Perfume Glossary
The vocabulary of fragrance, in plain English. Every term you'll encounter on a Valley Fragrances product page — defined honestly, with examples, and linked to the relevant catalog.
Performance & Wear
Longevity
Longevity is how long a perfume remains detectable on the skin from the moment it is applied to the moment it disappears. It is measured in hours and is the single most-asked performance question by Indian fragrance buyers.
Also: lasting power · wear time · duration
Projection
Projection is how far the scent of a perfume reaches into the air around the wearer while they are standing still — the radius of the scent bubble. It is distinct from sillage, which is the trail left behind movement.
Also: scent bubble · scent radius
Sillage
Sillage is the trail of scent a perfume leaves behind as the wearer moves — the invisible wake of fragrance perceptible to people nearby. It is judged by how far that trail reaches, not how long it lasts.
Also: scent trail · fragrance trail · wake
Concentration & Strength
Attar (Ittar)
Attar is a traditional alcohol-free fragrance oil distilled from natural materials — most commonly flowers, woods, and resins — onto a base of sandalwood oil or paraffin. Rooted in Mughal and Arabian perfumery traditions, attars are intimate, long-lasting, and applied as drops directly to the skin.
Also: ittar · itar · perfume oil
EDP vs EDT — Perfume Concentration
Perfume concentration describes the percentage of aromatic compounds dissolved in alcohol. EDP (Eau de Parfum) is roughly 15–20% concentration; EDT (Eau de Toilette) is roughly 5–15%. Higher concentration means stronger projection and longer wear, not necessarily a better fragrance.
Also: eau de parfum vs eau de toilette · perfume concentration · extrait
Notes & Materials
Amber
In perfumery, amber is not a single ingredient but a constructed accord — a deliberate blend of resins, balsams, and warm sweet materials that smells warm, slightly sweet, slightly resinous, and unmistakably golden. It is one of the most common base accords in oriental and Arabian perfumes.
Also: ambery · ambre
Musk
Musk is a foundational base note in perfumery, originally derived from the glands of the musk deer but today produced almost entirely from synthetic aromachemicals. Modern musks range from clean and laundry-like to warm, animalic, and skin-like.
Also: white musk · synthetic musk · skin musk
Oakmoss
Oakmoss is a lichen-derived fragrance ingredient with a damp, earthy, slightly mineral, slightly leather-like aroma. It is the historical foundation of the chypre fragrance family, but is now heavily restricted by IFRA — modern oakmoss in perfumery is usually a synthetic reconstruction.
Also: mousse de chêne · evernyl
Oud (Agarwood)
Oud is the fragrant resin produced by Aquilaria trees when they are infected by a specific mould. Used in perfumery for centuries, it ranges from sweet, leather-like, and balsamic to intensely smoky, animalic, and medicinal. Real oud oil is among the most expensive raw materials in the perfume industry.
Also: agarwood · oudh · aoud
Saffron (in Perfumery)
In perfumery, saffron is a warm, slightly leathery, slightly metallic, deeply spicy heart note. It is one of the signature ingredients of Arabian and Indian-favourite oriental fragrances, and rarely smells like the kitchen-spice version most people expect.
Also: safran · kesar
Fragrance Families
Practice & Process
Batch Code
A batch code is a short alphanumeric identifier — typically 4 to 8 characters — printed on every authentic perfume bottle and outer box. It encodes the manufacturing date and production lot, and is the single most reliable way to verify whether a perfume is genuine.
Also: lot code · production code · manufacturing code
Decant
A decant is a small portion of a fragrance — typically 5 ml or 10 ml — transferred from a full retail bottle into a smaller atomizer or vial, allowing buyers to sample or wear a fragrance without committing to a full bottle. Decants are widely used in fragrance discovery and travel.
Also: fragrance decant · perfume decant · 5ml decant
General Terminology
Accord
An accord is a deliberate blend of multiple raw materials that smells like a single, unified note rather than a combination — a single chord composed of several musical notes. Most modern fragrances are built from accords, not individual ingredients.
Also: fragrance accord · perfume accord
Clone Fragrance (Inspired-By)
A clone fragrance is a perfume deliberately formulated to smell similar to a more expensive original. Clones are legal, mainstream, and openly marketed — most often by Arabian houses pricing accessible alternatives to luxury designer fragrances. They are not counterfeits, which are illegal forgeries sold under the original brand name.
Also: inspired by · alternative perfume · dupe
Dry-Down
The dry-down is the final phase of a perfume's wear — the base notes that emerge after the top and heart have faded, typically two to three hours after application. It is the longest-lasting and often the most defining part of a fragrance.
Also: base · drydown · final stage
Note (Top, Heart, Base)
In perfumery, a note is a single perceptible scent within a fragrance. Notes are organised into three time-based layers — top notes (the first 15 minutes), heart notes (15 minutes to 2 hours), and base notes (2 hours onward) — collectively called the fragrance pyramid.
Also: fragrance pyramid · top notes · heart notes
Perfumer (Nose)
A perfumer — also called a 'nose' (from the French 'nez') — is the trained creator of a fragrance composition. Perfumers spend years learning to identify hundreds of raw materials and compose them into balanced fragrances. The best perfumers are credited on the bottle, much like a film director.
Also: nose · nez · fragrance creator
Couldn't find a term?
The glossary grows as we encounter the questions buyers ask most. Email any term you'd like added — we'll write a proper entry for it.
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