In the language of perfume, an “accord” refers to a single scent that captures a very specific smell. It might be the smell of a particular flower or perhaps a special bouquet of flowers or an exotic wood. An accord might also capture the scent of a very particular thing – maybe an ocean breeze, or a bit of driftwood, a mushroom or the forest floor. An accord might also be the smell of old leather gloves, freshly made carrot cake, a roll of cellophane tape or a brand new box of crayons. An “accord” can even capture a more complex but still particular experience: like walking through a meadow or a locker room or perhaps passing by a bakery or laundromat. All these different notes are then combined to create complex perfumes. In essence, accords are the words a perfumer uses to tell the story of a particular perfume; they are the Vocabulary of Perfume & using them creatively is the grammar of the Language of Scent. Every perfumer has a unique accord vocabulary - mine is based on Reality. I use the oils from real plants or capture the smells of real things. In my time I have built up quite a diverse and astonishing olfactory vocabulary for the perfumes I design.

My mission has long been to capture & bottle every possible pleasant smell – this is an endless task. My Accord collection is constantly expanding in all directions! Also since my main purpose in creating Scent in the first place is to give you a pleasure you never thought possible, I love to hear your suggestions. Please feel free to share your absolute favorite smells and I’ll certainly see what can be done (if I don’t happen to have it already).

Only some of my Accords are available for sale on my website – these are the most popular & the best to wear individually. All CB Accords are available in CB Absolute only in a 15 ML size. Each Accord is hand made individually when you order it & comes wrapped in a copy of my I Hate Perfume manifesto.

You’ll notice from the list, that the prices of my accords vary – this reflects the cost of the actual fragrance material used. Some can be QUITE expensive…

(And sorry – because the Accords are made to order, samples of them are not available.)

Natural accords are all those things that are extracted directly from plants; these are the essential oils, absolutes and concretes that have been used by perfumers for centuries.

I love working with natural materials – they provide a complexity and depth to a scent that is very tough to match. Natural materials also interact beautifully with the personal chemistry of everyone who wears them – they make a scent uniquely your own.

I also love the fact that natural accords vary from year to year; they are like wine. Because they all come from plants, their scent is dependent upon weather and each harvest is unique.

“Synthetic” is a misleading term. By no means does it mean “bad”. All scent is in fact “synthesized”. These specially designed accords capture things that are not found easily in nature or in some cases not found there at all!

Synthetic accords can actually be made from organic materials – we can use “nature identical materials” to create flowers – like Honeysuckle or Wild Violet. Or these accords can be like completely inorganic like Doll Head and Soccer Ball.

All the accords I create however must perfectly capture the scent of whatever it’s supposed to be whether it’s Cheesecake or Cellophane Tape!

It’s always a challenge to try to categorize scents. Even today, no one has been able to come up with a truly satisfactory method of grouping scents – there’s always some smell that just doesn’t quite fit…

I group my accords into fourteen different categories ranging from Water to Unnatural. These are general classifications that describe the main character of each accord in the group. Each Series is listed below and you can click on the name to learn more about them.

CB Accord Absolutes are worn just as CB Perfume Absolutes – a tiny dab on pulse points. You can simply apply the scent with a clean finger. You can wear several accords side by side or layer them. You’ll find the order that you apply them will change the composite scent. Always use a different finger for applying each absolute.

Sometimes you just want the pleasure of one special scent. Sometimes all you want is the smell of Violet or Forest Floor. Well now you can have just that and wear it whenever you wish.

You can also wear a few Accords at the same time – side by side or layered one over the other. You can even wear different accords on different parts of yourself if you really want to get creative… Wearing several accords at once means you can adjust them to suit exactly how you feel at the moment. It’s a simple way to “build your own perfume”.

You can also wear individual Accords with a favorite perfume. Maybe you’d like to add a touch of the ocean, deepen a certain scent for evening or bring out a particular flower. With one touch of your favorite accord, you can custom fit your “fragrance wardrobe” to really suit yourself.