Glossary

The words you'll meet in perfume reviews and on shop pages, in plain language.

Three different things people mix up

Longevityhow long it lasts on skin

Projectionhow far it radiates while you stand still

Sillagethe trail you leave as you walk

Independent: a scent can last all day yet stay close to the skin.

Note: The smallest building block of a fragrance: one recognisable smell, like one ingredient in a recipe.
Accord: A blend of notes the nose reads as one new smell, like a chord made of musical notes.
Top / Heart / Base: The three stages of a perfume on skin: the first impression, the main character, and the long-lasting foundation.
Dry-down: What a perfume smells like once the top notes have gone, usually after 30 to 60 minutes: the part you wear most of the day.
Sillage: The scent trail a fragrance leaves in the air as you move: what people notice after you have walked past.
Projection: How far the scent radiates from your skin while you stand still. The 'sillage / projection' votes on fragrance pages blend the two, so read them as overall reach.
Longevity: How long a fragrance lasts on skin. It depends on the ingredients, your skin, the weather and how much you spray, not only the concentration.
Family: The broadest way to describe a scent's overall character: floral, woody, amber, fresh, fougère, chypre, gourmand, leather.
Concentration: How much perfume oil is in the bottle (parfum, EDP, EDT, cologne). It affects strength and price, but the ingredients matter just as much for longevity.
EDP / EDT / EDC: Eau de parfum (about 15 to 20% oil), eau de toilette (about 5 to 15%) and eau de cologne (about 2 to 5%). The same name in two concentrations is often a different formula.
Parfum / Extrait: The most concentrated form, about 20 to 30% oil. Usually richer and closer to the skin rather than louder.
Flanker: A spin-off of a successful perfume that keeps its name: Intense, Elixir, Eau Fraîche, Sport... Each can smell quite different from the original.
Reformulation: When a brand quietly changes a perfume's formula, because of new IFRA rules, cost or scarce materials. It's why an old bottle can smell different from a new one.
Batch code: A short code printed on the box and the bottle that identifies the production run. The two should match; it can also reveal the production date.
Designer vs niche: Designer perfumes come from fashion and beauty brands (Dior, Chanel, Armani) and sell everywhere. Niche houses (Creed, Le Labo, Amouage) focus only on perfume, usually with bolder styles and higher prices.
Clone / dupe: A cheaper perfume, from another brand, made to smell like a famous one. Legal and often good, but it isn't the original and longevity varies.
Tester: The genuine perfume in plain packaging, made for shops to let customers try it. Usually cheaper; check the seller, since fakes are often sold as testers.
Decant: A few millilitres poured from a genuine bottle into a small atomiser: the cheapest way to try a perfume for days before buying.
Blind buy: Buying a perfume without smelling it first. Lower the risk by starting from notes and perfumes you already like.
Skin scent: A soft perfume that stays close to the body and smells like 'your skin, but better', often built on musks or Ambroxan.
Beast mode: Fan slang for a perfume with huge projection and longevity. Fun, but one spray too many fills a room.
Linear perfume: A perfume that smells almost the same from start to finish, with no clear top, heart and base. Brands then list its notes as a flat list.
Maceration: The resting time after the concentrate is mixed with alcohol, so the materials blend. Some fans also 'rest' a new bottle for a few weeks.
IFRA: The International Fragrance Association, which sets safety limits on materials (like oakmoss) to reduce skin allergies. Its rules drive many reformulations.
Absolute / essential oil: Natural extracts. An essential oil is distilled with steam; an absolute is extracted with solvents from delicate flowers and smells closer to the living bloom.
Attar / perfume oil: Perfume with no alcohol, in an oil base. It stays close to the skin but often lasts a very long time: the traditional form in Iran and the Middle East.
Olfactory fatigue: Your brain stops noticing a smell it meets all the time, including your own perfume. You stop smelling it; others still do.
Layering: Wearing two perfumes together to make a new combination, usually a simple one under a richer one.
Temperament (tab'): The traditional Persian idea of calling a scent 'warm' or 'cold'. It isn't chemistry, but it maps well onto how scents feel: spices, amber and oud feel warm; citrus, mint and aquatics feel cool.