Types of Perfume: Perfumes, Colognes, Scents & Fragrances

Chanel PerfumePerfume fetish runs in my family blood, and I proudly say I make no bones in splurging in all my pocket money with perfume shopping. But my interest with perfumes goes beyond “simply liking the fragrance”, I am a bit curious kinds. Now here’s what I mean.

When I smell by a perfume, I always turn the bottle around to check for its contents and ingredients. I mean I know its weird, but its very “me” 😛 but the one thing I find similar with all the brands and perfume contents is that all the ingredients are so much twisted and turned that it bounces of the brain of a layman like me totally. But did you know that there is a tactic and skill of identifying the origins and components of a fragrance or perfume similar to that of a wine.

Perfumes can be elaborated or described just like music. They have basic three notes which help in identifying the family or origin of the perfume. Just like wine unfolds its secret tastes and only gets better with time, the fragrance of perfume unfolds and opens out in the similar way. The three notes of the fragrance, the top note, the intermediate note and the base note appear gradually with the vaporization of the perfume.

Now here’s what I mean by the three notes of fragrance:

Perfume notes can be compared with music notes.

The top note or head note is the smell or scent which is professed or apparent or in better words the scent which you smell as soon as you open a perfume. It is the lightest smell which is bound to evaporate within a snap. This note plays an important role in building up the initial inkling of the perfumes and obviously is the most important note for the sale of the perfumes.
The middle note or the heart note emerges as soon as the first note i.e the top note submerges. As its name reflects, this note is the body of the perfume and helps in masking or taping the unpleasant base note smell of the perfume, which of course with time turns pleasant.
The base notes emerge with the submergence of the heart notes. The base notes and the heart notes are possibly the main premise of perfumes. The base notes play a very important role in proffering solidity and depth to a perfume. The base notes generally emerge after 30 minutes of application of the perfume.

The essence and fragrance of the top and heart notes are influenced thoroughly by the base notes which are altered according to the fragrance contents of the middle notes. To find these notes turn the bottle around where you can see a pyramid like figure which publishes the notes along with the components.

Whenever a friend asks me which perfume did you pick, pat comes my answer “it’s some flowery fruity one”, or “it’s this strong formal one with a feminine scent” or “it’s woody ya”. But essentially it’s not easy to describe a perfume’s smell because when the bottle reads “single flower” it has a lot many underlying layers of fragrance and undertones to it.

Types of Perfumes

• Single floral or soliflore (French): it refers to a fragrance which is mainly subjugated by the fragrance of one particular flower.perfume love

My pick: Marc Jacobs Daisy

• Floral Bouquet: It refers to all the perfumes which have combination scents or fragrances mainly dominated with a variety of flower scents.

My pick: Perfumes from “Flourish” it’s blended with a variety flowers, fruits and scented woods.

• Bright floral: It is the combination of both the solifore and the floral bouquet fragrances.

My Pick: Versace bright crystal. (It was gifted to me by my dad)

• Wood: These are the woody fragrances typically of the cedar wood or sandalwood kinds. Camphoraceous fragrance is mandatory with these perfumes. Musk is a component of the woody family.

My Pick: Carolina Herrera’s 212 Sexy it’s a woody musky fragrance

• Leather: The middle and base notes of these perfumes feature honey, wood and word tars or tobacco scents.

My pick: Miller Harris’s Cuir de Oranger (2005) being a Russian influenced fragrance it has the goodness of orange and a buttery notes of leather.

• Chypre: In French it means Cyprus and it’s named after Francois Coty. It featured components are mainly labdanum, oakmoss and patchaouli.

My Pick: Calvin Klein Eternity

• Green: It the contemporary version of the Cypre family. It has this fresh grassy water melony, cucmberish smell. 😛

My Pick: Estée Lauder’s Aliage, any day.. I love it to bits…

• Acquatic, ozonic or oceanic: This is a brand new entry to the categories of perfumes which was initiated by Christian Dior’s Dune. The scent of these perfumes is very neat, disciplined, caloned and androgynous. So it’s a win win for both men and women. I have a whole lot of collection of these kinds, since me and Dad share’em.

