Lavender is one of the oldest, and most common perfume ingredients in the world. It’s gentlemanly, scrubbed, soapy/powdery feel is a staple of men’s colognes. Lavender has a slightly spicy edge as well, which makes it a universally blendable note in perfume. It can add a clean edge to aromatic or animalic scents, and deepen zesty citrus notes with its subtle, herbal facets. But most of all, lavender is associated with fresh, clean, pure, old-school elegance. It’s well-heeled sophistication is appropriate for any time of year, and it makes an excellent choice for either sex to wear casually or formally.

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.

Heady and suave, orange blossom is an utterly bewitching scent. Flittering floral facets recall notes of jasmine—honeyed and sweet. Its citrus twist melts seamlessly in floral accords and adds a sparkle to fruity notes like apricot. The oil distilled from orange blossoms is considered an aphrodisiac, and the blossom itself has been a bridal symbol for many years. Orange blossoms are native to Southeast Asia, and grown all over the world - as well as being the state flower of Florida in the U.S. Orange blossom has a powdery, orange-citrusy, and very plush scent, like powdery orange suede. It is often used in fruity floral perfumes along with jasmine, rose, and other heavier floral notes. It’s part citrus, part floral scent is ideal in hotter weather, but tends to dissipate quickly in colder months.

Sage