Find Your Scent Family: The Unisex Fragrance Guide for India
You do not need a hundred perfumes. You need to know which scent family you belong to. Once that is settled, every bottle you buy starts to make sense, and the question of men's fragrance versus ladies perfume mostly stops mattering. This guide walks through the seven families we stock at The Sillage Studio, musk, oud, spicy, gourmand, citrus, fruity and summer, and shows which one to reach for. Every scent on the shelf is a 33ml Parfum Extrait at 30 percent concentration. Twenty six of the thirty are Rs 699 and the four Signature Blends are Rs 999, so the whole range is a genuine answer to the search for the best perfume under 1000. Shipping is free everywhere in India.
Why unisex fragrance is the smart place to start
The old rule that men get woods and women get flowers is fading. Half of our range, fifteen of thirty perfumes, sits in the unisex edit, from a saffron woody like Ganymede to a rum caramel like Monkey and a chai sandalwood like Santal Chai. A unisex cologne or unisex extrait simply means the composition was built around a mood rather than a gender, which gives you far more to choose from and makes gifting far less risky. If you are new to perfume, or buying for someone whose taste you are unsure of, the unisex edit is the best place to begin. Browse all fifteen unisex perfumes here.
The one number that decides how long a perfume lasts
Before the families, one number. Concentration is the share of fragrance oil in the bottle, and it is what separates a long lasting perfume from one that disappears by lunch.
Body mist: roughly 1 to 3 percent oil. A quick refresh.
Eau de toilette: 5 to 15 percent. A bright opening, light trail.
Eau de parfum: 15 to 20 percent. Carries through most of a day.
Extrait de parfum: around 20 to 30 percent or more. Sits close to the skin and stays there.
Everything we make is a 30 percent extrait, which is luxury counter strength. Because concentration and composition both matter, the real longevity is printed on each product page as an "up to" figure for that specific scent, never one convenient number for the whole shelf.
Musk, the skin scent family
Musk is the family for people who want to smell like themselves, only better. It sits close to the skin, reads clean and warm, and is the easiest family to wear to an office. Our musk edit holds four scents: Musk Therapy, a pure skin musk that is unisex and personal, Ganymede, a saffron woody with a musky base that people ask about, Homme Marine, an aquatic musk for men, and Bouquet de Musc, a musk and oud Signature Blend for women. If you want a fragrance nobody will object to in a meeting, this is the shelf. See the musk perfume edit.
Oud, the presence family
Oud is the family for occasions, evenings and anyone who wants to be noticed. It is resinous, deep and unmistakably Indian in how it is worn. Eight of our perfumes carry oud, and the one to start with is Outlands, a unisex frankincense oud with the single most layered note list in the whole range: frankincense, cardamom and elemi on top, saffron, Sichuan pepper and rose in the heart, oud, amber, benzoin and labdanum at the base, and up to 10 plus hours on skin. It is Rs 699 and it wears like a proper luxury perfume. Around it sit Imperial Valley and African Leather for men, Alexandria II for oud and rose, Aoud Lemon Mint for oud kept light enough for summer, Intense Cedrat Boise for citrus over oud, and the Signature Blend Oud Cambodia. The whole oud collection is here.
Spicy, the cold weather family
Spicy scents are built on pepper, saffron, cardamom, chai and tobacco. They come alive in cooler air, which makes them the family for Delhi winters, hill stations and late dinners. Six scents live here: Naxos, honey and tobacco for men, Caden, saffron and amberwood for anyone, Santal Chai, literally chai and sandalwood, Imagination, citrus with a spice kick for men, plus African Leather and Outlands crossing over from the oud shelf. If the strongest perfume for men is what you are after, Naxos and African Leather are the two to test first. Browse the spicy fragrances.
Gourmand, the dessert family
Gourmand means edible: vanilla, caramel, marshmallow, honey, rum. It is the family that gets compliments from across a table. The one to know is Marshmallow, a gourmand perfume for women that opens on freesia, lemon and nectarine blossom, turns dessert sweet with marshmallow, strawberry and coconut, and closes on whipped cream, vanilla and musk, with up to 10 plus hours of wear. It is sweet done grown up, and it is Rs 699. Alongside it are Monkey, rum and caramel, Naxos, honey tobacco, Santal Chai, Fig Me Up, Creme de Manali, and the Signature Blend All Eyes On Me. See every gourmand scent.
Citrus, the fresh family
Citrus is lemon, bergamot, cedrat and apple, the family for daytime, humidity and anyone who wants to smell clean rather than perfumed. Seven scents: Allure Blanche, crisp and meeting ready, Ice, apple and citrus, Valero, citrus over woods, Imagination, Intense Cedrat Boise, Musk Therapy and Aoud Lemon Mint. Most of these are perfume for men, but Aoud Lemon Mint and Musk Therapy are unisex and worn by everyone. Explore the citrus edit.
