How to choose your home fragrance: the 7 major olfactory families
The world of perfume can seem quite mysterious to those unfamiliar with its specific language. Olfactory families, top, heart, and base notes, fragrant accords, olfactory pyramids and facets – all enchanting enigmas. Take a deep breath and step behind the scenes of home fragrance… Here’s an overview of olfactory families.
What is an "olfactory family" in perfumery?
Fragrances, whether body perfumes or home fragrances, are composed of a vast array of ingredients of plant, animal, or synthetic origin. Today, perfumers have access to over 3,000 ingredients to compose their creations. While each perfume has its own unique sillage, it is possible to classify them according to their olfactory rendition. These different categories are called “olfactory families”.
An olfactory family is a category of perfumes sharing similar olfactory characteristics in their notes and accords. Olfactory families help to identify, describe, and classify perfumes. For the consumer, understanding olfactory families can be useful in choosing a perfume that suits their preferences and lifestyle. It can also help to identify perfumes similar to those they already love.
According to the most frequently used classification today, there are 7 major olfactory families:
- Aromatic Family
- Citrus Family
The characteristics of the 7 major olfactory families
To identify and classify the multitude of ingredients available to them, perfumers have defined 7 main olfactory families that are now a reference in the perfume industry. Woody, floral, citrus, aromatic, oriental, chypre, and fougère - what ingredients define each family?
The woody fragrance family
The woody fragrance family can be described as a rich and opulent family. It is characterized by woody scents that are more or less dry, damp, milky, smoky, earthy… depending on the essences used. The dominant ingredients in this category are sandalwood, patchouli, cedar, and vetiver. Guaiac wood and oud wood are also found here. These woody essences, typical of masculine perfumery, often make up the base notes of perfumes. Acting as an excellent fixative, they provide longevity and body to the perfumes that contain them.
Estéban woody home fragrances
Among our woody fragrances, we notably find our limited edition Pine and Sea Salt from the Indoor Gardens Universe, a marine woody fragrance where the freshness of sea spray blends with the warm and woody notes of the pine forest. Or Cashmere Wood and Ambergris, from our contemporary universe, a fragrance with warm woody notes and musky marine amber accords. Not to mention our mythical Cedar fragrance, fresh and invigorating woody like a walk in a Canadian forest.
The floral fragrance family
The soft and airy tones of a floral perfume immerse us in the innocence of tender youth, the romantic freshness of first loves, but that's not all! They can also become very heady and carnal depending on the varieties of flowers used. The olfactory family of floral perfumes is characterized by floral notes, often associated with fruity or powdery notes. Composed of ingredients such as rose, jasmine, tuberose, iris, ylang-ylang, or freesia, it is currently a very represented family in feminine body perfumery.
Estéban floral home fragrance
Our new Sandalwood & Coconut Blossom collection, which you can find in our Contemporary Universe, is the very expression of a floral fruity fragrance. Its unique accords of delicate and fresh coconut blossom create a romantic and feminine atmosphere, the velvety notes of sandalwood add an enveloping touch, while white musks infuse softness and sophistication.
The citrus fragrance family
Sparkling and luminous, the effervescent blend of citrus fruits that make up the Hesperides makes it a very fresh and invigorating family… Hesperides gathers essential oils obtained from the zest of citrus fruits such as bergamot, lemon, grapefruit, tangerine or sweet orange. A family with a light, fresh and tonic sillage, particularly pleasant for everyday use. This is the family (in particular) of the famous Eaux de Colognes that our ancestors would apply in a “splash” throughout the day for an assured shot of freshness.
However, the typical Hesperides scent having little body, citrus fruits are often associated with fruity (even sweet: peach, apple, pear, red fruits), floral, chypre, or woody facets, to ensure a certain durability for the perfume.
Estéban citrus olfactory families
Our Lemongrass & Mint home fragrance, from our Indoor Gardens Universe collection, is precisely part of this category. A fresh and citrusy breath, where the aromatic freshness of mint is deliciously enhanced by the sparkling trail of lemongrass, the natural pleasure of a refreshing duo to savor summer and its evenings.
Estéban fruity olfactory families
Also discover the full power of the fruity facets of our collections Black Fig, with notes reminiscent of both the juicy flesh of the fruit and the woody leathery facets evoking the Mediterranean tree; Vineyard Peach and Redcurrant where the sweetness of blackcurrant berries blends with warm and amber accords for a delightfully rounded trail.
The aromatic olfactory family
The fragrant wafts of a summer vegetable garden, the green and tender aroma of young shoots… the aromatic olfactory family is, as its name suggests, composed of aromatics such as sage, thyme, rosemary, or lavender. These types of notes are often placed in the top or heart notes of perfumes. The dynamic and powerful accents of aromatic perfumes make them predominantly masculine fragrances. To temper them, these notes are often enhanced with sparkling and light citrus notes, warmer and deeper woody notes, or even spicy notes for more incandescence.
Estéban aromatic home fragrance
Discover our new collection of fresh aromatic home fragrances, Linen & Petitgrain, the duality between a linen fiber accord crafted with essential oils of lavender, cypress, and vetiver, and the airy and zesty notes of Petitgrain essence, ensuring a sensory awakening.
The oriental olfactory family
The name of this family, which often brings together notes of vanilla, musk, amber, tobacco, spices, balms, and precious woods, refers to the traditional scents of the Middle East. Sweet, warm, and suave inflections particularly characterize these oriental fragrances. Intense, mysterious, and captivating, oriental accords integrate equally well into feminine and masculine perfumes. In feminine sillage, they are often accompanied by amber facets, spicy or floral accords, while they are more commonly supported by fresh aromatic notes in masculine perfumes.
Estéban oriental home fragrance
Our classic Legends of the Orient collection embodies this olfactory family. Discover a typically oriental fragrance with spices at the top, a floral heart, and an amber trail at the base. A creation with warm and sweet notes for a comfortable and sensual atmosphere at home.
The chypre fragrance family
Sumptuous materials, with intense, autumnal, and mysterious notes combine in the chypre family. Chypre perfumes traditionally combine an oakmoss base (which defines this olfactory family) and a succession of notes that are sometimes fresh (bergamot, lemon, mandarin), sometimes intense (patchouli and labdanum in particular), sometimes floral (jasmine, rose).
Chypre perfumes are fragrances with character, sophisticated and elegant, with a particularly identifiable sillage. Thus, they are often softened by accords that harmonize their composition, such as a fruity or floral hint.
Among the most famous chypre body perfumes are the classics: Aromatics Elixir (Clinique), Mitsouko (Guerlain) and No. 19 (Chanel).
The fougère olfactory family
A complex, fresh, and vegetal scented trail characterizes perfumes from the fougère family, the archetype of masculine perfume and the clean scent of shaving foam. The name of this family, derived from HOUBIGANT's Fougère Royale perfume (1882), can be misleading as it is not a literal retranscription of a fern but a combination of notes forming a complex accord. Lavender, oakmoss, vetiver, but also bergamot, geranium, or tonka bean are among the traditional ingredients of this accord. The category can be worked in different ways, sometimes amber, spicy, aromatic, or fruity. Often associated with masculine perfumes, some unisex and feminine perfumes also borrow its inimitable aromatic notes.
