What sillage means
Sillage (pronounced "see-YAZH") is a French word that literally means the wake or trail left behind a ship moving through water. In perfumery, it describes the scented impression a fragrance leaves in the air after the wearer has moved through a space — sometimes called a "fragrance trail."
If you walk into a room and can smell that someone who wears a particular fragrance was there a few minutes ago, that's sillage. If someone passes you in a corridor and you catch their scent as they move past, that's sillage.
Sillage vs. projection
These terms are often used interchangeably but describe slightly different phenomena. Projection describes how far a fragrance radiates outward from the person wearing it while they're present. Sillage describes the trail left behind after they've moved on. A fragrance with strong projection but light molecules that dissipate quickly might have significant projection but little sillage. A fragrance built on heavier, more tenacious molecules might leave a strong sillage even with modest projection.
What affects sillage
- Molecular weight of aromatic materials: Heavier molecules cling to surfaces and linger longer in air.
- Concentration: Higher concentrations (EdP, Parfum) generally produce more persistent sillage than EdT or EdC.
- Application: Hair holds fragrance particularly well and creates strong sillage as the wearer moves.
- Environment: Humidity and warmth help fragrance molecules disperse and linger. Cold, dry conditions reduce sillage.
- Fabric vs. skin: Fragrance applied to fabric typically lasts much longer and produces more sillage than the same fragrance on skin.
SCNTMIX includes a sillage assessment in its mix analysis — see how a combination's expected sillage differs from either fragrance alone in the MixMode.