Sources & Methodology
Olfactionary's entries are checked against independent public sources, never copied or paraphrased from a single source such as Fragrantica. Where we cannot confirm a fact, we leave it blank or mark the entry as drafted. Every entry carries a visible review-status badge so you know how far it has been checked.
Facts are not copyrightable; a particular arrangement of words is. We look for each fact in independent public sources, such as brand pages, retailer listings, IFRA standards, PubChem, patents, academic papers, and Wikidata, and write the entry fresh in Olfactionary's own structure. It is never a rewrite of one compiled source. Since 13 October 2026 we keep a perfume's notes only when the brand's own page, or at least two independent retailer pages, agree on them, and we list those pages under the perfume as Sources. Entries that list no sources have not been checked this way yet.
We use AI language models, including Claude, Gemini and models run through Groq, to help research, draft and organise entries, stories and Academy material, and to run data-cleanup jobs. A large share of the catalog was built this way, so please read it with that in mind.
AI drafts are not treated as final. Facts are checked against public sources, we audit AI-added entries from time to time, and we remove or blank anything we cannot verify. Entries still marked "drafted" below have not been independently checked.
AI can state wrong things with confidence. If you spot an error, please email hello@olfactionary.com and we will correct it.
● drafted, synthesized from sources, not yet independently checked.
● reviewed, spot-checked for factual accuracy.
● expert verified, signed off by a perfumer or chemist.
Every perfume page lists "notes," like bergamot or musk. A note describes what a perfume is meant to smell like, not a verified list of what's in the bottle, since real formulas are trade secrets nobody publishes. See Notes Are Not Ingredients for the full explanation.
Between 19 September and 12 October 2026, an automated job filled in about 1,500 launch years by searching the web. It did not record which pages it relied on, so for those years we cannot show you a source, and some may have leaned on perfume databases that we do not want to depend on. They are best-effort dates, not confirmed ones.
Since 13 October 2026 a stricter job fills a launch year only when independent pages agree on it, and it records them. If a launch year on a perfume page looks wrong, please email hello@olfactionary.com and we will check it and correct it.
We do not copy text or images from other perfume directories. Where a perfume page has no photo of its own, we sometimes show one from an authorized affiliate retail partner, credited, while we work on getting a real brand or reader photo. We do not imply endorsement or affiliation with any brand or perfumer named on this site; references to trademarked names are for identification only.
Decorative photography used site-wide is licensed free for commercial use under the Unsplash License: rose macro by Valerie Blanchett, glass bottles by Birgith Roosipuu. Individual perfume photos, where used, are credited on their own page.
Some "where to buy" and product links on perfume pages go through affiliate networks (Rakuten and CJ) to retailers such as Nicchia Luxury, Perfumania and FragranceShop, and some go through Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, Olfactionary earns from qualifying purchases. We may earn a commission on other purchases made through these links, at no extra cost to you. Links are marked as sponsored. The materials database and Historic Texts library contain no retailer links.
A library of public-domain and open-access perfumery texts, linked to their full text on Project Gutenberg, the Internet Archive and other open sources: Historic Texts.