Scent Families
Not sure what you’re smelling? Start here.
The human nose is powerful—able to tell the difference between more than a trillion scents (that’s way beyond what we can see in colors or hear in sounds). But there’s a limit: once ingredients are blended, even trained experts can only really identify about four individual smells before they blur together.
That’s why most perfume companies break fragrances down by notes—top, middle, base. But notes don’t tell the whole story (and can feel more confusing than helpful). We use scent families instead. Families group ingredients by their overall character — like woods, musks, florals, or citrus — so you get a clearer picture of how a perfume actually smells on skin.
But wait there’s more: smell doesn’t work in isolation. Your brain interprets scents through context—pulling cues from memory, sight, even sound. That’s why a fragrance can shift from cozy to sharp depending on when and where you smell it.
Our version of scent families is meant to cut through the noise. They help you spot what you already love, dodge what’s not your thing, and maybe stumble into something unexpectedly perfect.
Scroll through. Trust your nose. Repeat.
musky
Musk is the backbone of modern perfume—the note that makes scents feel human, warm, and alive. Once derived from deer, musk is now crafted in labs through molecules that mimic skin’s natural warmth. The family spans clean and soapy to powdery and sensual, wrapping other notes in softness. Musks anchor a fragrance, blending everything together so it feels effortless, natural, and intimate—like your own skin but better.
Origin: From ancient deer musk to botanical and synthetic recreations.
Scent: Soft, warm, skin-like, enveloping.
Notables: Musk G, Ethylene Brassylate, Ambrette Seed.
ambergris
Once one of perfumery’s strangest treasures, ambergris forms inside the bellies of sperm whales before drifting for years across the ocean—where salt, sun, and time transform it into something luminous. Its scent is quietly magnetic: warm yet transparent, radiant yet soft. In modern perfumery, it’s recreated through molecules like Ambroxan that capture its glowing, skin-like radiance without the whale drama. Ambergris gives a perfume both depth and light—an alchemy that makes scents feel weightless yet lingering.
Origin: Whale-cast treasure, aged by the sea.
Scent: Radiant, earthy-sweet, skin-like.
Notables: Ambroxan, Ambroxide.
marine
The marine family captures the smell of open air and ocean spray—cool, ozonic, and slightly salty. Born in the 1990s through new synthetic molecules, these notes evoke driftwood, sea breeze, and the clean transparency of water. Marine scents bring clarity and spaciousness to blends, balancing heavier notes with a crisp edge. They’re modern, sheer, and quietly addictive—the scent of fresh air bottled.
Origin: Ocean-inspired accords born from modern chemistry.
Scent: Briny, ozonic, cool, transparent.
Notables: Calone, Helional, Seaweed absolute.
woody, creamy
The plush, comforting side of woods. Sandalwood, amyris, and their lab-made cousins melt into skin with smooth, rounded warmth. Creamy woods smell buttery, nutty, and slightly milky, wrapping sharper notes in calm softness. They bring depth without heaviness and give perfume its meditative, grounding quality—like polished wood warmed by sunlight.
Origin: Sandalwood trees and modern synthetic analogs.
Scent: Smooth, buttery, milky-soft.
Notables: Sandalwood, Sandal cyclopropane, OTNE Isomers.
woody, dry
The crisp, architectural side of woods. Think cedar, vetiver, and dry molecules that feel sharp, mineral, and structured. Dry woods give perfume its skeleton—clean lines, clear space, and quiet strength. They cut through sweetness, add lift, and create that freshly shaved-pencil dryness that makes scents feel effortlessly modern.
Origin: Cedar groves, pacific northwest forests, modern woody molecules.
Scent: Crisp, dry, airy-sharp.
Notables: Virginia Cedarwood, Atlas Cedarwood, Cedrol.
resinous
Resinous notes are drawn from sap, incense, and tree bark—materials once burned in temples and rituals. They smell ancient and deep: honeyed smoke, polished wood, slow warmth. These notes sit at the heart of many perfumes, bringing longevity and soul. Resinous scents feel timeless, like something sacred lingering in the air.
Origin: Tree resins, incense, and natural balsams.
Scent: Smooth, smoky, honeyed.
Notables: Benzoin, Myrrh, Styrax.
peppery
Peppery notes add a prickle of electricity—bright, sharp, and lightly metallic. Black, pink, and Sichuan pepper each have their own edge: one earthy, one floral, one citrusy. In perfume, pepper is used to cut through sweetness and bring air into dense blends. It’s the spark that keeps a fragrance awake.
Origin: Spices and modern aroma molecules.
Scent: Fresh, biting, radiant.
Notables: Black pepper, pink pepper, timut pepper, pepperwood.
spicy
Spices bring heat, contrast, and texture. A single pinch changes everything—cardamom cools, cinnamon glows, clove bites, nutmeg hums in the background. Spicy notes give a fragrance rhythm: a burst of energy at the top or a steady warmth at the base. They make perfume feel alive, like conversation and movement bottled.
Origin: Ancient spice routes and global trade.
Scent: Warm, exotic, bold.
