Fragrance reviews are written in a private language, and most of it is genuinely useful once translated. "Great sillage, moderate projection, eight-hour longevity, gorgeous drydown" is not waffle — it is four separate, measurable claims about how a perfume behaves.
Here is the vocabulary, what each term actually describes, and how to use it to buy better.
The four words that matter most
| Term | What it measures | How to check it |
|---|---|---|
| Longevity | How many hours you can still smell it on skin | Smell your wrist at 2, 4, 6 and 8 hours |
| Projection | How far it radiates from you right now | Ask someone at arm's length |
| Sillage | The trail it leaves behind you as you move | Ask someone who walks in after you |
| Drydown | What it becomes after the opening burns off | Smell at the 2-hour mark |
Longevity
Simply: how long it lasts. Driven almost entirely by base notes and concentration. Heavy materials — oud, amber, vanilla, musk, sandalwood — last; citrus does not. This is why Royal Santal (Rs.1,199), built on sandalwood, oud, amber and patchouli, outlasts a bright citrus by hours.
At the other end, Wild Escape (Rs.1,199) and Citrus Amber (Rs.1,199) are citrus-led and will not match an oud for hours on skin — that is the family behaving as designed, not a defect.
Anything described as lasting "all day" in Indian summer conditions should be read sceptically. Heat shortens everything.
Projection
How big your scent bubble is at this moment. Strong projection means people notice you across a table; low projection — often called a "skin scent" — means they notice only when close.
Neither is better. They suit different rooms. High projection is right for a wedding and wrong for an open-plan office. Black Listed (Rs.1,199), oud on dry woods, projects; Lavender Tease (Rs.1,199) stays politely close.
Sillage
From the French for a boat's wake — the trail left in the air behind you. Pronounced roughly see-yazh.
Sillage and projection are related but not identical: projection is the bubble around you now, sillage is the evidence you were there ten seconds ago. A scent can project moderately but leave a long trail, which is usually the most flattering combination.
Drydown
The final stage, once top and heart notes have evaporated and the base is all that remains. This is the fragrance you own. Solera No.18 (Rs.999) opens on mint, green apple and lemon and dries down to vanilla, cedar, vetiver and oakmoss — the drydown is a different scent from the opening, and it is the one you will live with.
The rest of the vocabulary
- Note — a single identifiable smell: lemon, rose, cedar.
- Accord — several notes blended to read as one new smell. "Leather", "sea air" and "chai" are accords; you cannot extract them from a leather, a sea or a cup of tea. Island Water (Rs.1,199) is built on an aqua accord.
- Nose — the perfumer. "Composed by a well-known nose" means a named perfumer made it.
- Olfactory fatigue / nose-blindness — your receptors stop registering a continuous smell. Why you cannot smell your own perfume after an hour and over-apply as a result.
- Skin scent — a fragrance that sits very close to the body. A compliment in most contexts.
- Beast mode — enthusiast slang for enormous projection and longevity. Usually oud or amber.
- Linear vs evolving — a linear fragrance smells much the same from spray to drydown; an evolving one changes markedly. Neither is better; linear is more predictable. Royal Amber (Rs.1,199) stays close to its character throughout; Solera No.20 (Rs.999) travels a long way from grapefruit to patchouli.
- Batch variation — small differences between production runs of the same fragrance. Normal for anything using natural materials.
- Macerate — letting a new bottle rest for a few weeks; some fragrances genuinely smell rounder afterwards.
- Flanker — a variation on an existing fragrance, usually sharing part of the name.
- Layering — wearing two fragrances together so they read as one; the Spiced Vanilla & Spice Wood pair (Rs.1,199) is built for it.
- Decant — a small amount transferred into a travel atomiser, either to carry or to sample before committing to a full bottle.
Concentration: the other number on the box
Concentration is the percentage of aromatic compound in the alcohol base, and it drives both longevity and price.
| Name | Typical strength | Rough wear time |
|---|---|---|
| Parfum / Extrait | Highest | Longest |
| Eau de Parfum (EDP) | High | Long — the usual sweet spot |
| Eau de Toilette (EDT) | Medium | Moderate |
| Eau de Cologne / body mist | Lowest | Shortest |
Everything in the Solera line is eau de parfum at 100ml for Rs.999, which is why longevity is the range's selling point. Our EDP vs EDT beginner's guide goes into the distinction properly.
How to read a review now that you have the words
Translate the claim into a question you can test:
- "Moderate projection, great sillage" → quiet up close, noticeable in your wake. Good for an office.
- "Beast mode, 12-hour longevity" → loud and persistent. Wrong for a small meeting room, right for a sangeet.
- "Beautiful opening, disappointing drydown" → the thing that sold it does not last. Test at two hours before buying.
- "Linear" → what you smell at minute ten is what you get all day. Predictable, easy to live with.
- "Skin scent after an hour" → low projection. A compliment if you want subtlety, a warning if you wanted presence.
And the most useful translation of all: if a review discusses only top notes, the reviewer has not worn it long enough to be useful.
Perfume vocabulary FAQ
What is the difference between sillage and projection?
Projection is how far the scent radiates from you right now. Sillage is the trail it leaves behind you as you move through a space. A fragrance can have one without much of the other.
How do I know my own projection if I cannot smell it?
You cannot — olfactory fatigue makes you the worst judge of your own scent. Ask someone. This is also why over-application is so common.
What does drydown mean?
The final phase, once the top and heart notes have evaporated and only base notes remain. Usually reached around the two-hour mark, and it is what you will wear for most of the day.
Is EDP always better than EDT?
Stronger, not better. EDP lasts longer and projects more; EDT is lighter and often more wearable in extreme heat. In an Indian summer an EDT can be the more practical choice even though the EDP is "better" on paper.
What is an accord in perfume?
A blend of several notes engineered to read as a single new smell. Notes are ingredients; accords are constructed impressions built from them.
Where to start
Every product page in Solera and Fraganote lists notes in pyramid order. Read the base first — our fragrance notes guide explains why — and see the testing guide for how to check longevity and projection yourself.