Violet

What it is

Ionones, discovered in 1893, which is also the story of modern perfumery starting. Violet flowers cannot be extracted, so the synthetic came first and the note as we know it exists because of it.

What it smells like

Sweet and powdery with a green leafy edge, like violet sweets more than like the flower. Ionones briefly deaden the receptors that detect them, so violet seems to come and go on the skin, which is a property of your nose rather than of the scent.

How strongly it is worn

The average strength this accord is listed at, where 100 means it dominates the fragrance.

66 / 100

What builds it

How much more often than the catalogue average. 1.0x would be chance, so these are the things that genuinely travel with it rather than the things that are simply common.

Accords it sits beside

Same measure, with its own family filtered out. Saying woody turns up with oud is a restatement, not a finding.

When it is worn

Against the average fragrance here. The line marks that average, so a bar past it means this is worn in that season or setting more than most.

Houses that use it most

Counted across the fragrances here, which reflects what we cover as much as what a house makes.

Prada (9), Mancera (8), Valentino (8), Gucci (6), Versace (6), Byredo (5).