Niche Perfume Glossary: Perfume Terms From A to Z

A niche perfume glossary explains the words used on bottles, boxes and product pages: how strong a perfume is, which family it belongs to, what notes and accords are, and how performance is described. This one runs from A to Z, with a dated source and a real example for the terms that carry one.

• Perfume words fall into four layers: concentration, family, notes and accords, and performance.
• Concentration ranges differ by source, and a name such as “Cologne” does not always tell you the strength.
• Many terms have a traceable origin, from Farina’s cologne in 1709 to Iso E Super in 1973.
• The full A to Z table is near the end of the page.

How to read a perfume description

Most product descriptions use the same four layers. Reading them in order makes any unfamiliar bottle easier to place.

• Concentration says how much perfume oil is in the liquid, from eau de cologne up to extrait.
• Family groups perfumes by overall character, such as amber, fougère or citrus.
• Notes and accords name the materials and the blends you smell.
• Performance covers sillage, projection and longevity.

The sections below follow that order, then cover trade and collector words. Every entry stays short and points to a longer page where one exists.

Concentration terms

Concentration is the share of aromatic compounds in the liquid. One academic source gives parfum as 15% to 30%, eau de parfum as 8–15%, eau de toilette as 4% to 8% and eau de cologne as 2% to 5%⁵. The Perfume Society gives extrait as 20-30%, eau de parfum as 8-15%, eau de toilette as 4-8% and cologne as 2-4%⁶. Ranges vary by source, so treat them as guides. The same trade body adds that different concentrations may have differing notes, not simply be weaker or stronger⁶. Our concentrations chart covers each level in detail.

Extrait de parfum

The strongest common concentration, also written parfum, extrait or extract. Baccarat Rouge 540 Extrait by Maison Francis Kurkdjian is the extrait de parfum version of Baccarat Rouge 540. Scento customers chose the extrait above the eau de parfum of the same perfume: the extrait ranks #6 in Europe and the eau de parfum #23 (Scento Fragrance Index, Oct 2025 – Sep 2026, ranks by paid units).

Eau de parfum

The most common middle concentration, often shortened to EDP. A name can mislead here. Creed says that, despite the implication of its name, Aventus Cologne stands firmly as an eau de parfum thanks to its high concentration of fragrance oils⁷. “Cologne” in a name is not a strength.

Eau de toilette

A lighter concentration, often shortened to EDT, sitting between eau de parfum and eau de cologne in the ranges above. Because the label alone does not show how it wears, the concentration is worth reading alongside the notes.

Eau de cologne

The lightest of the classic levels, and also a category with a date of birth. Farina says that in 1709 Johann Maria Farina combined bergamot and other citrus oils with pure alcohol for the first time and named the result Eau de Cologne, a name that later became the term for an entire fragrance category¹. Acqua di Parma says its Colonia, from 1916, was Italy’s first Eau de Cologne⁸.

Fragrance families

Michael Edwards’ Fragrances of the World started in 1983 as a guide for retailers listing 323 fragrances, and his Fragrance Wheel explains the relationship between 14 fragrance families³. These are the families that come up most often in niche perfumery.

Amber

The family once widely called oriental. Guerlain says Shalimar, composed in 1925, founded the family of amber fragrances, and calls it the first amber perfume in history⁹. Shalimar Eau de Parfum by Guerlain is described by the house as composed between bergamot and vanilla⁹.

Fougère

French for fern, although a fern has no perceptible scent. The family takes its name from Fougère Royale, composed by Paul Parquet in 1882 for Houbigant and built on lavender, synthetic coumarin and oakmoss².

Chypre

The family takes its name from Chypre, composed by François Coty in 1917 and built on bergamot, labdanum and oakmoss¹⁰. Osmetheca names the Coty Chypre of 1917 alongside Fougère Royale and Jicky (1889) as anchoring the lineage of compositions that brought synthetics into fine perfumery².

Citrus and hesperidic

Fresh citrus-led perfumes, the family that grew out of the eau de cologne tradition described above. Hesperidic is the trade word for citrus materials such as bergamot, the starting point of Farina’s 1709 blend¹.

Floral and soliflore

A soliflore is a perfume built around a single flower. Frédéric Malle describes Carnal Flower by Dominique Ropion as exalting a natural tuberose absolute in very high concentration¹¹. Its notes include melon, tuberose, white musk and milky notes.

Woody

Perfumes led by cedar, sandalwood, vetiver and similar materials. Maison Francis Kurkdjian classes Baccarat Rouge 540 as amber woody floral, so families often overlap¹². A family describes the dominant character of a perfume, not a single material, which is why a woody perfume can still carry florals.

Gourmand

Perfumes that smell edible. Angels’ Share by Kilian, from its Liquors line, opens with cognac oil upon oak absolute, cinnamon essence and tonka bean absolute¹³. Angels’ Share ranks #17 in Europe in the Scento Fragrance Index, Oct 2025 – Sep 2026.

Notes, accords and materials

Notes are the individual smells you pick out, arranged as top, heart and base in the fragrance pyramid. The words below describe how those notes are made and combined.

Accord

Several materials blended so they read as one smell. Maison Francis Kurkdjian lists an ambergris accord (woody amber) and a cedar accord in Baccarat Rouge 540, launched in 2014 in only 250 numbered crystal bottles¹². The classic fougère accord is lavender, coumarin and oakmoss².

