By Lara Okusanya
You’ve probably heard people say I love floral, woody perfumes or oriental perfumes and wondered what they meant. Oh well, all fragrances fall into family groups e.g. Floral, Woody, Spicy, Fresh etc. People tend to stay with a certain scent family, either because it recreates happy memories, or simply because it stimulates their olfactory receptors. Olfactory receptors refer to the sense of smell.
Floral fragrances are the most popular family among female perfumes. They contain all the scents of beautiful flowers. It can range from a linear scent of one flower or a bouquet of flowers. Floral are very romantic perfumes and they are suitable for any age. Nina Ricci’s ‘Ricci Ricci’ is an example of a floral scent.
Fruity fragrances are bursting with ripe, fresh, edible fruity notes; they refresh and entice. It always gives you an urge to eat up the person wearing them (winks). They range from sweet concoctions of strawberries, apples and citrus like the DKNY Delicious perfumes.
Woody fragrances are more earthy and masculine. They are warm and dry smelling perfumes containing mossy and leathery notes. They leave you feeling invigorated, sensual, and sophisticated. Burberry Touch for Men, Prada D’Infusion Iris, Estee Lauder Sensuous, Versace Pour Homme are examples of woody perfumes.
Oriental fragrances are spicy, warming and exotic scents. They sit between the woody and floral families. Some oriental fragrances are YSL Belle D’Opium, D&G The One for Men.
Most times scents fall into more than one family, there is usually a cross over so you are likely to find Woody/Oriental, Oriental/Floral or Fruity/Floral.
Michael Edwards (Fragrance Expert and Author of Fragrances of the World), with his passion for fragrance developed the fragrance wheel which is one of the leading classifications used to assist in understanding how the fragrance families fit together. You can use the wheel to identify which family your favorite fragrance belongs to and this should give you an indication of other fragrances in the same group that would most likely suit your taste.
*Okusanya is the CEO of Perfume Colony. She can be reached viainfo@perfumecolony.com
