The Perfume Atlas · notes from the map

What the map reveals

The atlas places 24,050 fragrances by how they smell — two perfumes drift close together when they share notes and accords, and the fourteen colours are families of scent. Here is what falls out when you stand back: which families rule, which perfumes are secretly the same, and the rare few that smell like nothing else. No numbers required.

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The fourteen families

Each perfume is sorted into one family by its accords — the broad strokes of how it smells. The bar shows how much of the whole atlas a family claims; the little W · M · U strip shows who tends to wear it (women · men · either).

Secretly the same

These pairs come from different houses, yet they land almost on top of each other on the map — near-identical smells. The fragrance world calls them dupes; an expensive perfume and its budget twin, side by side.

One of a kind

And the opposite — well-loved perfumes whose nearest neighbour is still far away. These smell like almost nothing else in the whole atlas.

How scent has drifted

Each bar is a decade, split into its scent families. The sweet gourmands and fresh citrus that fill today's shelves are a fairly recent taste.

Built from Fragrantica's notes and accords. Each perfume becomes a vector of its notes (weighted so the long-lasting base notes count most, and rare shared notes count more than common ones); perfumes are then arranged so that similar smells sit near each other. Bottle photographs © their respective houses.
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