Here is a list of terms frequently used on this blog:
B
Blind-buying: purchasing a fragrance online that you have never seen or smelt in person.
C
Cloying: excessively sweet, rich, or sentimental, especially to a disgusting or sickening degree.
D
Designer perfume: fragrances that are made by companies who also sell fashion, beauty or other products.
F
Flanker: refers to newly created perfume that shares some attributes of an already existing perfume. These attributes may be the name, packaging or notes of the existing fragrance.
G
Gourmand: a perfume consisting primarily of synthetic edible notes, such as honey, chocolate, vanilla or candy. These top and middle notes may be blended with non-edible base notes such as patchouli or musk. They have been described as olfactory desserts. They are also called “foodie” fragrances.
N
Niche perfume: the precise definition of this term is contentious. It may be used to describe perfume companies who exclusively make fragrances and nothing else. These companies tend to be smaller than major fragrance firms but larger than “indie” companies that are solely owned and operated.
Note: a descriptor of scents that can be sensed upon the application of a perfume. Notes are separated into three classes: top/head notes, middle/heart notes, and base notes; which denote groups of scents which can be sensed with respect to the time after the application of a perfume.
O
Olfactory: relating to the sense of smell.
S
Screechy: a harsh or sharp scent.
Sillage: the degree to which a perfume’s fragrance lingers in the air when worn.