Glossary
The perfumery vocabulary, defined.
31 terms buyers and formulators meet on every price list, specification and certificate — defined plainly.
- Absolute
- A concentrated, alcohol-soluble extract made by washing a concrete or resinoid in ethanol, chilling and filtering out the waxes, then removing the ethanol.
- Accord
- A blend of a few materials that together create a single new impression — a leather, an amber, a fig. The perfumer’s building block.
- Allergen declaration
- A document listing which regulated fragrance allergens a material contains, and at what concentration, so a finished product can be labelled correctly.
- Aroma chemical
- A single odorous molecule, made by synthesis or isolated from a natural source, and identified by its CAS number.
- Attar
- A traditional, alcohol-free perfume oil. Classically, flowers or earth hydro-distilled into sandalwood oil; today the word also covers concentrated perfume oils in the same style.
- Base
- A ready-made composition, built by a specialist house, used as a single ingredient — an oud base, a musk base, a rose base.
- Base note
- The slow-evaporating materials — woods, resins, musks — that remain on skin or strip for hours and form the dry-down.
- Captive
- An aroma molecule whose production is restricted to the company that developed it, usually for a period after its discovery.
- CAS number
- The Chemical Abstracts Service registry number: a unique numerical identifier for a chemical substance or, for naturals, for a defined extract.
- CITES
- The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Trade in listed species — including agarwood — needs CITES documentation.
- Certificate of Analysis (COA)
- The document that shows the measured values for one specific lot, against the limits in the specification.
- Concrete
- A waxy, semi-solid extract obtained from fresh plant material with a non-aqueous solvent, which is then removed.
- Dry-down
- How a fragrance smells after the top notes have evaporated — the lasting impression.
- Essential oil
- The volatile fraction of a plant, obtained by water or steam distillation, dry distillation, or mechanical expression of citrus peel.
- Fixative
- A material of low volatility that slows the evaporation of the rest of the formula and extends its life.
- GC-MS
- Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry: the analytical method that separates a material into its components and identifies them.
- Heart note
- The middle of a fragrance — typically florals and spices — that emerges after the top notes and lasts for hours.
- IFRA Standards
- The self-regulatory standards of the International Fragrance Association, which ban, restrict or set purity criteria for fragrance materials by product category.
- IFRA conformity certificate
- A supplier’s declaration, for one material, of the maximum use level permitted in each IFRA product category under the current amendment.
- INCI
- International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients: the standard names used on cosmetic ingredient labels.
- Isolate
- A single constituent separated from a natural material — for example, natural eugenol from clove.
- Mukhallat
- An Arabic term for a blended perfume oil, often combining oud, rose, amber and musk.
- Oleoresin
- A natural mixture of essential oil and resin, as exuded by a plant or obtained by solvent extraction of spices.
- Rectified
- Re-distilled to remove unwanted fractions, improve colour or adjust the odour profile.
- Resinoid
- A solvent extract of a non-cellular natural material — a resin, gum resin or balsam. Thick and tenacious; used as a fixative.
- Retained sample
- A reference portion of an approved lot, kept so that every later lot can be compared against it.
- Safety Data Sheet (SDS)
- The GHS-format document covering a material’s hazards, handling, storage, transport and first aid.
- Specification
- The written agreement of the limits a material must always meet: identity, appearance, odour standard and physical or chemical values.
- Tenacity
- How long a material remains perceptible, usually judged on a smelling strip.
- Terpeneless
- An essential oil with most of its terpene hydrocarbons removed, for better solubility and stability.
- Top note
- The first impression of a fragrance — citrus, herbs, light fruits — which evaporates within minutes to an hour.
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