Absolute

A concentrated aromatic extract taken from a flower or other plant material. Carnal Flower and Angels’ Share both name absolutes in their descriptions, as quoted above.

Aroma molecule and synthetic

A single material made in a laboratory or isolated from nature. Escentric Molecules says Iso E Super does not exist in nature and was created in a laboratory at IFF in 1973, and that Escentric 01 focuses on Iso E Super at 65% of the fragrance compound⁴. The same source calls Escentric 01 a tight edit of 18 ingredients⁴.

Coumarin

A material isolated from the tonka bean in 1820 and reproduced in the laboratory by William Henry Perkin in 1868².

Fixative

Herz defines fixatives as natural or synthetic substances used to reduce the evaporation rate, increase perceived odour strength and improve stability⁵. The same source gives the typical solvent as 98% ethanol and 2% water⁵.

Oud

Also called agarwood. A CITES Plants Committee document explains that the trees produce a dark aromatic resin in response to infection by a type of fungal mould, and the resin-embedded wood is called agarwood¹⁴. Aquilaria malaccensis was listed in Appendix II of CITES in 1995, and all other agarwood-producing species of Aquilaria and Gyrinops followed in 2004¹⁴. The same document records prices of up to US$2 million per kg of woodchips for the highest quality agarwood¹⁴. Oud for Greatness by Initio Parfums Privés is an oud-led example. Our oud guide goes further.

Attar

An oil-based perfume from India. Kannauj Perfume is a registered geographical indication of India, certificate 203 dated 31 March 2014¹⁵. A DC-MSME cluster report on Kannauj says attar is made by the traditional Deg and Bhapka method, a kind of hydro distillation, with the vapour condensing into sandalwood oil¹⁶. It counts about 375 units in the cluster, with attar contributing around 57% of total cluster revenue¹⁶. See our guide to Indian attars.

Performance terms

These describe how a perfume behaves on skin, not what it contains.

• Sillage is the trail a perfume leaves behind you, from the French word for wake.
• Projection is how far the scent radiates from the skin while you wear it.
• Longevity is how long the scent stays detectable.
• Drydown is the final stage, once the opening notes have faded.
• Skin scent is a perfume that sits close to the body. Escentric Molecules says Iso E Super hovers close to the skin⁴.

Our pages on longevity versus sillage and what sillage means explain how to judge each one.

Industry and collector terms

Niche and designer

Niche usually means independent, selective houses; designer means houses tied to fashion labels. In the Scento Fragrance Index, niche houses made up 65% of the perfumes customers bought and designer houses 35% (Oct 2025 – Sep 2026, Scento house perfumes excluded). Niche rose from 61% in the first half to 66% in the second. Our niche versus designer guide compares the two.

Flanker

A variation released under an existing perfume’s name. Creed says Aventus was first unveiled in 2010 and that it debuted Aventus Cologne in 2019⁷. Aventus ranks #2 in Europe in the Scento Fragrance Index, Oct 2025 – Sep 2026.

Maceration

Letting a blend rest so its materials marry. Creed says Aventus ingredients are hand weighed and left to macerate, a method it describes as unique to the house¹⁷.

Batch code

A printed code identifying the production batch of a bottle. Our guide to batch codes explains how to read them.

Other trade terms

A maison is a perfume house. Reformulation is a change to a formula after launch. A blind buy is purchasing a perfume without smelling it first. A signature scent is the one perfume a person wears most consistently. Millésime borrows the wine word for a vintage and marks a perfume tied to a year.

The A to Z glossary table

How we compiled this

Dates, ranges and quotations come from the sources below, all read on 30 October 2026, and are attributed where a maker is describing its own perfume. Definitions without a source marker are plain-language explanations. Example perfumes were chosen to illustrate a term, not to rank. Scento figures come from the Scento Fragrance Index for October 2025 to September 2026, paid orders shipped across Europe, shown as shares and ranks only.

Sources

1. 1The History of the Original Eau de Cologne, Farina 1709.
2. 2Fougère Royale, founding fougère by Paul Parquet for Houbigant, Osmetheca.
3. 3Reference Book, 33rd edition, Fragrances of the World (Michael Edwards).
4. 4Escentric 01 Fragrance 100ml, Escentric Molecules.
5. 5Herz, R.S., Perfume, Neurobiology of Sensation and Reward, chapter 17, NCBI Bookshelf.
6. 6Cologne to Parfum: your quick-read, easy guide to scent strengths, The Perfume Society.
7. 7What Is The Difference Between Aventus & Aventus Cologne?, Creed.
8. 8About us and Parma: Italy’s perfume capital, Acqua di Parma.
9. 9Shalimar and history, Guerlain.
10. 10Chypre (Coty), Osmetheca.
11. 11Carnal Flower by Dominique Ropion, Frédéric Malle.
12. 12Baccarat Rouge 540 press kit, Maison Francis Kurkdjian.
13. 13Angels’ Share, Kilian Paris.
14. 14Agarwood-producing taxa (Aquilaria spp. and Gyrinops spp.), PC22 Doc 17.5.1 Rev.1, CITES.
15. 15GI Application 157, Kannauj Perfume, Geographical Indications Registry, Intellectual Property India.
16. 16Kannauj Attar & Essential Oil cluster diagnostic report, DC-MSME.
17. 17Aventus Collection, Creed.