About Fragrances and Stats

Interested in a candle, but unsure what it's going to smell like? Interested in designing a custom blend, but not quite sure how to describe it? Here's a few ways to know what you're getting. 

Fragrance Notes

- If you're looking for exactly what a candle will smell like, check the different notes on each page. Most scents use the same oils and compounds found in real substances to bring out recognizable smells, combining several layers together for something unique.

- A Top note is a first impression, the most volatile and quickly recognised scents, but fade quickly. They're usually fresh and sharp, including most citrus and herbal smells.

- The Middle notes are rounded and smooth scents that are picked up just after the top notes. They take the edge off the top notes, and stay around for longer. Many floral, spiced and sweet fragrances show up here.

- Finally, Base notes are heavy and persistent, showing up subtly after a candle has been burning for a time, and lingering long after. They're often rich and earthy, like woods, incense, and vanilla.

- If you're designing a custom fragrance for your own character, then you can expect the profile of your OC-CC candle to work in these layers. If you describe a dominant scent or two, we'll develop a custom blend that ties it all together.

Fragrance Stats

- We've identified six categories that almost all fragrances can be broken down into: Sweet, Floral, Earthy, Citrus, Fresh and Spiced.

- All candles at Planeshift come with a stat block like this, breaking down the sorts of scents you can expect, and how strong they are compared to each other.

- If you're unsure exactly what scents you're looking for in a custom blend, or can't picture quite how a set of notes will all come together, the stat block is a great reference!

 

Examples

Not sure what a particular note will smell like, or want some ideas for a custom blend? Look here for inspiration!

Sweet

- Sweet scents are often fruity, edible and flavourful. Usually around the top to middle notes, they're quickly recognized, and give a pleasant and mellow feel.

- Examples include strawberries, apple, caramel, bread, chocolate, vanilla, raspberry, orange, butterscotch, grapefruit, peach, cola and bubblegum.

Floral

- Floral scents are rounded, classic middle notes, recognizable and smelling like fresh-cut flowers, with a huge variety of nuance and unique scents.

- Examples include rose, jasmine, iris, ylang ylang, lavender, patchouli, lilac, gardenia, orange blossom, honeysuckle, lily and frangipani.

Earthy

- Earthy scents are rich, heavy typical base notes, smelling organic and natural. Many are reminiscent of wood, animals and earth, and can blend other notes together or stand out powerfully. 

- Examples include sandalwood, musk, amber, incense, wood smoke, resin, moss, cedar, leather, tobacco, oudh wood, vetiver, and maple.

Citrus

- Citrus scents are sharp, attention-grabbing and usually top notes. Often fruity but not always sweet, they cut through heavier fragrances and before fading into softer notes.

- Examples include lemon, lime, bergamot, lemongrass, orange, neroli, lemon myrtle, yuzu, verbena, blood orange, and zest. 

Fresh

- Fresh scents are natural, clean and bright, and often quite subtle. Covering many herbs, open and aquatic fragrances, they usually don't dominate but add a lot to a blend. 

- Examples include peppermint, ocean, driftwood, pine, eucalyptus, spearmint, sage, basil, camphor, sea salt, crushed leaves, fresh air and rainwater.

Spiced

- Spiced scents are warm and lingering, adding a lot of body and impact to a fragrance blend. Usually strong, flavourful and reminiscent of food and beverages, or fire and heat.

- Examples include cinnamon, coffee, cloves, beer, rum, bay leaf, pepper, tea leaves, star anise, mustard, cumin, gin and coriander.