What is your fragrance profile?

Hi all! 👋

i did not find another thread about this so i started one 🙂

My personal fragrance profile can best be described as a rich blend of woody, oriental, fresh, and sometimes smoky elements. I enjoy scents that exude complexity and luxury, with a beautiful balance between intense, deep notes and refreshing accents. Spices like cinnamon and saffron, as well as woody notes such as oud, cedarwood, and sandalwood, are essential to me. Additionally, I’m drawn to the smoky, mysterious facets that some perfumes offer, while appreciating the refinement of citrus and herbs that give a fragrance liveliness and elegance.

Here are some specific notes i find attractive, based on my perfume Collection:
1. Oud & Woody Notes
- Oud: A key component in many of the fragrances you mention, such as Oud Wood Eau de Parfum and Ombre Nomade . It's a deep, intense note often associated with luxury and mystery.

- Cedarwood, Sandalwood: These woods provide a warm, soft foundation in fragrances like Le Vestiaire - 37 Rue de Bellechasse and Nouveau Monde , helping balance the strength of other ingredients.
2. Oriental/Spicy Notes

- Spices & Herbs: In fragrances like Nouveau Monde and Ombre Nomade , spices like saffron and cinnamon play a large role. These notes create a warm, sensual, and mysterious atmosphere.

3. Citrus & Fresh Notes
- Citrus: Scents like L'Immensité and Aventus feature a fresh citrus note that provides a lively opening. Lemon, bergamot, and grapefruit are typical of these fresh, invigorating fragrances.

- Green Notes: Think of green or grassy tones found in fragrances like Aventus , which add a touch of freshness and liveliness.
4. Floral & Lively
- Floral Notes: In Oud Wood Eau de Parfum , for example, floral elements like rose and jasmine play a subtle role, adding a refined, feminine touch.

- Amber and Musk: These notes provide warmth and depth, like in Ombre Nomade and Oud Wood Eau de Parfum , contributing to the fragrance’s lasting power.

5. Smoky and Leathery Notes
- Leather: This note appears in fragrances like Nouveau MondeOmbre Nomade creating a sensual, luxurious scent experience that feels bold and refined.

My Personal recommended Notes for Future Purchases:

- Oud; (for depth and mystique)
- Cedarwood and Sandalwood; (for warmth and softness)
- Spices like saffron, cinnamon, or pepper; (for an oriental sensation)
- Citrus like bergamot or grapefruit; (for a fresh start)
- Musk and amber; (for longevity and luxury)
- Leather characteristics; (for a bolder, adventurous scent)

In short, my preference leans towards scents that are rich, deep, and intense, yet always with a fresh, refined opening and a luxurious, complex structure that gives the fragrance a timeless charm.

what´s yours? 🙂

Hi, I find this the hardest question ever, like I find it hard when - in a perfumery - I am asked "What do you like?".

I think I don't like perfumes that do have a very distinct scent profile actually...

I don't like anything '...forward', like 'rose forward'; 'sandalwood forward'; 'vanilla forward', 'iris forward', 'citrus forward'...etc.

For instance: I find Samsara Eau de Parfum a beautyful perfume, but I can't stand it for longer than one hour because I find the sandal wood really exhausting after one hour of wear. Same is when wearing Nahema Eau de Parfum (which I gave to my niece) which has a very distinct rose. I find it beautyful too, but...exhausting because of that distinct rose.

All I can say is that I prefer lemon and bergamot over citrus when it comes to fresh summer scents and vanilla (up until now) I only love as a guerlinade (except in Shalimar where I find the vanilla too distinct) for the rest it is all about 'the blend' for me...

It is a hard question i agree to that.. but the in end it should allways be "i´ll wear/buy what i like" 😄

Exactly 😀I do like your thread and question though, I'm just not able to answer it .

Thanks. I also made this thread to get insight from other people and to discover different iscents ( because scent is so personal) 😁

@Agonoize I see you gravitate towards oriental scent profiles, maybe it's time to experiment with real oud? I would suggest Amouage - not an artisanal brand, so still affordable.

Here are my most prominent scent profiles/notes:

Oriental notes - frankincense, amber, myrrh, benzoin

Woody notes - agarwood (mainly assam), sandalwood, gaiacwood, cedarwood

Spicy notes - cardamom, saffron, cinnamon, pimento

Animalic notes - ambergris, castoreum, civet, musk

Other notes: patchouli, leather, vetiver, tobacco, bergamot, grapefruit, cumin

I do own Amouage tho. But real Oud i´m not sure i can handle that ( too heavy i think) 

Which ones do you have? Oud essence is used in minuscule dosages in mass-produced fragrances. Sure there's the barnyardy kick, but nothing you can't handle if you enjoy Ombre Nomade.

Artisanal oud is the final step, I'm not there yet after 8 years in this hobby.

@Wusubi these 2 Reflection Man & Jubilation XXV Man

harder than Ombre Nomade is doesn´t have to go for me tho 😆

Oh I see.

