Pronouncing Fragrance House Names

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If you’re like me and you lack any sort of French language skills, you’ll probably find yourself at one point struggling to figure out how to pronounce some of the fragrance house names. If you’re also like me, you’ll go through the majority of your young life saying it wrong and liberally confusing everyone you try to communicate with as you tell them the fragrance you’re wearing is by “Theory Muggler”.

Here’s a guide on how to pronounce some of the fragrance house names. Please understand that I am not a French speaker and how I pronounce these names is as close an interpretation as I can get to the actual pronunciations. If you have a better suggestion or have a correction, please let me know.

Annick Goutal: “An-neek Goo-Tahl”, (Aneek Gootahl).

Chanel: “Shan-elle”, (Shannel).

Givenchy: “Jee-Vohn-Shee”, (Jeevohnshee).

Guerlain: “Gyehr-Lan”, (Gyerlan).

Hermès: “Air-Mez”, (Air Mez).

Houbigant: “Oo-Bee-Gahn” (Oobeegan).

Jean Paul Gaultier: “Zohn Pall Go-Tee-Ahy”, (Zohn Pall Goteeay). “Zohn” (like zone with emphasis on the “oh”), Pall, Goteeay (like goate then “eh”).

Thierry Mugler: “Tea-arry Mew-Glehyr”, (Teearry Mewglehyr).

Yves Saint Laurent: “Eve San Lor-rohn”, (Eve San Lorron).

Got any corrections? Suggestions? Leave a comment.

For more (and in audio) pronunciations check out Frag Name of the Day.

Common Perfume Notes Made Easy

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Ever try to read out and make sense of a notes listing for a fragrance you love? Just what on Earth is muguet supposed to be? How do you even say that? And what’s this coumarin that everyone keeps talking about? And if you thought the notes list was complicated enough, just wait until you hear about the stuff they don’t list.

The following is a brief overview of some perplexing but common notes you might see in perfume.

Benzoin: Pronounced, “ben-zoh-in”, can refer to either the “benzoin resin” from trees in the Styrax genus or the organic compound, “benzoin”. Benzoin resin has a creamy, honey and vanilla fragrance.

Champaca: Pronounced, “cham-puk-uh”, is a tree from the magnolia family. It smells woodsy, spicy and green.

Coumarin: Pronounced, “koo-muh-rin”, is a chemical compound found in tonka beans, sweet grass, and a wide variety of other plants. It has a sweet hay scent.

Galbanum: Pronounced, “gal-bun-num”, is a gum resin from plants of the Ferula genus. It has a green, herbaceous and bitter scent.

Labdanum: Pronounced, “lab-dun-num”, is a resin obtained chiefly from plants of the Cistus genus. Labdanum smells sweet, dry and woodsy.

Muguet: Pronounced, “mew-gey”, is Lily-of-the-Valley. It has a light, very sheer but distinctive sweet aroma.

Olibanum: Pronounced, “O-lib-bun-num”, is frankincense. Smells like incense to me.

Opopanax: Pronounced, “oh-pop-pan-nax”, is a gum resin that smells woodsy and lightly floral undertones.

Oud: Pronounced, “ooh’d”, sometimes referred to as agarwood is the resin that is produced when an Aquilaria tree is infected with mold. Oud is said to smell dense, sweet, warm,  and woodsy.

Ylang Ylang: Pronounced, “ee-lang ee-lang”, is a flowering tree. Ylang ylang has a delicate, white floral fragrance.