In our world, no family is perfect but when it comes to the world of scent it’s a completely different story. We use ‘families’ to categorise ingredients, smells. So what are they and why is knowing your scent family such a cool thing?
Traditionally we’re used to categorising what we like, be it books, films, movies or music. And most of us, without knowing it, find ourselves wearing perfumes and buying candles that all have a similar scent.
That’s because we’re naturally drawn to fragrances that resonate with us.
Knowing your scent family can be a really useful insight when buying scented candles, perfumes and fragrances.
Understanding whether you’re a Woody, Floral, Citrus, Spicy or even gourmand person will help you find love at first sniff without the need to smell every single item on the shelf.
An easy way to find out what scent family you may already be in is to google a few fragrances you love. This will tell you what the notes are. You’ve probably heard of Top Notes, Middle Notes and Base Notes. Find out what they are and you’ll get a great idea of similarities – scent families that you like.
For many years I would very confidently say “I am not a floral girl” much to my surprise when I googled the fragrances I love: Flowerbomb (I should have twigged at this one), Miss Dior, Tendre Poison and Jean Paul Gaultier La Femme all have floral undertones as well as Vanilla and Oriental woods.
I love my woods. That’s where I would have put my scent family so to find out that almost all of my favourite fragrances are floral – insert complete surprise – There is nothing more calming than burning Sandalwood, Cederleaf or OUD yet all perfumes I have are placed in the Floral-Oriental family.
However, knowing this opened my eyes to the possibilities of new perfumes and candle scents that I might love and shopping for these is now so much more fun. I’m loving Orange. It’s my new scent. And Lemongrass. That is the cleanest, freshest smell that is so uplifting I burn it every morning while I make a cuppa tea and do breaky.
So go on. Have fun today and google your favourite perfumes and check out what their similarities are in the fragrance world.
If anything, it’s a good excuse to go out and buy new fragrance and scented candles, all in the name of research.