Well, I would still suggest sampling Opus XIII - Silver Oud, Opus XV - King Blue and Luxor.

Or you could look at Bortnikoff with more focus on florals and oud.

Trust me, I used to feel the same about oud. Treat it as experience points for your olfactory hahaha.

Hmmm, that's a tough one for me to articulate. I know what's not in my profile: prominent florals, lipsticky iris, sweet or very powdery fumes. Although, in my sampling journey, I have found some sweet scents I like. In general, I could copy @Wusubi 's profile - I like strong, traditionally masculine scents - spicy, woody, oriental, leather, tobacco, smoke and the stinky animalics and oud. BUT I also like blue, citrusy and aquatic fragrances, especially for summer. I also tried a modern fragrance (that is, metallic, mineral - Super Nova ) and really liked it. I guess I'm sorta eclectic and pretty much willing to try anything except for the dislikes I mentioned above.

I´ll put them on my list thanks m. It´s gonna cost me money whenever i test Amouage 🤣

I must say I absolutely adore almost all genres of fragrances, my taste is super wide. But if I should choose only one type of fragrances that is my number one favourite of all time, I would probably say tropical-marine-sunny-fruity. The ones that make you think of a hot sunny day on the beach of a gorgeous tropical island.

@Agonoize I never tested LV, Nouveau Monde looks great. I see my beloved Assam oud, but how's the cocoa?

You should give it a try. I can´t descibe it that good but if you would pass me on the street. That would be a major "headturner" for me (i would be sad not knowing what the name of the scent is. It is that Good 😎 ( to me it smells better than Ombre Nomade )

I gravitate towards fresh scents and soft scents. The majority of my collection are summer freshies like Un Jardin sur le Nil , AnOther 13 Eau de Parfum , Aqua Media Cologne Forte , Orange Sanguine , but I don’t prefer such scents in cooler seasons, nor do I prefer many traditional winter scents. So the second part of my collection is made up of soft musky skin scents like L'Eau Papier Eau de ToiletteYou Doux and White Rice . I keep trying to branch out but no matter how many I try, the ones I end up enjoying the most fall into these categories.

I can relate to that to a certain point. My favourite perfumes are also either for all seasons or more for spring and summer. I don't like the more 'warm' perfumes, I love some brightness and 'tingeling'.... Too bad, because I hate winter and having a good scent especially for winter, might have given me some comfort or could even make me look forward to winter .

Fresh-(white)florals that may or may not have fruity/citrusy tertiary notes. Usually not too complex. If I have to reapply after 2 hours, that's simply the drawback for not being into the heavier fragrances.

Love (modern) Fougeres and creamy fragrances, both warm and fresh

Chypre, with a soft spot for green.

Hi everyone!

My top scent profile is woody, followed by white floral, followed by dark fruity, then amber oriental. My top scents in these genres are: Stash SJP, Do Son, Feminite du Bois, and Ambre Sultan.

The weirdest, most wonderful scent I've smelled recently is Francesco Smalto Eau de Toilette - it's an anisic herby smoky fougere from the late 70s and popular in the 80s, I think, and it's super powerful. Very different from what's out right now. I would wear it, but I have too many scents.

@Smirky you mentioned that you like spicy, woody and oud, do you have something good, weird or all of the above that you're liking these days?

Hard to pin down. Right at the moment, I'm like a cat rolling in a basket of catnip whenever I wear any of the Amouage Opus scents that I have. That is, Opus XIII - Silver Oud , Opus XV - King Blue and Opus XIV - Royal Tobacco . For weird, that would be Unutamam .

On the shopping list, in the good category: Opus VII - Reckless Leather and Afrika-Olifant. Weird would be Stercus .

I didn't realize I was so picky until thinking about this question quite a bit further.

My profile would likely be Woody (not oud), slightly sweet (not too much), powdery (not baby powder, but like barbershop talcum powder). The powder, for example, might be realized in Amber pour Homme Eau de Toilette if you are familiar.

Additional restrictions would be:

White florals but they can't be too prominent because they can be too much.

Citric notes and this is the finest line because if done poorly it can smell like pee, and if done right, it can be very uplifting.

Woody, but as I said earlier, no oud. I'm trying to enjoy oud more, but so far, I really am not into it unless it's a really minor player. Maybe I'm put off because of how it's presented in Nebulous . Although I do like the house, and some of their scents, that one is remarkably bad, the oud is like baby diaper that's been crapped into with maybe a few rose petals on top. Sorry for the scenery there.

And, if there's cedar, there can be no lemon. They just don't play well together for my nose.

Examples of scents that fall under this overall umbrella one way or another:

L'Homme , Reflection Man , Green Irish Tweed , Himalaya and many others (One of my shelves is Top 10 as of Dec 2024 if you're interested).

I love Ganymede Eau de Parfum as well, and I think it's probably the weirdest of my top 10.

I feel you because I don't like scents that are "spicy"