My Pick: Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue and DKNY Be Delicious

• Citrus: yeyyyyyy…this is again one of my favorite types. They evolved from eau de colognes. Contemporarily all fragrances mainly have citrus at least as their component.

My pick: Brut

• Fruit: this barely needs a description. Citrus is one of the main components in these perfumes.

My Pick: Forbidden Fruit Perfume by Desperate   Housewives for Women, this is one of my most treasured perfumes. It actually belongs to mum though.  😛

• Gourmand: These are edible. 😛 I mean they smell so “drink me” kinds. They have scents of vanilla, coco which are synthetic.

My Pick: My new brand Elixir Charnel Gourmand Coquin by Guerlain

• Fougere: This in French means Fern. The base of these perfumes is essentially lavender, oakmoss, onion or courmarin. The Men fragrances dominate this type.

My Pick: Calm Fougere Botanical Perfume

Women and fragrances

Let me know which category you fall in:

Floral scents: the optimistic, impulsive, active women
Oriental fragrances: Young women or women young at heart.
Floral oriental scents: Disciplined women
Musky powdery floral scents: Mature women
Cypre Fragrances: the extroverted and stable women

Some more perfume GYAAN :

• Essential oils, water and alcohol are the key contents of any and every perfume on the earth. The strengths of each vary.
• Perfume or Eau de Parfum contains the highest concentration of essential oils and perfume is supposedly the most expensive and purest form of fragrances and scents.
• Eau de Toilette are meant to be applied behind the earlobes and on the wrist (I don’t apply it like this though :P) It has the lowest concentration of essential oils.
• Eau de Cologne or colognes are cheap and minimally fragrant and the weakest form of perfumes but mind you it was made by Napoleon Bonaparte.

Also Read:

Perfume Shopping Tips: How to Find the Perfect Perfume
Demeter Fragrance Library: Chocolate Covered Cherries and Incense Perfume Review
How To Choose The Right Perfume

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33 thoughts on “Types of Perfume: Perfumes, Colognes, Scents & Fragrances

  1. OMG!!!What a comprehensive article Zeeba!! 😯 …I never knew about all these details of perfume….those notes things..and all those types!! …..Really amazing!! :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

  2. very knowledgeable article zeeba. most ppl here at imbb would second that i think. see even cali is so happily clapping away :toothygrin: :toothygrin: :toothygrin:

    1. huhhhhhh 😐 😐 😐 what does that mean??? I appreciate all the articles that get posted here!! :smug: :smug: :smug: :smug:….I never spare applauding for any article……:P…not even mineeeeee :toothygrin: :toothygrin: :toothygrin: :toothygrin: :toothygrin:

      1. i know cali. i only meant to say that everone would agree with me like you did. u always angry with me me cali, me always trying to make u happy happy :((

  3. I didn’t know there was such a big world around perfumes 😯 😯 I like floral scents. I am convinced.After all the perfume reviews here, i kept thinking what exactly i like. then I smelt all the perfumes I have. Florals get my most attention. :clap:

    Fab article, Zeeba. :waytogo: :waytogo: :waytogo:

      1. Me like Woooodyyyy woodyyy ones…especially the tree bark fragrances….Donno why I get more pullled towards them…I find floral ones quite overwhelming!! :whistle: :whistle: :whistle:

  4. Very informative eeba.. like all ur articles!!

    Me too a perfume fanatic.. I love the citrus fragrances.. My favourites are CK Eternity, Elizabeth Arden’s Green Tea and my current love is Coco Madmoiselle from Chanel.

    Amongst floral ones i lovvvve Bvlgari Voile de jasmine.

  5. Awesome article Zeeba… i never really gave a thot abt the notes. will do so from now on 😉
    m using Elizabeth arden’s sunflower now- and m liking it lots but its gettin over so will go perfume shopping soon :jiggy2: :jiggy2: :jiggy2:
    and ur article will be helpful dat time :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo:

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