A Data Visualization Story
Making scents of 24,000 perfumes — a statistical journey through the invisible art of fragrance
Every perfume is built from layers of fragrance notes. Some notes appear in thousands of compositions. Others are rare signatures. Here are the molecules that define modern perfumery.
Hover any bubble to see how many perfumes use that note
Across 24,063 perfumes, musk is the undisputed champion, appearing in over 11,000 compositions. It is the invisible thread that ties modern perfumery together.
Bergamot follows closely. This citrus note opens nearly every classical cologne and most modern feminines. It is the first impression you never consciously notice.
The top 10 notes tell a story of balance: warm bases like sandalwood and amber, green freshness from bergamot and lemon, and florals like jasmine and rose.
But beyond the usual suspects, hundreds of niche notes create the magic. Explore the full constellation below.
The perfume industry draws sharp lines between masculine and feminine fragrances. But do the actual ingredients tell the same story?
Hover an axis to compare exact counts across genders · Toggle unisex with the button
Women's perfumes lean heavily into floral territory: jasmine, rose, and lily of the valley dominate the middle notes.
Men's fragrances pivot toward woody and earthy profiles. Patchouli, cedar, and vetiver form the backbone of masculine scent.
But the real surprise? Musk and bergamot are nearly equal across genders. These are the universal building blocks of fragrance.
Does popularity equal quality? We mapped how often each note appears against its average user rating to find out.
Hover a dot to find out which note hides behind its rating
The most common notes hover around the same rating. Being ubiquitous does not guarantee being loved.
Look at the upper left: pink pepper and tonka bean appear in fewer perfumes but carry some of the highest average ratings. Rarity and quality often travel together.
The sweet spot? Notes that are both reasonably common and well rated. Amber, vanilla, and sandalwood sit right in that zone.
Perfume trends mirror cultural shifts. From the aldehydic glamour of the 1970s to the gourmand explosion of the 2010s, the data traces a half century of changing tastes.
Hover the chart to see how each note family rose or fell decade by decade
In the 1970s and 1980s, aldehydes and classical florals dominated. Think Chanel No. 5 and its imitators.
The 1990s brought the "clean" revolution. Fresh aquatic and ozonic notes surged as minimalism took over fashion and fragrance alike.
The 2010s and 2020s saw oud, tonka bean, and gourmand accords explode. Perfumery became bolder, sweeter, and more experimental.
Using eBay listing data, we explore how composition relates to market value. Does a particular note profile command a higher price?
Hover any dot to see brand, price, and fragrance type
Men's perfumes on eBay range from $3 to $259, with a mean around $46. Women's range slightly higher, up to $300.
Niche brands like Creed and Tom Ford command premium prices. But does their composition actually differ from the mainstream?
The answer is nuanced. Premium perfumes tend to use more complex note structures and rarer ingredients, but the correlation is far from perfect.
Two more perspectives on the data: how notes connect to each other, and how they flow through the three layers of a perfume.
Which notes tend to appear together? This chord diagram reveals the hidden relationships.
Hover a note to reveal its strongest pairings
How do notes flow from the first impression (top) through the heart (middle) to the lasting base?
Hover a note to trace its journey through the three layers
Perfume houses in Paris, New York, and Dubai draw on different olfactory traditions. How does composition vary across world regions?
Click a region card below to compare how each part of the world builds fragrance
Europe leads with floral dominance — jasmine and rose are the continent's signatures. With over 15,000 perfumes, European houses set the global standard.
North America overlaps heavily with Europe but leans slightly more fruity. American fragrance culture favors accessible, fresh compositions.
The Middle East stands apart: more woody, spicy, and musky. Oud-based compositions and resinous bases reflect a centuries-old olfactory tradition.
Asia balances citrus brightness with woody depth. Japanese perfumery favors lighter, cleaner profiles — less floral than Europe, less sweet than America.
An interactive heatmap of note frequency across genders. Hover to explore, click to filter.
Click any accord to discover which scent families pair best together