A

1. Absolute
Definition:Absolutes are regarded as the strongest aromatic product from the starting material

2. Absolute
Highly concentrated, refined perfume material, usually liquid which has undergone at least two extraction processes.

3. Absolute:Absolutes are regarded as the strongest aromatic product from the starting material

4. Absorbency
Definition:The ability of a fabric to take in moisture. Especially important in clothing used for sports. The more absorbency, the more skin comfort.

5. Accord
An Accord is the perfumery equivalent of a Chord in music

Top  Top to A

B

54. Balsams:Sticky, resinous materials obtained from trees or shrubs which give a combined sweet-woody odor associated with well-seasoned. non-coniferous woods such as maple.

55. Bitter
Definition:Describes a perfume odor which has a metallic green quality, without sweetness.

56. Blend:-Harmonious mixture of perfumery ingredients.

57. Body
The main fragrance theme -- the middle or "heart" of a perfume. Also used to describe a fragrance that is well-rounded or full.

58. Bony Turbinates
The thin, scroll-like, bony plates extending from the walls of the nasal chambers.

Top  Top to B

C

59. Chypre-A fragrance family or type -- a complex of moss mixed with woods, flowers or fruit odors.

60. Cilia:
Short, hairlike cytoplasmic processes projecting from the free surface of certain cells. They are constantly in a state of motion.

61. Citrus
Odors from citrus fruits such as orange, lemon, lime, mandarin and bergamot which give fresh, fruity top notes used especially in eau fraiche, classical and men's colognes.

62. Classic:
A classic fragrance can be considered in the same vein as classic literature or architecture. A fragrance that has been widely accepted by generation after generation and is in use for a minimum of 15 years.

63. Cloying-An odor that is excessively sticky sweet.

Top  Top to C

D

71. Depth:
Refers to a fragrance odor of low volatility with a dimension that is rich and full bodied.

72. Diffusion
Definition:The ability of a fragrance to quickly radiate around the wearer and subtly permeate the environment.

73. Dry:
A sensation produced by certain perfume ingredients which give a woody, masculine effect.

74. Dry Down
Definition:The final phase of a fragrance -- the character which appears several hours after application. Perfumers evaluate the base notes and the tenacity of the fragrance during this stage.

75. Dysosmia
Definition:A distortion or perversion of the sense of smell. It may occur with hyposmia (a relative loss of the sense of smell) or it may occur alone.

Top  Top to D

E

76. Earthy-The provocative odor of freshly turned earth, musty and rooty.

77. Essences:
Products which endeavor to capture or emphasize the highly volatile top notes of natural products.

78. Essential:
Volatile oil obtained by various processes from flowers, oil leaves, roots, barks, stems, fruits, seeds and woods.

79. Essential Oils:-The "essence" of plants or the fragrant, volatile extracts obtained from flowers, grass, stems, seeds, leaves, roots, bark, fruits, tree moss and tree secretions. They are obtained by various means including distillation, expression and extraction.

80. Evanescent-Fleeting or quickly vanishing fragrance.

Top  Top to E

F

83. Factice-Regular or oversize perfume or toiletry bottles filled with a tinted liquid for display purposes only.

84. Fatigue
Odor fatigue results from overlong exposure to an odor. The nose can no longer discern that particular smell.

85. Fixative:
The property of a fragrance which prolongs the continuity and life of the odor.

86. Flacon
A word to describe beautifully designed perfume bottles sometimes especially designed for portability.

87. Flat
Definition:Lacking in lift, diffusion and distinction.

Top  Top to F

G

96. Green
Fragrance family or type whose odor is reminiscent of fresh-cut grass, leaves or a warm, moist forest. Green notes add lift and vigor to a fragrance composition.

97. Gums. Resins, Balsams
Definition:The resinous exudates of the bark, twigs or leaves of trees or shrubs.

Top  Top to G

H

98. Harmonious:-Order, accord and unity in fragrance.

99. Harsh:
A crude, unbalanced, rough pungent odor.

100. Hay
A sweet clover odor.

101. Heady
Exhilarating, sparkling, stimulating.

102. Heart
Definition:The core of a perfume composition which gives it its character.

Top  Top to H

I

108. Incense:-The burning of fragrant gums or resins in a solid or powder form. It gives off a lingering, scented smoke and is the original form in which fragrance was used.

109. Infusion or Tincture:-A solution obtained by prolonged contact with alcohol. When hot alcohols are used it is called infusion. When alcohols are at room temperature or warm the method is called a tincture.

110. Ionones:One of the most valued synthesized products used by the perfumer. Essential to violet perfumes. Used in small amounts in floral, woody and herbaceous perfumes.

Top  Top to I

L

111. Lastingness-The ability of a fragrance to retain its character over a given period of time.

112. Leafy
One of the many variations of the green note.

113. Leather:-Fragrance type and odor resembling the sweet, pungent smokiness characteristic of the ingredients used in the tanning process of leathers.

114. Lift:To add life to a fragrance blend is to give it lift and some brilliancy; lift can also refer to diffusiveness of a given blend. A perfume having lift has a brilliant top note with wide diffusiveness.

115. Light-A generally non-sweet, non-cloying fragrance where the fresh note is predominant. Often formulated as an eau fraiche or a deodorant cologne for all over body wear in warm climates or for sports.

Top  Top to L

M

117. Mellow:
A fragrance that gives a balanced, smooth and rich impression.

118. Micro-Encapsulation
A method of incorporating thin-walled, microscopic capsules containing fragrance oils into a solid substance (fragrance advertising inserts, capsules, blotters, paper, etc).

