The School
New here? Start with Lesson One. Each lesson takes about five minutes to read or to hear, and each one builds on the last. A new lesson arrives every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Lesson 1 The Three Acts of a Fragrance Top, heart and base notes, explained with a bottle half the office has smelled: why a fragrance at nine in the morning and the same fragrance at dinner are two different things. 5 min read · Listen, 5 min
One day in the life of a fragrance
Bleu de Chanel Eau de Parfum, from first spray to evening
TOP
Lemon, mandarin
HEART
Cedar, woody notes
BASE
Sandalwood, vetiver,
tonka, vanilla
Spray 30 min 1 hr 2 hrs 4 hrs 8 hrs+
Approximate and not to scale. Skin, weather and how much you spray all move the clock.
Lesson 2 Every Fragrance Has a Family Fresh, floral, amber and woody, plus the old names fougère, chypre and gourmand: how to name what you like in one word, and four famous bottles to learn them by. 5 min read · Listen, 5 min
The fragrance wheel, simplified
FLORAL
Chanel No. 5
AMBER
Shalimar
WOODY
Terre d'Hermès
FRESH
Acqua di Giò
Fougère
Chypre
Gourmand
Neighbors blend
Like one family? Try the slices
next to it before the one across.
The old names
Fougère lavender, oakmoss, coumarin. Fresh, near woody.
Chypre bergamot, labdanum, oakmoss. Among the mossy woods.
Gourmand dessert notes. Mostly the sweet side of amber.
After Michael Edwards' Fragrance Wheel. Simplified to its four main families.
Lesson 3 Made in a Lab, and Better for It Almost every great perfume since the 1880s depends on molecules made in a laboratory. Why that is a feature, not a shortcut, and what nature still does best. 5 min read · Listen, 5 min
When perfume met the laboratory
1820 Coumarin found in tonka beans 1868 Perkin makes coumarin in a lab 1874 Vanillin made first synthesis 1882 Fougère Royale Houbigant 1889 Jicky Guerlain 1921 Chanel No. 5 aldehydes 1925 Shalimar ethylvanillin
Today: nearly all perfume musk is lab-made, and so is most of the world's vanillin.chemistry perfumes nature
Lesson 4 What the Label Is Telling You Eau de Cologne, Eau de Toilette, Eau de Parfum, Parfum, Extrait: what the words on the bottle mean, why the same name costs more in one than another, and why stronger is not always better. 6 min read · Listen, 5 min
One name, four strengths
Bleu de Chanel, 3.4 fl oz (100 ml), Chanel US prices checked November 9, 2026
Eau de Toilette
$142
Eau de Parfum
$173
Parfum
$210
L'Exclusif
$275
Chanel says L'Exclusif is "designed like an Extrait de Parfum."
What the labels usually mean
Typical share of perfume oil in the bottle. No law sets these numbers.
0% 10% 20% 30% Eau de Cologne
2–3%
Eau de Toilette
5–15%
Eau de Parfum
15–20%
Parfum / Extrait
15–30%