Fragranova
Fragrance
Glossary
Longevity, sillage, EDP vs EDT, ambroxan, oud, dry-down — every term the community uses, defined without the marketing language. Cross-linked to example fragrances from the catalog.
Performance
4 termsHow long, how strong, how far it throws.
Longevity
How long a fragrance lasts on your skin before fading to nothing. Usually measured in hours from initial spray.
Sillage
The scent trail a fragrance leaves behind you as you move. Pronounced "see-yazh."
Projection
How far a fragrance throws — the distance at which someone else can smell you.
Skin Scent
A fragrance that wears very close to skin — minimal projection, intimate sillage, often a compliment magnet for the right reasons.
Structure
8 termsHow fragrances are built and read on skin.
Note Pyramid
The three-tier structure (top, middle, base) used to describe how a fragrance evolves over time on skin.
Top Notes
The bright, often-citrus notes you smell in the first 30 minutes before the fragrance settles.
Heart (Middle) Notes
The middle layer of a fragrance — usually florals, fruits, and soft spices that define its core character.
Base Notes
The long-lasting foundation of a fragrance — woods, musks, resins, ambers that linger for hours.
Dry-down
What a fragrance smells like 2–4+ hours after application, once the top and heart notes fade.
Accord
A blend of individual notes that read as a single olfactory "impression" — like a chord in music.
Olfactory Family
A high-level scent category — citrus, floral, woody, amber, gourmand, etc. — used to group fragrances by character.
Linear vs. Evolving
A linear fragrance smells the same all day; an evolving one moves visibly through top, heart, and base over hours.
Ingredients
6 termsNotable materials and what they smell like.
Ambroxan
A synthetic amber molecule used in nearly every modern fragrance — clean, slightly salty, ambergris-like.
Ambergris
A rare animal-derived material (from sperm whales) used historically as a fixative and base note. Almost all modern "ambergris" is synthetic.
Oud (Agarwood)
A dark, resinous note from infected aquilaria heartwood. Polarizing, heavy, signature of Middle Eastern perfumery.
Synthetic Materials
Lab-made aroma chemicals — the majority of modern fragrance ingredients. Cleaner, safer, more consistent than naturals.
Vanilla
The most-used sweet base note in perfumery — gourmand, comforting, polarizing only when overdone.
Musk
A class of materials with a clean, slightly animal, intimate character — found in almost every fragrance as a base note.
Concentration
2 termsEDP, EDT, Parfum — what the labels mean.
Technique & Culture
6 termsHow the community actually buys, samples, and talks.
Clone (Dupe)
A fragrance designed to smell similar to an existing, usually more expensive, original. Common in Middle Eastern and budget designer brands.
Inspired By
Industry phrasing used by clone-makers (and many discount retailers) to acknowledge a fragrance was designed to reference another.
Fragrance House
A brand or perfumer that produces fragrances. Can be designer (Dior, Chanel), niche (Amouage, Creed), or budget (Lattafa, Armaf).
IFRA Restrictions
The fragrance industry's self-regulation body that limits ingredient concentrations for safety. Why old reformulations can smell different from new ones.
Decant
A small sample of a fragrance, transferred from the original bottle into a 1–10mL atomizer. The cheapest legitimate way to sample.
Blind Buy
Buying a full bottle without smelling it first. High-risk, high-reward — only safe with strong reviews and known accord profiles.
Know the terms? Now find the fragrances.
8 questions · 6 personalized picks · 2 minutes.