better understand this olfactory diversity, perfumers have established a classification of the different olfactory families, each grouping scents with common characteristics.
Whether you are a lover of delicate floral notes, enveloping woody fragrances, or fresh citrus scents, perfume families allow you to decipher these subtle scents and help you choose the fragrance that perfectly matches your personality.
In this article, we invite you to explore these major olfactory families, their specificities and the emotions they evoke.
Floral perfumes: the freshness of spring
You couldn't find a more explicit name for this category, as gentle as spring itself. It includes floral scents, generally associated with softness and lightness.
Floral notes are often combined with fruity nuances to create a feminine and sensual fragrance. Mixed with citrus notes, they can also reveal a refreshing, energizing freshness.
In this family, you'll find rose, jasmine, lily of the valley, orange blossom, and violet, generally used as heart notes - in other words, as main notes.
D.D.D is the perfect example of a floral perfume: light and delicate, with distinct notes of rose and magnolia.
Hesperides: tangy fragrances
Fresh and intense, the olfactory experience of hesperides could be compared to biting into a fruit whose juice has been naturally sweetened by hours in the sun.
This family, composed of citrus fruits such as lemon, orange, bergamot, grapefruit, and mandarin, first surprises with its freshness, quickly followed by gourmet notes that offer as much energy as confidence.
Hesperides, volatile and ephemeral, are generally used as top notes: they don't last more than an hour. They are increasingly combined with musky, floral, and fruity notes to add a touch of sparkle to compositions.
This is notably the case in our eau de toilette Et Si Ce Matin... whose top notes are composed of bergamot and grapefruit.
Woody fragrances: masculine perfume
Most often associated with masculine fragrances, this family of ingredients is gradually opening up to feminine perfumery, giving it a new dimension that breaks free from market dictates.
If floral notes evoke a sumptuously flowered garden, woody notes rather recall an enchanting wood, populated by cedar, sandalwood, vetiver, and where the scent of oakmoss further emphasizes this very particular universe.
Woody notes are also differentiated into sub-groups, which also share particularities: dry, wet, amber, mossy, or smoky.
Woody fragrances are most often used as base notes, as their dominant scent can last all day and serves as a foundation for perfumes, helping to fix them.
In perfumery, these accords are often combined with oriental or spicy notes, which gives the perfume a mysterious, sometimes even wild, touch.
Orientals: voluptuous perfumery
The oriental family differs from others by its warm and spicy flavors, which are described as rich and intense.
Synonymous with sensuality and seduction, these notes appeal to both women and men. They give rise to unisex perfumes with voluptuous, almost captivating notes.
Ingredients like cinnamon, pepper, vanilla, and certain incenses make up this very particular family.
With Swing Feather, we took on the challenge of a perfume that is both oriental and floral. The result, both soft and spicy, is a true marvel!
Aromatics: herbs in a bottle
Again, the name is quite telling. Just like in cooking, perfumery also uses aromatic herbs, not to flavor dishes, but to scent its customers.
We easily recognize the bouquets usually found on our plates: notes of thyme, rosemary, basil, or mint partly constitute this delicious family. Lavender enhances certain creations with its unique presence.
Mainly used in men's perfumes, aromatics bring freshness and vigor to the woody and musky notes for men. They are notably found in colognes.
Chypre: the original creation
Born from a creation by perfumer François Cotty, chypres are a rather particular family. In 1917, this renowned perfumer released Le Chypre, a perfume with notes of rose, bergamot, patchouli, jasmine and oakmoss. A first for the time!
Since then, Le Chypre has become a true reference in the world of perfumery. So much so that this composition has been widely reproduced, sometimes with the addition of musk, sometimes of flowers. This recipe always offers perfumes with character that are gender-neutral. It is worn with confidence, like its structure, which is as complex as it is assertive.
Our everyday eau de toilette Le Thé is considered a Chypre Hesperide.
Fougères: the emerging association
And finally, our seventh and last family, the fougères!
Similar to the woody vegetal trends, fougères are often used in masculine perfume compositions. Here again, this family stems from a particular creation: Fougère Royale by perfumer Houbigant, released in 1882.
This multifaceted perfume is composed of lavender and geranium as well as oakmoss, coumarin, and vetiver. This composition, which can be amber, musky, leathery, or powdery, plays with materials and pairs wonderfully with fruity and hesperidic notes.
It mainly appeals to a male audience and easily adapts to new emerging trends as its materials blend with all other types of scents.
What to remember about perfume families?
Knowing the 7 perfume families helps to better understand fragrances and their complexity. The many facets of perfumes are revealed in their composition and assembly.
This makes it easier for you to choose a perfume that resonates with your personality and how you use it. By understanding where the accords come from and what they convey, you can more easily grasp the intentions behind each perfume, the message it wants to send. For a classic, elegant, or casual look, you won't choose the same product (knowingly)!
Although each family has its own character, they reveal other characteristics when mixed with each other.
Some combinations work better than others, and that's the magic of perfume: knowing how to find the elements that will enhance each other without spoiling the scent. It's thanks to the close proximity of one family to another that a perfume will better reflect your mood and style than another.
Whether you are drawn to the freshness of citrus, the sweetness of flowers, the depth of woods, or the warmth of orientals, you will now be able to recognize the ingredients that match your personality.
