Somewhere between a blackberry, a strawberry, and a blackcurrant: the raspberry note has a decidedly berry-like nuance. It’s sweet as candy, and yet has a rather soft effect. This fruity note is most often found in feminine fragrances. Raspberry’s bright red, sugary smile is best in feminine scents, where it’s vivid juiciness can play off against heavy, full florals or warm spices like pink pepper, basil, etc. Raspberry is also a fantastic note in gourmand perfumes, as it naturally heightens anything with chocolate, caramel, vanilla, or coffee notes. Raspberry blends in best with other berry fruits like blackberry, strawberry, etc, but it can also shine as a contrast to green, dewy notes and earthier vetiver and oakmoss. Raspberry fragrances are just the ticket for spring and summer, and if they’re blended with aromatic spices, a lovely fall option as well.

A paragon of freshness: Violet leaves give to fragrances a watery freshness likened to cucumbers or cut grass. Quite dissimilar to the scent of violet flowers, violet leaves possess intensely green nuances with subtler floral notes.

Alluring, sensual, enticing… Musk is well-known for its aphrodisiac powers. Perfumers play with a myriad of synthetic musks to fix, blend and mold ingredients in a number of intoxicating accords. These notes are clean and transparent—lending a velvety, skinny effect. Musk notes in perfume used to be processed from the actual musk glands of animals to impart a gamey, warm, and sensual texture. But this practice is illegal in modern times, and nowadays musk notes in fragrance are entirely synthetic. Musk’s tangy aroma can range from sheer, metallic and bright to very animalic and even as intimate as the scent of warm, damp, human skin. Musk adds a sultry, sensual feel to demure feminine scents, as well as making masculine notes like tobacco and leather vividly expressive in cologne. For perfume fans who enjoy the alluring scent of warm, clean, skin - musk is a must-have note in fragrance.

Bergamot’s sheer, dry, citrusy feel is one of the most popular perfume notes, especially in mens’ cologne. It’s a Mediterranean fruit grown mainly in Calabria, Italy, and its aroma and taste is slightly between grapefruit and orange. Bergamot is a year-round pleasure to wear, and will blend well with any other note, making bergamot fragrances versatile and a sophisticated option for citrus fragrance fans.