Heliotrope

What it is

Named for a flower that yields nothing usable, so the note is built from heliotropin, which is also a precursor in industrial chemistry and is regulated as such.

What it smells like

Powdery almond and vanilla, close to marzipan and to baby powder at once. It is the note that makes a fragrance smell soft and slightly infantile, which is either its appeal or its problem.

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.

Valentino (7), Lancome (5), Dolce & Gabbana (4), Lattafa (4), Tom Ford (4), Guerlain (3).