Coconut

What it is

A lactone rather than the fruit. Coconut cannot be usefully extracted, which is why the note so often smells of suncream instead of food.

What it smells like

Creamy and sweet with a waxy edge. The association with sunscreen arrives before most people consciously identify the note, and it decides whether they like the fragrance before they have thought about it.

Where it sits

Which layer of the pyramid it is listed in, across every fragrance here that carries it. A base note is one you smell for hours; a top note is usually gone within the first.

What it turns up with

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.

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.

Montale (5), Mancera (4), Gucci (3), Jean Paul Gaultier (3), Kilian (3), Lancome (3).