Parfumo
Mittweida
Best for a very wide perfume catalogue with separate scores for scent, longevity, sillage, bottle and value, and a collection you can keep alongside it
Parfumo is one of the largest perfume catalogues online: 236,436 perfumes from 14,839 brands when we checked. It has run since the close of 2008 from Mittweida in Germany, and it is built the way Wikipedia is. More than 1,500 members have researched entries and added sources, and pages that have been checked carry a "source-backed and verified" mark.
Where Parfumo stands out is how it scores a perfume. Rather than one number, a page gives five, each with its own count of ratings: scent, longevity, sillage, bottle and value for money. Dior Sauvage Extrait, for example, scores 7.4 for scent but 9.1 for longevity. Alongside them sit the note pyramid, the main accords, long reviews, short statements, photos, and a "smells similar" panel.
It is also a good place to keep a collection. You can sort what you own, have owned and have tested onto as many shelves as you like, and the Parfumo app adds a fragrance tracker that logs what you wear and shows your most-worn bottles, plus a barcode and photo scanner.
The site is in English and German, free to join, and funded by donations and affiliate links to shops such as eBay and Amazon. It does not sell perfume itself.
Highlights
- 236,436 perfumes from 14,839 brands, researched by members and marked when source-checked
- Five separate scores per perfume - scent, longevity, sillage, bottle and value - each with its own rating count
- Long reviews and short statements, plus a 'smells similar' panel
- Collection shelves on the site, and an app that logs what you wear and scans barcodes
- Free to join, in English and German, running since 2008
More tools
Fragrantica
Perfume database
United States
Best for looking up almost any perfume - its notes, accords, perfumer and launch year - alongside thousands of other people's reviews
Aromoshelf
Collection app
Best for logging what you actually wore - a collection app for people whose shelf has outgrown a notes file
Formulair
Formulation software
London
Best for an apprentice or self-taught perfumer who wants to replace a spreadsheet with a dedicated app for tracking raw materials, dilutions and formula percentages on iPhone, iPad or Mac
Fragrances of the World
Classification
Australia
Best for anyone who wants the industry's standard map of fragrance families, free, without buying the database behind it