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 olfactory notes
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listed here are some of the terms commonly used in the difficult task of describing the quality and characteristics of a particular smell.
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| • amber | a heavy, full bodied, powdery, warm fragrance note.
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| • balsam | rich, sweet, resinous and warm notes associated with benzoin, tolu and peru balsams.
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| • camphor | the fresh clean cooling character displayed by eucalyptus but also present in the descriptions of the smells of rosemary, lavandin and many herbal notes.
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| • citrus | the fresh, slightly sour notes displayed by lemon, orange, grapefruit, and bergamot.
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| • earthy | notes that give the impression of earth, soil, the forest floor, mold and moss. earthy notes are clearly discernible in oakmoss absolute, vetivert and patchouli.
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| • floral | having flower based notes. indicates a note that is associated with smoothness and naturalness.
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| • flowery | resembling flowers or petals.
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| • fresh | a lightness often associated with green and citrus notes. fresh floral usually applies to a green floral such as found in lily of the valley and the top note of rose.
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| • fruity | (excluding citrus) refers to the sweet-sour edible fruit odors (e.g. apple, strawberry, pineapple, banana).
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| • fungal | odors suggestive of molds, mushrooms and fungi (e.g. oakmoss).
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| • green | the odor of fresh cut grass, leaves. green notes add lift and vibrancy to a fragrance composition and appear in most combinations to add naturalness.
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| • harsh | a crude, unbalanced, rough pungent odor, often "chemical" in character.
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| • heady | exhilarating, sparkling, stimulating; making one feel light headed.
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| • heavy | an odor which is intense, often sweet and balsamic but lacks lift and vibrancy.
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| • herbaceous | a note that is natural, cool, leafy, hay-like, perhaps a little therapeutic (e.g. lavender, chamomile, clary sage, rosemary).
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| • honey | an intense sweet medicinal note, heavy, syrupy, tenacious.
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| • mossy | the odor suggestive of the aromatic lichens, and mosses, primarily oak moss and tree moss, reminiscent of the forest floor.
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| • narcotic | the term used to indicate the intoxicating effect of some floral notes. notably jasmin, narcissus, tuberose, and ylang ylang.
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| • powdery | an effect produced when a heavier sweet or woody note is blended with a lighter note such as citrus, fruity or light green note. (e.g. mixing vanilla with lemon). the powdery notes associated with baby products are produced by mixing vanilla and balsamic notes with geranium and ylang ylang.
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| • spicy | piquant or pungent notes such as clove, cinnamon, and thyme, warming or hot in character.
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| • sweet | can be used to describe a fragrance that has richness and ambrosial characteristics associated with sweet taste. the evaluator should differentiate between a vanilla type sweetness, a floral sweetness or a fruity sweetness.
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| • woody | an odor which is linked to the aroma of freshly cut, dry wood such as cedarwood virginian and sandalwood or displaying these notes such as vetiver and patchouli.
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