Women’s fragrances
“Women’s fragrance” is a marketing category, not a property of molecules. Here is what it has traditionally meant – and how to look beyond it.
Most shops and brands still divide their range into fragrances for women, for men and unisex. This division says more, though, about who a fragrance was aimed at in its advertising than about how it smells.
Fragrances sold to women have historically relied mainly on the floral, chypre and amber families, and since the 1990s on the gourmand family too. Typical notes are rose, jasmine, iris, vanilla and clean musk.
If you are looking for a fragrance for yourself, start with the direction that appeals to you and treat the “women’s” category as just one filter among many. The Scent Compass and the guide How to choose a perfume will help.
Where to start in the Compass
- Floral Rose, jasmine, iris, orange blossom. The largest family in perfumery.
- Sweet Vanilla, tonka, caramel, fruit. Fragrances with an “edible” feel.
- Clean Skin after a shower, freshly ironed linen, soap. Quiet scents that stay close to the body.
- Warm Resins, balsams, vanilla, spice. Fragrances that warm up on the skin and linger.
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