Smell - Think - Write

Putting Words to Scent

Inspiring the Self-Taught Perfumer: Questions to Guide Your Journey

Putting language to scent and writing about your observations is incredibly important in perfumery. These questions are designed to inspire the self-taught perfumer, encouraging you to be precise with your thoughts and develop a unique, personal relationship with your materials.

Key Questions and Descriptors

What is the Initial Impression?

• How does the scent strike you at first whiff?

• Is it strong, subtle, sharp, or soft?

How Does the Scent Evolve?

• What are the top, middle, and base notes?

• How does the scent change over time?

What Emotions or Memories Does It Evoke?

• Does the scent remind you of a specific place, time, or experience?

• What emotions does it bring to the surface?

What Are the Dominant Notes?

• Which notes are most prominent?

• Can you identify individual components like floral, citrus, woody, or spicy elements?

What is the Texture of This Scent Material?

• Thick and round, or thin and sharp?

  • Fatty oil round, bright and sharp

  • Waxy or sharp waxy, fatty transparent

  • Thin or sharp thin powerful

  • Soapy clean, bright bubbly champagne

  • Texture middle, not sharp and not waxy

  • Dry woody texture

  • Sandy, dusty texture

How Transparent is This Material?

• Transparent, semi-transparent, or opaque?

  • Transparent fatty transparent gummy sweet transparent woody warm

  • Transparent oily sweet, semi-transparent woody

How is the Brightness?

• Is this material bright or dark?

  • Bright and sharp like lemon or mint

  • Bright and sharp, sweet

  • Bright and diffusive - powerful like aldehydes

  • Bright and spicy or bright and herbal

  • Bright and woody

  • Dark and deep and resinous like oud or vetiver

  • Dark and sweet

  • Dark and bitter

  • Dark and sulphur/animal (cumin)

  • Dark and smokey

  • Dark and woody

How Hot or Cold is This Material?

• Cool like mint, or warm like spices?

  • Cool like mint cool herbs (lavender or rosemary)

  • Cool aquatic cool ozone

  • Cool citrus floral (ylang) cool green grass, plant materials

  • Cool bitter tea cool powdery green

  • Cool earthy cool rooty

  • Hot and spicy warm spicy woody

  • Spicy floral (carnation) spicy edible sweet

Is This Material Wet or Dry?

• Wet or dry texture?

  • Water fishy or seaweed

  • Ozone wet earth + rooty

  • Wet earth smells like rain

Does This Material Smell Powdery?

• Powdery in its texture?

  • Powdery tiny molecules powdery, woody-spicy

  • Powdery large molecules, granular (little pieces of sand?)

  • Powdery and floral powdery and sweet

  • Powdery and woody

Is This Material Sweet?

• Sweetness level and type?

  • Slightly sweet Extremely sweet

  • Sweet citrus, sweet fruity

  • Sweet smoky sweet, buttery

  • Sweet candy sweet jammy and berries

  • Sweet powdery dry sweet resinous

  • Sweet spicy resin thick sweet deep honey balsamic

Is This Material Dry (As Opposed to Sweet)?

• Dryness level and type?

  • Slightly dry, or extremely dry

  • Dry woody tart citrus

  • Dry cedar

  • Dry, not waxy and milky at all

  • Dry powdery or sandy in texture

  • Dry tart green

Is This Material Waxy, Powdery, or Oily?

• Waxy, powdery, or oily characteristics?

  • Waxy oily

  • Waxy buttery

  • Waxy, fatty animalic leather

  • Waxy milky

  • Waxy smooth woody

  • Waxy plant-like, green waxy

  • Waxy sweet, plastic-like

  • Waxy, citrus smoky

Is This Material Floral?

• Floral characteristics?

  • Floral fruity

  • Floral rose

  • Floral jasmine

  • Floral lychee, apricot, or peach

  • Floral milky fruity

  • Floral spicy warm

  • Floral balsamic

  • Floral vanilla

  • Floral powdery

Is This Material Fruity?

• Fruity characteristics?

