In perfumery, only two varieties of rose are used for their fragrant properties: rosa damascena and rosa centifolia. The Damascena rose or Damask rose's appeal lies in its highly distinctive honeyed accents and slightly spicy scent. Originally from Persia, this very old variety is the most used in perfumery. It is mostly cultivated in Bulgaria, Turkey or Iran. Different perfumed products, such as rose water, rose oil and rose absolute, are obtained by using various methods of extraction, each with their distinctive olfactory characteristics. The rose absolute is obtained by volatile solvent extraction. It has generous rosy floral notes used mainly in the heart and base of a fragrance.

The amber used in perfumery has nothing to do with the yellow amber stone, which is ornamental but has no smell, nor with ambergris, which refers to an animal extract from the sperm whale. The amber accord inspired a series of successful perfumes launched at the beginning of the last century. It included two flagship ingredients, cistus labdanum, with its warm, resinous, animal facets, and vanillin, a new, sweet aromatic compound, which is the primary component of vanilla. Since then, the combination of these two warm and persistent notes has been considered to form the amber accord, generally enriched with tonka bean, coumarin and resins such as benzoin or incense, which are all base notes.