The language of perfumery

A note is not necessarily an ingredient. It is an image the nose recognizes.

A formula may contain no cherry, leather, or wet earth. Yet a combination of materials can create an impression the nose recognizes in exactly those terms.

One person may smell almond, another a cherry pit, and a third a warm liqueur. The names differ, but they may describe the same facet of the composition.

Declared notes

The brand’s intent

The official note list from the fragrance description: how the composition was conceived and presented.

Perceived notes

What people actually smell

Notes that repeat across real reviews of wearing the fragrance: what comes forward, stays on skin, and is remembered by others. They can be more prominent than the declared list suggests.

The declared list is not shown on this card. Perceived notes work on their own: they show what comes forward on skin, holds, and stays in the trail.

Intent and result

The lists may not match. That’s normal.

The brand describes the formula. On skin, dose, warmth, and time strengthen some notes and hide others.

That is why people may smell cherry, metal, or a “clean shirt” even when those notes are not in the declared list. Both lists are true: one is about the intent, the other about the result.

Declared notes say how the fragrance was intended. Perceived notes show what people actually smell.

Accords

Several notes. One complete impression.

As in music, an accord comes from a combination. Woods, spices, and smoke can create the impression of leather; florals, musk, and aldehydes can suggest a clean shirt.

Notes show individual details. Accords show the overall texture, mood, and direction of the fragrance.

Recurring signals

One review is an opinion. A recurring impression is a signal.

People may use different words for the same facet. What matters is not one phrase, but the images and sensations that recur across perceptions of the fragrance.

Tell Index’s perfumery algorithm identifies these recurring signals and separates a stable characteristic of the fragrance from a chance impression.

The full card

More than a note list. A complete fragrance portrait.

Declared noteshow the composition was conceived and presented

Perceived noteswhich notes people smell in wear

Accordsthe texture and mood created by the composition

Voicesthe words and images people use to describe it

Axeshow recognizable, noticeable, and comparable it is

Sceneswhere it fits and where it may feel too strong

What about on you?how the same fragrance may read on you

Together, these layers show more than a fragrance’s composition: they show how it develops, how it is perceived, and how it works on a person.

Before you buy

Choose more than a composition. Choose an impression.

A fragrance shapes first impressions, fills space, and stays on clothing. A note list alone is not enough.

Tell Index helps explain the practical effect: what people may smell, which image they may read, and how well the fragrance fits you.

Our core innovation

Tell Index is the key number of a fragrance.

Tell Index is both the name of this portal and our unique metric. Every fragrance gets its own index from 0 to 100 — a clear point of reference for navigating and comparing fragrances.

Tell shows who will speak up about your scent: ask its name, pay a compliment, recognize it, get tired of it. 0 — no one, 100 — everyone, before you say a word. It is not a quality score or a popularity rating.

There is one number, the same for everyone. "What about on you?" tells you in words how the same scent may read on you: city, occasion, dose, weather.

0no one speaks up

100everyone speaks up

Derek Lam 10 Crosby A Hold On Me

Perceived notes

People’s voices

A Hold On Me

What is behind 23.

What people nearby would say.

It meant one thing — people heard another.

Where you can wear it — and where you should not.

How it unfolds.

Global Tell is 23. What about on you?

Fragrance history

A fragrance has an intent. And what people actually smell.