  • Fruity citrus fruity apple green

  • Fruity apple red fruity pear

  • Fruity lychee rose, fruity waxy rose

  • Fruity sharp nail polish fruity floral (like jasmine)

  • Fruity green aquatic melon, fruity waxy melon

  • Fruity tropical fruity dry leather fruits and tobacco

  • Fruity cassis - dark berries, bitter fruity leathery (like osmanthus)

Is This Material Sour?

• Sour characteristics?

  • Sour citrus? Sour bitter pithy? (like grapefruit)

  • Sour lemon or lime? Sour watery, delicious mouth-watering

  • Sour citric? Scratchy and unpleasant like lemongrass or bug repellent?

Is This Material Citrus-Like?

• Citrus characteristics?

  • Bright, lemon-like citrus, bitter, stemmy woody

  • Green conifer and limes bitter/sweet citrus peppery

  • Sweet orange or blood orange candy-like citrus lavender

  • Citrus and flowers citrus aquatic transparent

  • Citrus and sweet citrus transparent

  • Citrus bitter, tart citrus waxy green

  • Citrus green grass citrus green soft

Is This Material Cool?

• Cool characteristics?

  • Green pepper green cut grass

  • Citrus pithy grapefruit citrus bright citrus sweet

  • Cool minty herb cool green aquatic cold ozone fresh

  • Pine fresh green pine cedary pine sweet

  • Light bright herbal light herbal chemical herbal grapes

  • Herbal salty herbal floral (like lavender) herbal lemon

Is This Material Green?

• Green characteristics?

  • Green-like cut grass, sharp soft round green, soft waxy

  • Green sharp cut bell peppers conifer pine tree green

  • Green stems green powdery violets

  • Green tart rhubarb green sweet

  • Green transparent waxy soft green aquatics florals

  • Green fruity tropical pear green salty spicy-like cardamom

  • Green bitter citrus green fresh aquatic

  • Green dry tart green sweet resin

Is This Material Conifer Forest or Pine-Like?

• Pine forest characteristics?

  • Evergreen resinous thin pine, bright and sharp

  • Bright pine, thick pine, round and sweet

  • Sweet pine, green pine, and cedar wood clear, bright wood

  • Lemon and pine sharp boozy, peppery

  • Limes and pine and aquatics, dark waters forest floor

  • Peppers and pine earthy piney

  • Piney medicinal (like myrrh)

Is This Material Musky?

• Musky characteristics?

  • Like poop ouddy, animal woody

  • Like urine sweet urine or honey

  • Like wet animal hair like dirty bird cages

  • Fishy blue cheese

  • Human sweat like farm animals, horses and goats

Is This Material Woody?

• Woody characteristics?

  • A bright, clean fresh wood a bright terpenic wood - piney

  • Woody musky animalic woody, buttery, like sandalwood

  • Woody butter smoky (guaiac wood) woody leather

  • Woody rooty clean woody rooty smoky (Java vetiver)

Is This Material Honey-Like?

• Honey characteristics?

  • Honey medicine bitter honey balsamic dark honey figs

  • Honey tobacco honey suede/leather honey dark woody

  • Medicinal myrrh bright dusty medicinal

Is This Material Earthy?

• Earthy characteristics?

  • Earthy spicy, earthy musky animal

  • Earthy woody, earthy spicy animal

  • Earthy leather, earthy and sweet

  • Earthy suede earthy and bitter

  • Earthy smoky, earthy sweet BBQ

  • Earthy green earthy chocolate

  • Earthy wet earthy damp forest

  • Earthy aquatic/fishy earthy mushroom

  • Mushroom earthy cool earthy spicy sweet complex

Writing About Scent

Descriptive Language:

• Use vivid and precise language to describe your observations.

• Avoid clichés and strive for originality in your descriptions.

Consistent Documentation:

• Keep a detailed journal of your scent explorations.

• Regularly update your notes and compare them over time.

Engage Your Senses:

• Incorporate all senses in your descriptions, not just smell.

• Consider how the scent looks, feels, and even sounds metaphorically.

Crafting a Unique Relationship

Developing a unique, personal relationship with your materials involves constant experimentation and reflection. The more you engage with these questions and document your findings, the more refined your sense of smell and descriptive abilities will become. This practice not only enhances your skills but also deepens your connection to the art and science of perfumery.