When describing the scent of a perfume, there are multiple terms that are useful to know the scent the perfumer wanted to create. Here are the broad categories of scents.

Citrus

Citrus describes scents that relate to tangerines with a relatively fast evaporation rate. As a result, they’re often used as top notes. Dior Eau Sauvage is an example of a citrus perfume that features lemon, bergamot, and rosemary.

Fruity

Just as the name describes, fruity describes all fruit scents except for citrus (tangerines). Peach is the most common out of these. Tom Ford’s Bitter Peach focuses the scent of peach, highlighting the sweetness and tartness of peach.

Floral

Floral, one of the most popular and loved notes, describes flowery scents. Chanel No. 5 is the blend of floral notes that include rose, jasmine, and ylang-ylang. It’s one of the most loved perfumes until today.

Animal

Animal describes scents that can be captured from actual animals. However, due to laws, scents related to animals are all chemically created. Musk by Kiehl’s Original Musk, referred to as Love Oil, captures the uniqueness of animal notes.

Powdery

A powdery scent has a long vitality that usually makes you think of the scent of a baby powder. Mossy or earth scents describe scents that are created from mosses, soil, and molds on trees. Guerlain L’Heure Bleue is well-known for its soft, powdery scent with a blend of other notes.

Woody

Woody also describes scents related to a tree, but it solidly focuses on the scent that can be smelled from a tree. It’s typically a “heavy” type of scent, commonly smelled in a Buddhist temple. Tom Ford’s Oud Wood, a combination of multiple woody notes, is a great example of a woody perfume.

Leathery

Leathery describes scents related to an animal’s leather, which is typically smoky and dignified. Tom Ford’s Tuscan Leather is a fragrance that captures the bold and luxurious leathery note that is blended with saffron, raspberry, thyme, and black suede.

Misc.

Now, it’s time to dive into less well known terms.

Green describes a fresh green grass scent and a leaf.
Herbal describes an aromatic type of herb that is fresh. It can sometimes be felt that the scent is minty.
Just like its name, spicy represents spices like pepper, ginger, and cinnamon. Marine represents scents that describe a fresh ocean.
Aldehyde is a fragrance that is widely used like soap, detergent, floral and more. It can illustrate elegance.
Lastly, gourmand describes sweet scents like vanilla, caramel, and chocolate. It illustrates the warm and creaminess of a dessert.

This fragrance wheel gives you a glance at the different types of notes.

There’s no need to memorize every single term mentioned. However, if you were able to find a term that relates to the scent you want to find, don’t forget the term next time you go shopping for your perfume!

Different Types of Scents