Citrus behaves differently depending on where it appears.

• Paired with sweetness and warmth, it resembles key lime pie.

• Paired with herbs and woods, it resembles lemonade.

• Paired with aldehydes, it resembles a bright cleaning spray.

We use words like rounded, bright, soft, or sunny when we talk about perfume, but what do those words actually mean? They aren’t exact scientific terms, yet they appear everywhere. Perfumers use their own versions too: diffusive, airy, lifted. This kind of vocabulary appears because scent eventually moves past literal ingredients and into memory, mood, and association. When language runs out, we reach for whatever gets us closest.

Perfume has always felt like one of life’s small luxuries. It comes in every price point, dressed in dramatic bottles and whimsical names, but what I love most is how personal it is. Scent is subjective in the best way. You like what you like.