HOW TO BRIEF A FRAGRANCE
The clearer your brief, the easier it is for us to develop the fragrance you're looking for.
A bespoke fragrance starts with your idea and your direction.
The most useful briefs communicate what you want to create - the fragrance style, the notes, the character and the things you want to avoid.
The better we understand your preferences, your product and your expectations, the more efficiently we can focus development on creating a fragrance that matches your brief.
Starting with the Right Direction
A fragrance brief doesn't need to contain every detail, but it should give us a clear starting point.
Our role is to develop your fragrance idea into a finished product - refining the direction, balancing the composition and applying our technical expertise to create a fragrance that works for your brand.
The strongest projects usually begin with a clear idea from the client, whether that's a fragrance style, key notes, references or simply a description of what you want to achieve.
Because fragrance is highly subjective, understanding your preferences from the beginning helps us avoid making assumptions about what you will love. A direction that feels obvious to one person may feel completely different to another.
What Makes a Good Fragrance Brief?
The most useful briefs give us a clear picture of what you're looking for and what matters most to you.
Useful areas to consider include:
What fragrance direction do you have in mind?
Think about the main fragrance ideas you are drawn towards.
Examples:
Warm vanilla with soft woods
Fresh citrus with clean musks
Modern rose with subtle spice
Dry tobacco with gentle sweetness
Simple descriptions like these give us a much clearer starting point and help us understand the type of fragrance you are looking for.
What style are you looking for?
The same ingredient can create very different fragrances depending on how it is interpreted.
For example:
Vanilla can be sweet and fluffy, or deep and resinous.
Rose can be fresh and delicate, or rich and opulent.
Woods can be clean and creamy, or dark and earthy.
Words like clean, comforting, fresh, warm, creamy or dry can help describe the character you are looking for.
Broader descriptions such as luxurious, elegant, sophisticated or unique can also be useful, but they mean different things to different people.
Consider the overall style you want to create, alongside any notes, materials or fragrance families you are drawn towards.
What do you like and dislike?
Understanding your preferences is one of the most useful parts of a fragrance brief.
Useful information can include:
Fragrances you already love
Notes or styles you enjoy
Fragrance styles you want to avoid
Characteristics you are drawn towards
For example, knowing that you love soft, creamy and warm fragrances - but dislike anything smoky or overly sweet - gives us a much clearer direction.
Using Inspiration
Creative references can be helpful when developing a fragrance.
You might have images, colours, packaging ideas, materials or environments that represent the direction you are trying to create.
However, the most useful inspiration is one that can be translated into fragrance direction.
For example, "an old library" could suggest dry woods, paper, leather or soft warmth. Adding those details helps turn an idea into something we can develop.
The more clearly you can communicate what you like, the easier it is for us to understand the fragrance you are imagining.
What Doesn't Make a Strong Brief?
Some descriptions can sound clear but leave a lot of room for interpretation.
Examples include:
A fragrance that smells luxurious
A sophisticated or refined fragrance
An elegant or premium fragrance
A unique or distinctive fragrance
These can all be useful starting points, but they mean very different things to different people.
A luxurious fragrance could be a rich amber, a soft floral, a clean musk or a deep woody scent. Without more detail, it is difficult to know which direction best matches your expectations.
The strongest briefs combine these broader ideas with more specific fragrance direction - the notes, styles or characteristics you are drawn towards.
LEARN MORE
Every Great Fragrance Starts with a Great Brief
Learn how to communicate your ideas, explore fragrance directions and create a brief that leads to better results.
→ How to Brief a Fragrance
Wondering What to Expect?
Discover how we develop fragrances, from the initial brief through to the final fragrance.
→ Our Fragrance Development Process
How Much Does Fragrance Development Cost?
Understand how we price fragrance development and the factors that influence project costs.
→ Fragrance Development Pricing
Have More Questions?
Find answers to the questions we're asked most often about fragrance development, ownership, timelines and more.
→ Fragrance FAQs