What’s in a Name: Fragrance Jargon for Those in the Know
Every industry, discipline, science or art form has its own special vocabulary. These specialised collections of terms are referred to as ‘jargon’ – the words that the general public never uses, and thus mark out the true initiate into the secret world behind the public images.
Jargon is used for two distinct purposes. On the one hand, it can simplify communication between experts, as jargon terms have very specialised meanings. On the other hand, it also serves to obscure the inner workings of a process or discipline, protecting its secrets from casual observers and ensuring that experts and those involved with the industry can identify each other easily.
The perfume world is no different and has a rich set of jargon that most people are unaware of. If you want to present yourself as a perfume expert, you’ll need to bone up on your vocabulary – starting with the various terms for the most basic part of the perfume experience.
Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off
What do you call the perfume ‛bottle’? Many folks will of course simply say bottle, what else would you call it?
Well, certainly some folks not involved with the inner workings of the perfume industry might refer to it as a ‛sprayer’ or even a ‛spritzer.’ Many perfume sales folks in department stores have weathered the use of these prosaic – if accurate – terms for the fancy glass bottles lining their shelves. Some folks, trying to sound slightly more sophisticated but no more knowledgeable of industry terms, might use the word ‛flask’ instead.
A slightly more accurate term used in the industry itself would be atomiser. This term describes a bottle and spray mechanism that takes a liquid (in this case, perfume) and ‛mists’ it into the air. All perfume bottles are essentially beautifully-designed atomisers.
The Super -Secret Terms
If you want to pass yourself off as a true perfume insider, there are two terms referring to the perfume bottle that you can toss around to look smart.
A factice is a perfume bottle manufactured for display purposes only – it looks exactly like the actual bottle of a perfume, but does not actually contain the perfume, and may not be a working atomiser at all. A factice is found only behind display cases, out of reach, and serves solely as an advertisement.
A flanker is not strictly speaking a bottle but refers to a ‛sequel’ scent to an original scent. When a perfume is successful, the designer will often come up with variations on the scent, which is then packaged in similar bottles with similar names – and often the term ‘flanker’ is used to refer to the bottle design as opposed to the perfume itself.
The perfume world is rich with details like these that make it an amazing and interesting field to read about, even if you have no interest in the science and art of perfume making itself. Or if you just want to seem smart at cocktail parties!