Classification
The olfactory families
Perfumers sort fragrances into families according to their dominant accord. A single perfume can belong to several, and that is where its nuance comes from.
Woody 445 perfumes 
Oriental / Amber 412 perfumes 
Aromatic 267 perfumes 
Fruity 227 perfumes 
Spicy 129 perfumes 
Citrus 119 perfumes 
Fougère 107 perfumes 
Chypre 100 perfumes 
Gourmand 91 perfumes 
Musky 85 perfumes 
Aquatic 64 perfumes 
Leather 32 perfumes 
Powdery 29 perfumes 
Green 26 perfumes 
How to read an olfactory family
An olfactory family describes the accord that dominates a perfume, not its list of notes. A floral can contain vanilla and a woody scent can hold a rose. What matters is what your nose remembers after an hour on skin. Professional classifications, such as the one from the French Society of Perfumers, count seven main families. We use fourteen, closer to the words people actually use when shopping: gourmand, powdery, musky or aquatic say more than technical sub-families.
Each family page gathers the perfumes from our encyclopedia that belong to it, with their most frequent notes and the houses that handle it best. A perfume sits in several families when its accord is double: N°5 is floral and powdery, Angel oriental and gourmand, Terre d'Hermès woody and spicy. To choose, start from a perfume you already like, look at its families, then explore the others that share them.
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