Fruity, the playful family
Fruity is fig, mango, pineapple, strawberry and salt, the family that reads young and happy. Seven scents: Fig Me Up and Figue Erotique for two very different figs, Tropiques for women, Vetiver Fauve for men, Marshmallow, Summer Hammer, and the Signature Blend All Eyes On Me. Fruity is the natural home of a good ladies perfume that is not floral, and of the best unisex perfume for anyone who finds woods too serious. Browse fruity perfumes.
Summer, the heat family
Summer perfume in India has to survive forty degrees and a commute, so it needs to be loud and it needs to last. Summer Hammer, our mango perfume, is the answer: a unisex scent built on mango, pineapple, coconut and bergamot, with white rum and coconut milk keeping it boozy sweet, marine notes bringing the sea air in, and musk, sandalwood, amber and vetiver holding it past sunset, for up to 12 plus hours. If you have ever searched for a coconut perfume or a mango fragrance that does not vanish in an hour, this is the one, at Rs 699. Its partner on the shelf is Tropiques, a tropical fruity perfume for women. Both are in the summer collection.
For her: seventeen options, not one floral
Perfume for women at The Sillage Studio is not a single rose. The For Her edit holds seventeen scents across every family above, from Marshmallow and Tropiques to Bouquet de Musc, Alexandria II, Santal Chai and Summer Hammer, so a long lasting perfume for women can be gourmand, oud, best long lasting perfumes for men musk or fruity depending on the day. If you are shopping the best perfumes for women and want more than florals, start with the For Her collection.
Designer inspired, honestly labelled
Twenty five of our scents are designer inspired: our own independent interpretations of a famous scent's character, named honestly on the product page so you know exactly what you are getting, at Rs 699 for a 30 percent extrait. Anyone searching for perfume dupes in India that are actually long lasting should read the "inspired by" line on each page and then decide by family, not by the name on someone else's bottle. See the full designer inspired range.
Find your family by testing ten
The fastest way to learn your scent family is to wear several. The 10X Combo, any ten bottles, lets you pick any ten of the Rs 699 perfumes for Rs 5,499, which is Rs 549.90 a bottle, the lowest per bottle price we run, and a different perfume every day for a week and a half. Choose one from each family, or go deep on the two you already love. The 2X and 4X combos work the same way at Rs 1,299 and Rs 2,399. Combos are built from the Rs 699 scents, and the four Signature Blends are bought individually.
Gifting by family
A perfume gift set chosen by family is the easiest fragrance gift to get right. Our ready made sets of three are Rs 1,899 each: Oud and Leather for anyone who likes presence, The Sweet Tooth for a gourmand lover, and The Fresh Escape for citrus and summer people. The Signature Quartet, all four Signature Blends together, is Rs 3,749. Every set is a mens fragrance gift set or a ladies gift set depending only on who you hand it to. See the gift sets.
What comes with every bottle
Luxury counter concentration at 30 percent Parfum Extrait, so a little goes a long way.
Handcrafted in India by our partner perfumers to our brief. Vegan, cruelty free and free of harmful chemicals.
Free shipping everywhere in India with no minimum order, delivered in 3 to 7 working days.
Real note lists and a per scent longevity figure printed on every product page.
Prepaid by UPI, with your order confirmed on WhatsApp, so there is no card form to fill.
In Delhi NCR, an urgent 5 hour delivery option for the gift you left to the last minute.
Questions people ask
What is the best unisex perfume to start with? Ganymede if you like woods, Santal Chai if you like warmth, Summer Hammer if you like fruit. All three are Rs 699 and all three are in the unisex edit.
Which family lasts longest? Oud, spicy and gourmand scents generally sit closest to the skin for longest, but longevity depends on the specific composition, which is why each product page carries its own "up to" figure.
Is a 30 percent extrait too strong for daytime? No. Use fewer sprays. Two sprays of an extrait typically outlast six of a lighter concentration, which is also why a 33ml bottle lasts months.
Can I mix families in a combo? Yes. Any ten of the Rs 699 perfumes, from any family, in the 10X pack at Rs 549.90 a bottle.
Do you deliver everywhere in India? Yes, free, in 3 to 7 working days, with a paid 5 hour urgent option in Delhi NCR.
Luxury need not look boring. Seven families, thirty extraits, all under Rs 1000 a bottle, free shipping across India. Find your family here.
Our designer inspired scents are our own independent interpretations. The Sillage Studio is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to any of the brands referenced, and all trademarks belong to their respective owners.