Understanding Notes & Accords (Without the Jargon)
Citrus, amber, oud, fougère — fragrance vocabulary can feel like a foreign language. This guide decodes the families and notes so you can read any review with confidence.
5 March 2026 · 2 min read
Once you understand notes and families, fragrance reviews stop sounding like a secret code. Here's the map.
Notes vs accords
A note is one smell — bergamot, rose, vanilla. An accord is a combination that your nose reads as a single impression. "Amber" isn't one ingredient; it's an accord built from resins, vanilla and labdanum. Understanding this is the key that unlocks everything else.
The main fragrance families
- Fresh — citrus, aquatic, green. Clean and energising; great for Indian heat.
- Floral — rose, jasmine, tuberose. From soft and powdery to heady and lush.
- Woody — sandalwood, cedar, vetiver, oud. Dry, warm, grounding.
- Amber / Oriental — warm, sweet, spicy and resinous. Cozy, often winter scents.
- Fougère — the "barbershop" accord: lavender, oakmoss and coumarin. Classic and clean-shaven.
Notes with deep Indian roots
Our heritage notes
Many of perfumery's most prized materials are Indian: jasmine sambac (mogra), sandalwood (chandan), vetiver (khus), rose (gulab), and of course oud and the monsoon-soil note mitti attar (the smell of first rain on dry earth). When you smell these, you're smelling home.
How to "read" a fragrance pyramid
When a review lists top, heart and base notes, it's telling you the story over time, not what you'll smell all at once:
- Top = the first impression (fades in minutes).
- Heart = the personality (the main act).
- Base = the memory it leaves (lasts for hours).
A "spicy-sweet" base with cardamom and vanilla, for example, tells you the dry-down will be warm and cozy — perfect intel before you buy.
Putting it to use
Next time you read one of our reviews, glance at the accords and the notes pyramid first. You'll know within seconds whether a scent is your kind of thing — no sampling required to rule out the obvious mismatches.
Keep learning
Start with Fragrance 101 if any term here is new, then test your new vocabulary on our Designer and Niche reviews.
Frequently asked
What is the difference between a note and an accord?+
A note is a single smell building block (e.g. bergamot, rose, vanilla). An accord is a blend of several notes that the brain reads as one combined smell — like how 'fresh laundry' or 'amber' is actually many ingredients working together.
What does 'oud' smell like?+
Oud (agarwood) is a rich, woody, sometimes animalic and smoky note central to Middle Eastern and Indian perfumery. Real oud is rare and expensive, so most affordable 'oud' fragrances use synthetic recreations that lean clean and woody-sweet.
What are the main fragrance families?+
The big ones are Fresh (citrus/aquatic/green), Floral (rose, jasmine, etc.), Woody (sandalwood, cedar, oud, vetiver), Amber/Oriental (warm, sweet, spicy, resinous) and Fougère (the classic 'barbershop' lavender-and-moss blend).