Tuberose

What it is

A flower that cannot be steam distilled without destroying it, so it is captured by enfleurage or solvent extraction. Both are slow and the absolute is priced accordingly.

What it smells like

Big, creamy and buttery with a green rubbery streak underneath that people notice before they can name it. It is the least moderate material in common use, and fragrances built on it are rarely called pleasant or unpleasant, only too much or exactly right.

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.

Gucci (9), Carolina Herrera (8), Lancome (8), Dior (6), Givenchy (6), Giorgio Armani (5).