Pepper’s hot, spicy attack can focus the drama in a perfume instantly. It’s dry, tangy, nose-crinkling personality sharpens other notes in a fragrance and boosts their olfactory signal. Black pepper is best with leather, suede, and tobacco. Black pepper also heightens lighter citrus notes like lemon, lime, orange, green apple, and citron. Pink pepper is best in aromatic or floral blends, where it’s warm, fruity facets can bring an airy white floral perfume into focus, or underline masculine notes such as lavender, basil, musk, etc. Pepper’s insistent heat can be worn either day or night, and it’s fruity/spicy shadow makes it ideal for any season.

Warm, soft and sweet, the note of incense is used as a fixative in perfumery to add a spicy, balsamic and even lemon-scented facet to amber and vanilla accords. It can evoke notes that recall myrrh or elemi, and is generally thought to evoke a deep, rich and woody aroma. Incense used as perfume is as old as time itself. Incense notes in a fragrance instantly catapult you into a realm of ancient mystery and devotion. It’s woody, spicy aridity captivates the senses while its variety of aromas could take a lifetime to smell. From High Mass blends of frankincense and myrrh, to lilting soft florals and serenely dry Asian woods, incense accords create an spiritual altar for your senses.

Geranium’s chilly, green demeanor lends itself perfectly to perfume. Geranium has a soft, almost mentholated feel, like a sudden, refreshing gust of clean forest air. Its natural coolness makes it a wonderful contrast in bright, zesty citrus perfumes, as well as in aromatic men’s fragrances containing buttoned-up lavender notes or corianders’ fiery heat. Geranium can help take the humid edge off warmer weather, but can also be wonderful for fall’s windy climate and winter’s bright, snowy nights.

Vetiver is a profoundly earthy note with dry, woody facets that recall a soft, smoky warmth. It is an intense, grounding scent with surprising undertones of mildew and even grapefruit. For the perfume fan that loves the earthy smell of the woods, nothing beats vetiver. Vetiver is grass whose roots create a smoky, mossy, mineral scent when distilled. It is one of the most complex ingredients found in fragrance, with over 150 separate aromatic compounds, and it also acts as one of the best fixatives available to perfumers, which accounts for its frequent presence in fragrance. There’s also nothing quite like the scent of vetiver. It’s both immediate and ancient, with a similar smell to the soft earth of virgin forests.