Notables: Cardamom, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg.
fruity
Fruity scents capture ripeness—juicy, sun-drenched, and vibrant. They bridge freshness and sweetness, making perfumes feel playful and alive. Berries add sparkle, peach and plum bring velvety richness, and tropical fruits lend warmth. The best fruity notes never feel sugary—they’re crisp, mouthwatering, and full of light.
Origin: Orchards, harvests, and lab-crafted fruit accords.
Scent: Juicy, tart, luminous.
Notables: Peach, blackcurrant, pear, apricot.
floral, iris
Iris comes not from petals but from the dried roots of the iris plant, called orris. The roots are aged for years before distillation, developing their famously powdery, buttery scent. Iris lends perfume an unmistakable texture—soft as suede, elegant as silk—bridging the line between floral and woody. It’s the quiet luxury note, the one that makes everything feel smooth, balanced, and expensive.
Origin: Orris roots aged for years before distillation.
Scent: Powdery, velvety, creamy-cool.
Notables: Orris butter, Irone, Ionones.
floral, muguet
Muguet (French for “lily of the valley”) is one of perfumery’s great illusions—the real flower can’t be extracted, so chemists recreated its scent molecule by molecule. The result: a dewy, green floral that smells like morning air and clean skin, bright with watery freshness. Muguet brings clarity and lift to blends, like light streaming through open windows, and adds that distinctive “freshly showered” glow.
Origin: Lab-born recreation of lily of the valley.
Scent: Dewy, green, soapy-bright, airy.
Notables: Hydroxycitronellal, Florosa, Lilial, Salicylates.
floral, rose
Rose is a cornerstone of modern perfumery, valued for its balance between freshness and depth. Natural rose extracts—most often from Rosa damascena or Rosa centifolia—contain more than 300 aroma compounds that together create its recognizable complexity. Key molecules like citronellol and geraniol contribute to its dewy, floral brightness, while phenylethyl alcohol and damascenone add warmth and subtle fruit-like sweetness. Depending on the extraction method, rose can lean green and crisp (steam-distilled) or richer and more honeyed (solvent-extracted). Perfumers use rose as both a focal point and a connector—it bridges families, adds roundness, and brings a sense of natural harmony to a blend.
Origin: Petals of Rosa damascena and Rosa centifolia, extracted by steam distillation or solvent methods.
Scent: Floral, balanced, slightly sweet, subtly spicy.
Notables: Rose, Geranium, Citronellol, Damascenone.
floral, narcotic
Narcotic florals are the most concentrated branch of the floral family—dense, creamy, and saturated with compounds that mirror the chemistry of real petals in bloom. Built around white florals like tuberose, jasmine, and lily, they owe their richness to indoles and other nitrogen-based molecules that give flowers their fleshy, almost animal warmth. These compounds naturally help flowers project scent and attract pollinators; in perfume, they create depth, radiance, and sensuality. Narcotic florals feel full-bodied and immersive—humid, luminous, and unmistakably alive. Balanced with musks or woods, they add intensity and emotional pull.
Origin: Night-blooming florals rich in indolic compounds.
Scent: Sharp, heady, radiant.
Notables: Tuberose, Jasmine, Lily, Indole.
citrusy
Citrus notes are perfume’s instant mood-brighteners—sparkling, juicy, and alive. From bergamot’s green bite to orange’s sunny sweetness, they give top notes their snap and fizz. Citrus scents open a fragrance with clarity and motion, then fade to reveal what’s underneath. Bright, clean, and universal—they’re the scent of optimism.
Origin: Sun-ripened peels and cold-pressed oils.
Scent: Zesty, sparkling, radiant.
Notables: Bergamot, Grapefruit, Yuzu, Naaranj.
green
Green is the scent of life itself—snapped stems, fresh grass, leaves crushed between fingers. Crisp, dewy, and sometimes tinged with bitterness, these fragrances evoke the raw vitality of the garden and the wild.
Origin: Leaves, stems, and grasses.
Scent: Crisp, raw, invigorating.
Notables: Aloe, tomato leaf, ivy.
herbal
Herbal notes are aromatic and rustic, drawn from fields and kitchen gardens. Sharp yet soothing, with the distinctive clarity of basil, cilantro, or rosemary, this family balances bracing freshness with calming warmth.
Origin: Sunlit gardens and wild hillsides.
Scent: Rustic, sharp, aromatic.
Notables: Green Tea, Lavender, Basil, Rosemary, Roman Chamomile.
animalic
Animalic notes are rich, primal, and instinctive—the part of perfumery that connects scent to the body itself. Once derived from natural sources like civet, castoreum, and musk deer, these materials were the original fixatives, used to give perfume body, warmth, and longevity. Today, they’re recreated through modern molecules that capture the same depth without the animal sourcing. Animalic scents are complex and often polarizing: slightly salty, leathery, sometimes even sweaty—but in small amounts, they make perfume feel alive, magnetic, and unmistakably human.
Origin: Once natural secretions, now recreated through modern synthesis.
Scent: Warm, leathery, salty, lived-in.
Notables: Civetone, castoreum, hyraceum, costus root, indole.
Keep exploring. The more you smell, the more you’ll start to recognize what draws you in—and what doesn’t.
