Fragrance Families

There's a world of fragrance out there. Many of us who venture into it are looking for just one bottle of something, just a little accessory for day-to-day casual wear. What most people don't expect when they go out to buy a fragrance is the INCREDIBLE amount of choice. Every year, there are hundreds of new releases. That said, you can see why it is easy to feel bombarded with the overwhelming selection, to the point where you take pause and ask yourself : "where on earth am I supposed to start?"

I know. It was going to be an easy excursion, and what was supposed to be a fun diversion turned into a rather daunting experience. That's why I'm going to attempt to make it a bit easier, and the best way to simplify the search for the right fragrance is to split them all off into categories, or families. This way, when you go out and the sales associate asks if you need help, you will know what to ask for, instead of being lead for whatever they happen to be pushing this month (yes, when you go fragrance-shopping, they are told to promote specific things when a customer doesn't have anything in mind, and they're not always great choices).

The big categories are floral, oriental, chypre, and gourmand. There are sub-categories too, as well as fragrances that belong to two at once, creating a sort of hybrid category that stands alone (we'll look at a few of those too) so you can really get specific when you know what your tastes are. Here are the main families, with a few examples of subcategories.

• Oriental (Sometimes spicy, vanilla, insency. Generally warm, comforting scents. Good for cold weater.) 

• Floral (White florals, yellow florals, sweet florals, green florals, aldehydic florals.)

• Chypre (Mossy, earthy, not always sweet, but sometimes spicy and green, like being in a forest.)

• Gourmand (Smelling edible, like candy or desert. Sweet and delicious. Good for cold weather.)

• Floral Woody Musk (Musky, sometimes lightly sweet, woody.)

• Fruity Floral (A hybrid of floral and fruity scents. Sometimes sweet, very fruity, juicy, a bit floral, lovely for summer.)

Another way to approach that crazy fragrance counter is to separate the new releases from the classics. These are perfumes that have stood the test of time. They will likely be easier to find if you want to keep using the same perfume for years. Many new releases end up being discontinued after a few years. Here is a quick example. From left to right, you have Mitsouko and L'Heure Bleue, both by Guerlain, then N°5 by Chanel, and the iconic Shalimar, also by Guerlain. 

As you can see, they're all from the 1920s, but the truth is, it doesn't have to be that old to be considered a classic. Other classics that you can add to your test list could be Fracas by Robert Piquet (1970s), Coco by Chanel (1980s), Arpège by Lanvin (1920s again), Aromatics Elixir by Clinique (1975), Youth Dew by Estée Lauder (1953), Opium by Yves Saint Laurent (1977), L'Air du Temps by Nina Ricci (1948), Poison by Dior (1985), or Alien by Thiery Mugler, less than ten years old, released in 2005 and already a roaring success.

I hope this gives a few people some idea of where to start! 

Have a great day everyone, and thanks for reading!

A.