A perfume accord is a blend of several materials that together produce a scent none of them gives on its own. When a product page lists a "cola accord", an "ink accord" or an "old newspaper accord", it describes an effect the perfumer has rebuilt from several materials, and the list of those materials is not published. Some accords are classics that have been taught for more than a century, such as amber or leather. Others are invented for a single perfume.
A scent no single material can give
The word comes from music. A chord on the piano sounds several notes at once, and the ear hears a whole. In perfumery the idea is the same. The perfumer combines two, three or fifteen materials in precise proportions, and the nose perceives a new scent rather than a sum of parts.
This comes down to the way we smell. Research on how we perceive mixtures shows that we struggle to pick out more than a few components at a time, even with training. Beyond that, the smells merge. The perfumer works with this limit: materials are combined so that they can no longer be told apart, and so that a precise impression emerges, whether warm resin, tanned skin or a glass of soda.
A note that is a material, a note that is an accord
In a fragrance pyramid, not every note refers to the same kind of thing. Some name a real material that you can buy in a bottle: bergamot, vetiver, patchouli, vanilla absolute. Others name an impression the perfumer had to build, because the material does not exist or cannot be extracted.
Adiere, by Adi ale Van, shows both cases in the same heart. Tobacco absolute is a material, obtained by treating dried tobacco leaves with solvents. The whisky accord right next to it is a reconstruction. The perfumer does not pour whisky into the formula but recreates the smell of the spirit with other materials. Our article on extracting raw materials explains how an absolute or an essential oil is obtained.
The word "accord" does not always appear, even when the note is reconstructed. Lily of the valley and lilac yield no usable extract for perfumery. When First Touch, by Voice From The Sky, places them in the heart alongside begonia, the product page lists them as flowers, without saying they are reconstructions. In the same way, Water, by Aaron Terence Hughes, lists ozone, water and ice. None of these three notes is a raw material.
So the word "accord" is useful information when it appears, but its absence proves nothing.
The great classic accords
Part of the vocabulary of perfumery refers to accords so old that people mistake them for materials. They have a well-known basic structure, which each house interprets in its own way.
Amber
Amber in perfumery does not come from any plant. It most often brings together labdanum, benzoin and vanilla, sometimes styrax, tonka bean or a synthetic amber wood. Our article on amber in perfumery details each of these materials. It should not be confused with ambergris, a material of animal origin now mostly replaced by molecules such as Ambroxan, which our article on ambergris describes. Labels of Feelings, by Adi ale Van, in fact places an "ambergris accord" in its base.
Leather
No material on a perfumer's shelf is called leather. The leather accord usually pairs smoky notes, such as birch tar, with animalic, resinous or spicy notes. The dosage steers it toward smoke, suede or flowers. Leaves in the wind lists a "leather accord" in the heart, next to birch and frankincense, which gives an idea of the family of materials involved. Our article on leather in perfumery tells the story of this accord, from the glovemakers of Grasse to Russian leather.
Chypre and fougère
These two words refer to entire families, each born from an accord. Chypre, named after the island of Cyprus, rests on a contrast between bergamot in the top and a base of oakmoss, cistus labdanum and patchouli. Fougère, French for fern, copies no plant at all, since ferns smell of almost nothing. The accord most often combines lavender, geranium, coumarin and oakmoss. Coumarin, found in tonka beans, was one of the first synthetic molecules used in perfumery, in the late 19th century. Oakmoss is now restricted by regulation, which forces perfumers to adapt these structures.
Blond tobacco
Tobacco is a good example of a note that can be either. There is a tobacco absolute, but the perfumer can also evoke the dried leaf with an accord, playing on notes of honey, hay or coumarin. Blond tobacco refers to this soft, golden version. On a product page, "tobacco absolute" points to the material, while "tobacco" alone does not settle the question.
Evocative accords: drinks, pastries, objects
Alongside the classics, many independent houses create accords for a single perfume. Their purpose is to tell a scene more than to follow a family. Their names refer to what they evoke, and their formulas remain confidential.
Drinks
Adiere opens on a Cuba Libre accord and a cola accord, with lime, bitter orange, black pepper and thyme. The Cuba Libre cocktail is precisely a mix of rum, cola and lime. The product page does not say how the accords are built, but around them in the pyramid you find what you taste in a cola: citrus in the top, then vanilla and tonka bean in the base. The heart adds the whisky accord and an ink accord, next to leather.
