Blog About Perfume

Back Notes
The back note is the third and last phase of a perfume’s life on the skin, or evaporation. It contains the lasting ingredients, such as woods, resins, animal and crystalline substances. In heavy perfumes (chypre and Oriental notes, for instance) the back note is so strongly accented that it is discernible in the top-note, or first impression.

Baies de Genièvre
French for juniper berry

Baies Rose
Pink peppercorns, from the tree schinus molle, also known as the Peruvian or California pepper tree. These are actually dried berries and not “true” peppercorns.

Balsam
Balsam is a sticky resin that leaks out of trees when they’re cut. It’s used in perfume to create a woody scent.

Balsam of Peru
A tree resin from Central America (El Salvador), it got its name because it was historically shipped from Peru. It has a vanilla and cinnamon scent.

Balsam of Tolu
Is a closely related to Balsam of Peru but the tree is grown farther south. It smells like vanilla and cinnamon.

Balsamic
Is a fragrance impression that can be described as sweet, soft and warm. They have a warm scent, and are popular in the Oriental group of fragrances, like Shalimar, Opium and Obsession. Balsamic notes result from the use of balsams and resins in perfume compositions.

Balsams
Are vicious secretions of plants that emerge when the plant’s outer layers are injured. The balsams do not require an extraction process prior to their being used in perfumery.

Benzoin
A balsamic resin from the styrax tree.

Bergamot
The tangy oil expressed from the nearly ripe, nonedible bergamot orange (a variety of bitter orange). The oranges are grown mostly in Italy and are also used to flavour Earl Grey tea.

Bigarade
A variety of bitter orange, also known as Seville orange. The zest is used to make the bigarade note used in perfumery.

Bitter
Is the fragrance impression that corresponds to bitterness in terms of taste. It is produced by a combination of roots (such as vetiver), herbs (such as wormwood), animal notes (such as in leather) and others. Bitter accents are to be found mainly in masculine fragrances.

Body
Body is a term used to refer to the main theme or heart of a perfume. It can also be used to refer to a perfume that’s well-rounded or full.

Bouquet
Bouquet is a term used to describe a mixture of floral notes. Often, the bouquet is the most important ingredient of the middle-note in a perfume. Bouquetting is the embellishment, harmonizing and rounding-off of a scent.

Glossary of Perfume Terminology (C)

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