Oakmoss

What it is

A lichen scraped from oak bark, mostly in the Balkans. Restricted since the 2000s over atranol, an allergen, so it is now used at a fraction of historical levels or replaced.

What it smells like

Damp, green and bitter, like the shaded side of a tree after rain. Its restriction is the single biggest reason reformulated classics smell thinner than people remember: it was the floor those fragrances stood on.

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.

Mancera (9), Hermes (8), Nishane (7), Azzaro (6), Givenchy (6), Montale (6).