Fragrance families
Fragrance families group perfumes by their overall scent character. Learn how floral, woody and other styles help with discovery without becoming fixed recipes.
Updated
Fragrance families group perfumes by broad scent character or compositional style. Floral, woody, citrus and ambery are familiar examples; chypre and fougère describe styles with more specific historical structures.
There is more than one classification system. A retailer, perfumer or reference guide may group the same fragrance differently, particularly when it blends several styles. A family label is a useful starting point rather than a complete description.
Use the family to narrow a search, then compare details such as sweetness, dryness and freshness. Liking a woody fragrance does not mean every woody fragrance will suit you, and a rose note does not automatically make the whole composition floral.
- Floral
- A broad group centered on flower impressions, from one flower to a blended bouquet.
- Woody
- A group emphasizing wood-like character, which can be dry, smooth, smoky or otherwise varied.
- Fresh
- A broad grouping used in some systems for citrus, green, watery and related effects.
- Ambery
- A broad family with warm, often sweet, resinous or woody character. Some older classifications use oriental.
- Chypre and fougère
- Historically defined style families with characteristic contrasts and accords, rather than single notes.
- Hybrid classification
- A description such as floral-woody that acknowledges more than one major part of the fragrance’s character.