Online Catalogue |  Perfume Categories

Perfume Categories

This section aims to be our guide to the world of perfume and the categories the perfumers use to derive their creations.

Perfumes have always been categorised into fragrance families. Briefly, these comprise of Floral, Fruity, Aromatic, Woody and Oriental. These sections are simply sorted by what notes appear and in what order they are layered.
Most fragrances have an Aromatic Fougere Base, to which other notes are layered. Aromatic Fougeres are a universal group that include elements of most of the individual sub categories; for example they retain the refreshing qualities of Citrus based scents, Floral notes such as lavender, spicy and sweet textures of a Floral Oriental, the amber notes associated with Oriental perfumes and the aromatic Moss Woods and Sandalwoods of Woody fragrances.

This creates a perfume with a distinctive character to which notes within that category are added. However, some fragrances can also be described as being ‘Primary scents’ with one or a few main ingredients for a certain concept creating a central theme, some have been modified where a primary character is changed to include notes from another, such as fruity floral perfumes.

Floral Perfumes

Traditional Floral perfumes were one of the first perfume categories created and they remain one of the most popular perfume categories for women, with large numbers of floral perfumes created each year in this group.

Floral perfumes have a vast array of colours and flavours. They can be full creations taking many aspects of this huge range of scents, or simple odes to a particular flower. Floral perfumes continue to inspire, especially with modern technology that is now available to perfume houses. This technology offers perfumers the option to clone the essence of flowers from which no oils can be extracted and has led to a surge of new an interesting new scents, such as Givenchy Absolutely Irresistable.

Pictured Floral Perfume - Givenchy Absolutely Irresistable

Soft Floral Perfumes

The Soft Floral Category is diverse and often produces abstract and unusual fragrances. Most of the soft floral perfume group contains Aldehydes, a natural fragrance that forms part of the bouquet found in roses and citrus oils. On there own Aldehydes can smell quite sharp and metallic or burnt and waxy but when they are combined with floral notes they change the texture of these highly perfumed flowers, soften them and create subtle blossoms from full bouquets.

Animal, powdery or slightly woody notes often enhance the soft floral bouquet. The top note is a marriage of aldehydes and hesperidia, giving a lighter uality to the the fragrance thatn would be in the oriental or woody families.

Pictured Soft Floral Perfume - Dolce & Gabbana Pour Femme

Fruty Floral Perfumes

This is a relatively new category in the world of perfume and was born in 1995 with the launches of Versace Red Jeans, Tommy Girl and Eden to name but a few.

Since this date new fruity notes have blossomed in the world of perfumery and it has become one of the largest perfume categories, especially in the past 3 years. In these feminine and mouthwatering aromas, the floral body is easily identifiable and exceptionally feminine, given a sparkling, effervescent and often youthful quality by the obvious fruity notes tones. Popular fruity notes include apricot, raspberry, lychee, mango, strawberry, and apple.

Pictured Soft Floral Perfume - Christina Aguilera Inspire