When perfumer David Holtz spoke to the Cut about making a genuine lily fragrance, he talked about how his initial scent smelled like soap—flat and flowery—far from the actual smell of fresh lilies. That’s when he realized that live lily flowers have a note which smells like “ham or baloney.” Then he took notes of clove, which has the component eugenol which gives it a smoky character and added them in. That’s how he got his lily scent, proving that animalic notes are necessary to add depth to generic florals.