There are so many different ways to describe a fragrance and all of its aspects. Sometimes it feels like there is a neverending vocabulary.

Whether you’re a novice or a pro when it comes to fragrance, it feels like there is so much information to take in.

When you’re just starting out on your fragrance journey, it feels good to know some of the verbiage.

We’ve already shared an extensive list of fragrance terminology, and we’ve got even more for you to add to your repertoire.

Absolute - This references an ingredient that is a highly concentrated oil. It will be a more pure, intense version of an ingredient. Ex: Orris Absolute will be more potent that just Orris. 

Aromatic - This refers to a fragrance that is fresh, clean, and airy, and can have an herbal or metallic essence to them. These fragrances usually have notes of Lavender, Sage, Mint, Thyme, and even Metallic Accords or Ozonic Accords.

Balsamic - These are fragrances that are sweet, warm, and resinous or slightly smoking. These fragrances will typically have notes of Woods, Spices, and Vanilla, and will be smooth, velvety, and warm. Balsamic scents can also be described as balmy.

Barbershop - This describes a scent that is fresh, clean, invigorating, and sometimes a little bit soapy. It references a time when Men would go to the barbershop to get a clean shave and splash of fragrance. You smell like you’re fresh out of the Barbershop. 

Bouquet - This usually refers to floral fragrances, where there are so many flowers you can just say ‘floral bouquet’ to describe the overall floral aroma. It can also apply to basically any grouping of notes. A fragrance that has a ton of spices could be described as a ‘Spice Bouquet’, and so on. 

Bourbon - This term, unless listed in the fragrance pyramid as just “Bourbon”, it refers to a note that was sourced from the Island of Bourbon, or the Reunion Island, which is a French island off the coast of Madagascar. Ex: Vanilla Bourbon is Vanilla that comes from the Island of Bourbon, not Vanilla and liquor.

Clone(or Dupe) - This refers to a fragrance that was intended to smell like a bigger, more popular fragrance. Sometimes this can be a fragrance that was inspired by a popular scent and uses similar notes, other times it can smell like the clone/dupe was trying to copy the more popular fragrance. 

Cloying - This type of scent will be one that you don’t like. It invades your senses in a bad way, oftentimes making you scrunch up your face. It can be a scent that is too intense and rich, too potently sweet, or something that you feel is way too strong and you can’t wait to get it off your skin.

Concentration - This refers to the strength of a fragrance, or the percentage of oils that are in a fragrance. A concentration will be referring to Eau de Toilette, Eau de Parfum, Extrait, etc. 

Decant - This is another term for Sample. It more specifically refers to making a sample by spraying a fragrance into a sample vial straight from the tester bottle. 

Eau de Toilette - This describes a fragrance that has around 5-15% of the perfumed oils in a fragrance, and is one of the lighter versions of fragrance. The term translates to “Toilette Water” - not necessarily ‘Toilet Water’ -, but it’s a turn of phrase meaning ‘Grooming Water’ 

FBW - This stands for ‘Full Bottle Worthy”. It is usually used in fragrance forums for reviews. If someone says a fragrance is FBW it will mean that that fragrance is worth going out and buying in full size versus trying a sample first. 

Fragrance DNA - This refers to a group of fragrances having a similar style to each other. It can be fragrances that all come from one fragrance house, or that are all made by the same perfumer. It would be similar to saying a band has a specific sound, or an artist has a similar way they do their art.

Indolic - This describes a fragrance that has Indols in it, which is an organic compound that comes from flowers, typically Jasmine. An Indolic fragrance will have rich floral tones with an almost dirty, earthy, slightly animalistic quality, sometimes even being described as fecal. In most cases this is a good thing, and something that you will find enjoyment in once you’re farther along in your fragrance journey. Indols create a rich and intoxicating floral essence that feels very sexy.

Iso-E-Super - This is a synthetic molecule that has an Ambery essence. It’s pretty much undetectable on its own, but is smooth, velvety, and warm when blended into a fragrance. 

Jammy - This refers to a fragrance that is sweet in a way like jam or jelly. It usually has fruits and Rose and can sometimes feel too sweet. They usually have a warmth to them as well. Jammy scents can also be described as syrupy or maybe sugary.

Lactonic - This word comes from the Latin word for Milk(Lac), and refers to a fragrance that smells like Milk, has a Milky essence, or has a creamy vibe. These fragrances usually have some sort of Milk Accord in them, such as Coconut Milk, Fig Milk, Almond Milk, or are just listed as Milk. There is also usually Vanilla, Sandalwood, and/or Amber in the mix as well. 

Notes - This is referring to the ingredients found in a fragrance. 

Nose - This refers to the perfumer, or person who makes a fragrance. It can also loosely refer to any person who has trained their nose to have a very keen sense of smell and is really good at picking up individual notes in a fragrance. 

Petrichor - This describes a fragrance that smells like rain, or the earth after a heavy rain. These scents sometimes have a slight Vanillic essence to them, but generally smell sweet, damp, earthy, and comforting.

Resins - A fragrance that uses notes created from certain types of tree saps. Resins will give a fragrance warmth and depth. It can be velvety and rich, and it can be smoky. Popular resins used in fragrance are Myrrh, Frankincense, Benzoin, and Labdanum.

Skanky - A somewhat older word to describe a fragrance that is dirty and animalistic in a sensual way. 

Sparkling - This describes a scent that feels like it’s actually sparkling on the skin. These scents are effervescent, bubbly, fizzy, etc. This type of scent will usually have citrus and/or fruits in its composition. 

Solar - This refers to a fragrance that is meant to evoke sunshine. These scents are very summery, bright, can smell like vacation or sun-kissed skin. They’re usually made with citruses and/or fruits, flowers, tropical or gourmand notes, and sometimes salt and sand. 

Fragrance terminology is endless. We’ll continue sharing what we know with you, but we always love to hear if you have terms we may not have heard of.