A Guide to Scent Families: Woody, Floral, Fruity, Sweet and Fresh

A list of thirty-eight scents is not a list anyone reads. It is a wall. The way through it is to decide what kind of scent you like first and then choose inside that — which is what the five collections are for. Here is what each one actually smells like, and the rooms it tends to suit.

Woody & Oriental

Dry woods and warm resins: oud, sandalwood, cedarwood, amber and patchouli, saffron. These are the heaviest materials in perfumery, which is why they carry furthest and stay noticeable longest. In the Gulf they are also the most familiar — an oud in a hallway reads as hospitality rather than as a product.

Best in: a majlis, an entrance hall, a study. Hardest in: a small bathroom, where they can be overwhelming.

Floral

Flowers as they actually smell rather than as soap advertises them: cut rose, night jasmine, lavender, orchid, violet, honeysuckle, a whole flower garden. The family with the widest range inside it — jasmine is heady and nocturnal, lavender is almost herbal, violet is cool and powdery.

Best in: a bedroom, a living room, a guest room. Worth noting: the softest florals can be lost in a kitchen.

Fruity

Ripe fruit: peach, mango, cherry, strawberry, blueberry, pomegranate, fig, melon, passion fruit. Bright, immediately readable and the easiest family to live with — which is why it is also the one most often chosen for children's rooms and kitchens.

Best in: a kitchen, a bathroom, a child's room, a sunlit room.

Sweet & Gourmand

The edible end: vanilla, caramel, roasted coffee, chocolate and berries, baked apple with cinnamon, coconut over coffee. Warm, enveloping scents that make a room feel occupied. They are strong — a gourmand in a small bedroom is a lot.

Best in: a kitchen, a dining room, a living room in winter.

Fresh & Citrus

Cut lemon, sweet orange, bergamot, green tea, sea air, seaweed. The lightest and cleanest family, and the one that reads as tidy rather than as perfumed. The trade-off is reach: a fresh scent is clearest within a few metres of the bottle.

Best in: a bathroom, an office, an entrance, anywhere that should smell clean rather than scented.

Finding yours in one pass

• Think of a room you have walked into and liked the smell of. The family it belonged to is almost certainly your starting point.
• Choose by room, not by favourite. The scent you love most is not necessarily the one you want to sleep in.
• If you are buying three, take one from the heavy end, one from the light end and one in between — a hallway, a bathroom and a bedroom are three different jobs.