Cumin

What it is

Seed, distilled. Its main components are chemically close to compounds found in human sweat, which is not a metaphor.

What it smells like

Warm and dusty, and unmistakably sweaty at any real dose. It is the most reliably divisive note in perfumery: a small amount makes a fragrance smell like a body, and people either want that or refuse it outright.

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.

Le Labo (6), Armaf (2), Ajmal (1), Al Haramain (1), Amouage (1), Azzaro (1).