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 deep, rich, dense and sickly-sweet scent with warm, buttery tones. Caramel is often used as a base note to define fragrances with a sensual heat that lingers. Most often used in women’s perfumes, caramel adds a sweetness to delicate floral compositions and enriches gourmand fragrances. Caramel adds a luxurious, sweet, velvety tone to any fragrance. It pairs well with wood and fruit notes, and can take spicy scents in a fun, dessert-style direction. Caramel is also a note you can wear day or night. It adds an unexpected, flirtatious feel to a floral perfume, or add a dash of sensual interest to an aromatic, citrusy cologne. Caramel also lends a smooth edge to resinous fragrances, and blends perfectly with other foodie notes like coffee, chocolate, vanilla, etc.

Tuberose is one of the most dramatic and powerful floral notes in perfume, along with jasmine, gardenia, freesia, and iris. Tuberose exudes a liqueur-like, velvety, dark, and powdery-sweet aroma, and a classic floral perfume note., It can come off as “too grandma” for some - but a very seductive and potent aphrodisiac for others. If you enjoy stronger styles of perfume, and feel best when your scents make an intense and sensual statement on the skin, tuberose is a must-try. It’s best when paired with other, heavy floral notes such as jasmine, gardenia, and freesia, and contrasts wonderfully with pungent spices like black pepper, frangipani, licorice, and anise, as well as ripe, sweet fruit like raspberry, blackberry, and cherry.

A must-have in any perfumer’s arsenal, sandalwood forms the base note of countless fragrance compositions. Its milky, suave facets make for a deliciously blendable fixative that has inspired perfumers for millennia. It’s a woody and ambery note with a pervasive warmth that is both velvety-smooth and decadently creamy. Sandalwood’s mystical scent is found everywhere in perfumery. It’s luxurious, milky, tangy, and caramel-sweet aroma infuses a fragrance with deep, exotic accents. Sandalwood can also appear bright and bone-dry, and display its arid, woody side in a gorgeous and austere perfume. Sandalwood’s depth of tone and smooth, polished texture adds elegance, refinement, and mystery to any perfume - it can mimic vanilla’s deliciously sweet, butter-fat heaviness, or fade into cedar’s sharp and bitter feel. It’s also a fantastic and evocative scent on it’s own as well as in a blended fragrance. Sandalwood’s tastefully exotic lusciousness is wearable year-round by either sex, and you could spend a lifetime sampling all the different ways it can be used in perfumery.