119. Middle Notes
Definition:The middle or "heart" notes make up a main blend of a fragrance that classifies the fragrance family or accord. It usually takes from ten to twenty minutes for the middle notes to fully develop on the skin.

120. Modern:-In perfumery the modern era began at the beginning of the 20th century when synthetic aroma chemicals such as aldehydes, were first used. A modern fragrance is a harmonious conception of the perfumer based on new notes or harmonies often unknown in nature.

121. Mossy
Definition:The odor suggestive of the aromatic lichens, and mosses, primarily oak moss and tree moss; reminiscent of forest depths.

Top  Top to M

N

122. Note:
Borrowed from the language of music to indicate an olfactory impression of a single smell, or to indicate the three parts of a perfume - top note, middle note, base note.

Top  Top to N

O

123. Odor Memory:-The ability of a perfumer to hold, and bring to recall, hundreds of single perfume odors and odor blends.

124. Odor or Odour
Definition:Airborne chemicals emanating from water, objects, one's body, flowers or fragrance that stimulate the olfactory system. The characteristic smell of something

125. Odoriferous:-Emitting an odor.

126. Olfaction:Relating to the sense of smell.

127. Olfactory
Definition:Relating to, or concerned with, the sense of smell.

Top  Top to O

P

132. Palette
Definition:The range of perfume ingredients from which a perfumer selects to use in the formulation of a perfume.

133. Perfume:-Most highly concentrated form of fragrance, the strongest and the most lasting. Perfume may contain hundreds of ingredients within a single formulation.

134. Perfume Dip Sticks:
Strips of odorless white blotting paper which the perfumer uses to evaluate a scent as it develops.

135. Pheromone:
Chemical substance secreted by an animals (including perhaps humans) to produce a response by other members of the same species. Sexual attractants are the most widely studied and described.

136. Pomades:-Combination of purified fats and flower oils produced by the enfleurage process.

Top  Top to P

R

139. Receptor Cell:Located in the olfactory epithelium, each cell has microscopic hairs (cilia) extending into the mucus. Odoriferous substances are thought to bind chemically to specific sites on these cilia. This chemical event is translated into an electrical message that is transmitted along the olfactory nerves to the olfactory bulb.

140. Resinoids-Are extracts of gums, balsams, resins or roots (orris) which consist in whole or in part of resinous materials. They are generally used as fixatives in perfume compositions.

141. Retronasal Olfaction:
Stimulation of the olfactory receptor cells by chemicals that originate in our mouth (most often during eating) and travel to the olfactory epithelium via the nasopharynx during exhalation.

142. Rhizomes
Definition:Root-like stems with nodes which grow under or along the ground. Certain perfume raw materials come from rhizome, e.g., Orris absolute and ginger oil.

143. Rounding Out:Perfume ingredients, often from natural origin, added to fragrance compositions to enrich, modify or soften any harsh qualities.

Top  Top to R

S

144. Solvents:Volatile fluids used to extract essential oils from flowers and other natural perfume materials.

145. Specialties:-Natural oils, natural isolates or synthetics, either alone or in combination, which are used as building blocks for fragrance compounds. They are less complex than a finished fragrance compound. They may be an end-product of special processing treatments or unique raw materials. They are usually supplied by a single company under a trade name.

146. Spicy:Piquant or pungent notes such as clove oil, cinnamon; characteristic of notes of carnation, ginger, lavender or the chemical spicy notes of eugenol or isoeugenol.

147. Stability
A reasonable length of time for a fragrance to remain stable before the product is affected by certain raw materials, heat, light and air.

148. Strength
Definition:The relative intensity of a fragrance impression.

Top  Top to S

T

152. Temporal Lobe:-Lateral portions of the brain containing, among other regions, olfactory cortex and portions of the limbic system.

153. Tenacity:The ability of a perfume to last, or a fragrance note to retain its characteristic odor.

154. Thin
When a fragrance complex has not been given enough "floralcy" or warmth to soften the impact of the more aggressive and volatile components; lacking in body and depth.

155. Tonality:Dominant note or theme of a fragrance.

156. Top Note:
The first impression of a fragrance when sniffed or applied to the skin; usually the most volatile ingredients in a perfume.

Top  Top to T

U

157. Undertones
The subtle characteristics of the fragrance background.

Top  Top to U

V

158. Velvety:
A soft, smooth, mellow fragrance without harsh chemical notes.

159. Vetiver:
is a common ingredient in fragrances and after shave for men, but until I became a beauty editor, I had no idea what it actually was. As it turns out, vetiver is a tall grass that grows in volcanic areas of India and Haiti.

160. Vetiver Oil
IS ALSO HAS OTHER USES THAN FRAGRANCE. IT HAS ANTISEPTIC AND MUSCLE-RELAXING QUALITIES, AND IT CAN BE TAKEN ORALLY TO CALM NERVOUS TENSION OR USED TOPICALLY TO HEAL REDNESS, SKIN IRRITATION, AND INFLAMMATION ON SENSITIVE OR OILY SKIN. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN LAYERING VETIVER, IT ALSO VERY MUCH COMPLEMENTS LAVENDER, PATCHOULI, AND SANDALWOOD.

161. Volatile-The property of being freely diffused in the atmosphere; easily vaporized at a low temperature.

Top  Top to V

W

162. Woody
An odor which is linked to the aroma of freshly cut, dry wood or fibrous root such as sandalwood or vetiver.

Go Top