Waxy

On record here, the word is carried by musk odorants. Each carrier says who uses the word and on what evidence: a source, the trade’s convention or the house’s own reading.

Read the essay · Everyday words to scent concepts: the Scent Translator

The record

Each field carries its evidence: open a chip for the source, the quoted words and the confidence. A field with nothing behind it says so and stays empty.

Term

waxy

perfumery convention

the trade’s shared vocabulary; no single source

the trade’s shared vocabulary; the word as the records and sources use it

confidence B

Family

musk

perfumery convention

Classification of 1. top notes: a) citrus, b) aldehydic, c) fruity, d) green and e) herbaceous/herbal, 2. heart notes: a) floral light, b) floral green, c) floral fresh, d), floral fruity, e) floral heavy and f) floral woody and 3. bottom notes: a) aromatic, b) balsamic, c) moss/leather/animalic, d) musk, e) amber and f) wood.

ISO-2 · Stepanyuk A, Kirschning A · read 2026-09-30

the family name as the published classification the review gives (top, heart and bottom notes) spells it

confidence B

Definition

The smooth, fatty smell of wax; said of musks and some aldehydes.

house interpretation

the house’s own reading, labelled as such

the house’s own definition, written for this vocabulary

confidence C

Carried by

• musk odorants (the review, of the family) (as used: “waxy”)
  documented

  Typically, musk odorants are sweet, waxy, and “animalic”, bringing warmth and erogenous mystery to a perfume

  KLE-1 · Kleoff M, Kiler P, Heretsch P · read 2026-09-30

  confidence A

Related terms

• musky

Sources

1. ISO-2 · Stepanyuk A, Kirschning A. Synthetic terpenoids in the world of fragrances: Iso E Super® is the showcase. Beilstein J Org Chem. 2019;15:2590–2602. doi.org/10.3762/bjoc.15.252 · read 2026-09-30 · CC BY 4.0
2. KLE-1 · Kleoff M, Kiler P, Heretsch P. Synthesis of odorants in flow and their applications in perfumery. Beilstein J Org Chem. 2022;18:754–768. doi.org/10.3762/bjoc.18.76 · read 2026-09-30 · CC BY 4.0

These records are published under CC BY 4.0.

this record as data: /data/descriptor/waxy.json · version 1 · updated 2026-09-30 · confidence B