Sage

What it is

Common sage, distilled from the leaf. Distinct from clary sage, which is a different species and smells markedly softer.

What it smells like

Dry and silvery with a cooling bitterness, closer to a herb garden in late summer than to cooking. It sharpens a fragrance and is often what keeps a lavender blend from going sweet.

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.

Armaf (9), Carolina Herrera (7), Giorgio Armani (5), Hugo Boss (5), Lattafa (4), Valentino (4).