Mezcal My Love, signed by Jimmy Bodin, places a mezcal accord in the heart, with agave syrup, brown sugar, smoky notes, geranium and rosemary. Mezcal is made from the heart of the agave, cooked before distillation, which gives it its smoky taste. The pyramid frames it with grapefruit, peppermint and ginger, then oakmoss, Haitian vetiver and hinoki.
Melancolie, by the same perfumer, simply lists "champagne" in its top, with passion fruit, ginger, lime and vanilla. Its description, however, speaks of a champagne accord. This is the typical case of a pyramid that abbreviates. At Aaron Terence Hughes, Gin Sling does the same with gin and tonic water in the top. Its description specifies that the gin accord highlights juniper, the berry that flavors the spirit.
Pastries
Desserts are natural territory for accords, because a cake is already a blend of smells: butter, caramelized sugar, toasted flour, vanilla. Oven Veil says so openly in its pyramid with a brownie accord, next to chocolate, hazelnut and cherry. 10/6, by Aaron Terence Hughes, does not use the word, but its heart lines up Victoria sponge, marzipan, macarons, custard and white chocolate. None of these pastries goes into a bottle as it is, and the perfumer evokes them through accords.
Everyday objects and materials
Gun Shadows, by Adi ale Van, takes the idea furthest. Its pyramid includes a blood accord in the top with metallic notes, a wanted poster accord and a cheap cigarette accord in the heart, then a coffin wood accord, an old newspaper accord and an ink accord in the base, alongside oud. Blood has a metallic smell. Chemists who have studied the smell of old books found vanillin in it, produced as the paper breaks down. The house's own recipe remains unknown.
Voice From The Sky works in a softer register. Let Me Out sets a wool accord in its base, with labdanum and angelica root. Its description speaks of fermented wool, which forms a dense cocoon with orris. Raw wool owes part of its smell to lanolin, the grease that protects the fleece. First Touch ends on a milky accord, with honey and musk. The product page reports that the perfumer describes this facet as "cheese". In perfumery, milky notes often rely on lactones, molecules also found in peach and coconut. Our profile of Voice From The Sky covers the house and its perfumer, Tianle Feng.
How to read a perfume accord in a pyramid
A few pointers help interpret a product page.
The word "accord" signals a constructed scent. It says nothing about quality, nor about whether the materials used are natural or synthetic. An accord can contain costly absolutes as well as synthetic molecules, and often both.
An accord named after an object describes an impression. The old newspaper accord in Gun Shadows does not try to reproduce a page of a daily paper. It gives the base a dry, dusty tone, which the rest of the pyramid confirms.
The neighboring notes tell you about the accord. In Adiere, the cola reads through the citrus around it. In Let Me Out, the wool reads through the labdanum. To understand an unusual note, look at which tier it sits on and what comes with it. Our article on the fragrance pyramid explains what each tier tells you.
Finally, a pyramid is a piece of presentation copy. It may say "champagne accord" on one page and "champagne" on another. Only trying it on skin settles the matter.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a note and an accord in perfumery?
A note is what you smell, and what the pyramid names. It can correspond to a real material, such as vetiver or bergamot, or to an accord, meaning a blend of several materials that produces a new scent. The word "accord" indicates the second case, when the product page specifies it.
Is an accord natural or synthetic?
It can be either, and most often it mixes the two. The word describes a method of blending and tells you nothing about where the materials come from. A product page that lists an accord does not say which materials make it up.
Why do perfumers use accords?
Because many smells cannot be extracted. Lily of the valley, lilac, most fruits, the sea or a cake yield no usable material. An accord makes it possible to evoke them. It also gives a perfume an identity, with a scent nobody else offers.
What is a chypre accord?
It is the accord that gave its name to the chypre family. Its basic structure pairs bergamot in the top with a base of oakmoss, cistus labdanum and patchouli. Perfumers adapt it today, because oakmoss is subject to regulatory limits.
Is a perfume with an ink or blood accord wearable?
It depends on the whole composition. In Adiere, the ink accord is surrounded by tobacco, whisky and leather, over a base of vanilla and cocoa, and the description credits it with a "slightly graphic" dryness. In Gun Shadows, the blood and old newspaper accords set the tone for the entire perfume, and its product page warns that it is not an easy one. The safest approach is to wear a sample for a full day before choosing a bottle.
The perfumes mentioned are available as samples, in a 2 ml size depending on the house, on our samples page. Gun Shadows, Adiere, Mezcal My Love, Melancolie and the other creations of the Romanian house are gathered in the Adi ale Van collection, and our article on the Adi ale Van house tells its story. The Aaron Terence Hughes and Voice From The Sky collections bring together the other perfumes in this article.