Language of perfumery

The sense of smell has no language of its own to express the way we experience an odour. The understanding of the interaction between the nose and the brain is still the subject of scientific research and so no ‘definitions’ of smell exist.

Balancing between science and art the industry has drawn on many different analogies to try and effectively communicate each unique experience. Music lends many phrases to explain artistic attributes, for example – notes – to identify individual elements of a composition – accord – for a simple combination of notes that represents a new element. See our Glossary for other terms commonly used.

The ability to discuss the attributes of an odour is dependent on learned and shared experiences. Smelling a perfume is a very personal experience. It is most likely that we each smell the same perfume differently, based on a combination of biological and neurological processes that are affected by our past recollections of smells. In fact the way any perfume is perceived will differ with time of day, place and mood. Additionally, difficulty arises in that the world of perfumery ingredients extends beyond the realms of the everyday experience of most people and so it takes up to ten years of learning the odour of individual raw materials and how they interact with each other to become a perfumer.

By joining the Club you can enjoy a journey of exploration into this amazing world.