Classification by scent of all the thousands of perfumes and fragrances on the market poses quite a challenge - it's no easy task to describe a smell!

Some of the words we use today in describing fragrance, using musical terminology like chords, notes, and harmony, owe their origin to a 19th century perfumer named Charles Piesse, who devised a fragrance classification system that tried to relate a specific fragrance odor to a specific music note, and thus the mixing of perfume odors to corresponding musical chords. The system failed, but the terminology stuck.

William Poucher is credited with inventing the current "fragrance pyramid" method of describing a fragrance, with top notes, middle or heart notes, and base notes, in use since the 1920's. He measured the evaporation rates of perfume ingredients, and arranged them on a scale of 100, with the fastest evaporating ingredients ranking closer to the top.

The fragrance pyramid describes the volatility of the fragrance ingredients, or how quickly they fade away. The top note, the lightest of the notes, creates your first encounter with the fragrance, and is designed to be a fleeting impression. Then the heart notes of the fragrance begin to develop, as the fragrance interacts with the chemistry of your skin. Finally, the base notes, derived from the ingredients with the highest molecular weight, begin to emerge. Only then will the true personality of the fragrance reveal itself.

Still, a common theme will run through a quality fragrance, blending together all the parts, just like a symphony... whoops, there's that musical terminology again!

Although no true universally acknowledged system of categorizing perfumes exists, in recent years, the august French Society of Perfumers has defined fragrance families, categories, and subcategories that are generally recognized by perfumers.

Common women's categories are:

• Floral - This is the largest category, and it includes fragrances who's primary ingredients are derived from flowers such as jasmine, rose, violet, carnation, orange-blossom, gardenia, ylang-ylang, etc.

  Examples:   Carolina Herrera,   Paris,   White Diamonds

  Subcategories:

  Floral-Green Floral-Ambery Floral-Fruity Floral-Citrus Floral-Woody

  Example:   Bvlgari,  Chanel 19 Example:   Adrienne Vittadini Example:   Amarige,   Baby Doll Example:   Curve Example:   Romance,  L'Eau D'Issey,  1881 Cerruti

• Oriental - Generally full-bodied compositions that create an exotic, warm impression due to the inclusion of ingredients like spices, musk, balsams and resins.

  Example:   Shalimar,     Royal Secret,     Contradiction

  Subcategories:

  Oriental-Citrusy Oriental-Ambery Oriental-Spicy Floriental Oriental-Gourmand

  Example:   Candies Example:   Obsession Example:   Opium Example:   Wings,   Hugo Woman Example:   Casmir,   Angel,   Wish

• Chypre - pronounced "sheepra", French for "Cyprus" and first used by François Coty to describe his impression of aromas he encountered on the island of Cyprus. He created a woodsy, mossy, citrusy perfume named Chypre, which is no longer made, but the word is still used to describe fragrances that are made in that style. Chypre fragrances generally owe their soft, sweet, earthy natures to ingredients like bergamot, oakmoss, citruses, and that 60's favorite, patchouli (making a comeback!).

  Example:   Y,   Dalimix

  Subcategories:

  Chypre-Fruity Chypre-Floral Chypre-Animalic

  Example:   Femme Example:   Paloma Picasso,   Fendi Example:   Miss Dior,   Ysatis

• Citrus - These are compositions where the inclusion of citrus fruits like lime, lemon, tangerine, mandarin and bergamot (often called hesperides) are blended to create a fragrance that has effervescent or exhilarating qualities. More common in men's fragrances, but increasingly popular in women's, too. One of the oldest fragrance categories, dating back to ancient times.

  Example:   CK One

  Subcategories:

  Citrus-Floral

  Examples:   Jess

• Fougère - pronounced "foozh-air", French for "fern", these are fragrances with fresh, herbaceous notes on a mossy fernlike base.

  Example:   Cool Water

• Green - These are compositions where the predominant notes are derived from green plant parts and notes such as pine, juniper, grass, leaves, and herbs.

  Example:  Safari,  Bvlgari Extrême

Hi perfume fans! I frequently receive letters asking what is an edt, what is an edp, and what is the difference between them.

Perfume is a combination of fragrant oils diluted in a high-grade alcohol in a concentration containing about 15-25 percent oil, the alcohol being about 90-95 percent pure. This is a parfum. Any mixture with a lower proportion of oil to alcohol is an eau (water).

There are different strengths of eau, their names measure the strength of a fragrance, or what percent of pure perfume oil the product contains. It does not affect the smell (they will smell the same) but will affect how long the fragrance will last on your skin.

EDC - Eau de cologne is the least concentrated form of a fragrance
           (2 - 5% perfume oil dissolved in water and alcohol), then comes...
EDT - Eau de toilette (4 - 10%), followed by....
EDP - Eau de parfum (8 - 15%), and finally the most concentrated....
PARFUM or Perfume (15 - 25%).

Since the perfume oil is the expensive ingredient, price goes up accordingly with the strength.

Sometimes, manufacturer's will come up with other terms to define a fragrance strength, such as "parfum de toilette", "millisime", etc. Where these strengths fall depends on the company using the term. For example, "parfum de toilette", will usually fall between an eau de parfum and parfum, but some might use this term for an eau de toilette. By comparing the formulas within a line with regard to each other, you can usually determine how the company is designating their formula strengths.

But "professuer de parfumes" Roja Dove, perfume expert for the renowned Paris perfume house of Guerlain for the last 20 years, says these strength designations can be misleading. On his lecture tours, he works to debunk the popular notion that perfumes are much stronger than eau de toilettes.

"Eau de toilettes are strong because they're meant to refresh you," Dove said. "You know how women always say they can't smell their perfume after a while? Eighty percent of [eau de toilette] disappears in three hours. Perfume has a softer smell but it lasts up to 24 hours."

Which brings me to another complaint I often hear: "I love that fragrance, but it just doesn't last on me."

I must admit to not understanding why this is a problem, perhaps because I carry my fragrance of the day around with me so that I can...
Reapply! Fragrances aren't meant to to last all day, and after a few hours, they won't smell the way they are supposed to anyway, so enjoy your fragrance EDT's, spritz them on lavishly and often!

Check back soon!   Still to come:

• Finding the Right Perfume for You
• Perfume Ingredients
• Leading Perfume Designers
• Fragrance Bottle Designers
• History of Perfume

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