Perfume notes are essentially the different layers of a fragrance that come together to form a perfume’s scent profile. There are 3 ‘layers’ to a perfume. These layers can be shown through the ‘perfume pyramid’. The three layers are the base, the heart, and the top layers. Each layer is defined by the rate in which they evaporate when applied. When delving deeper into fragrances and scents, learning about perfume notes gave a lot of insight in what goes into creating perfumes.
Top Notes
The top notes create the top layer of a fragrance. Top notes, such as orange and bergamot, are the scents that you smell first in the initial application of a perfume. Top notes are known for having a higher volatility, which essentially means that they evaporate faster in comparison to heart and base notes.
I like to describe the top layer of a fragrance as the promo. It is the opening to a fragrance’s story and its main purpose is to set the tone of a fragrance. For a layer that sets the tone of a fragrance, it generally consists of lighter and smaller molecules that linger for 5 to 15 minutes.
So whenever you go perfume shopping, and you’re testing out different fragrances, the top notes are most likely what you are smelling. But just like a movie, a promo doesn’t fully represent the movie or the emotions that it would make you feel. The same applies to fragrances. Don’t fall into the trap of just relying on the top notes to choose your next fragrance, allow some time to get a full impression of a fragrance through the heart and base notes.
Heart Perfume Notes
Speaking of getting the full impression of a fragrance, that brings me nicely to the heart of a fragrance. The heart notes create the full body of a fragrance, they serve as a buffer for the base notes. Their main purpose is to accompany the base notes, they’re like the side-kick to the superhero. They work hand in hand with the base notes to make up 70% of an overall fragrance.
Heart notes emerge as the top notes fade. Heart notes unlike top notes remain evident for the full life of a fragrance, hence why popular heart notes include cinnamon, jasmine, neroli, and ylang-ylang. These are vibrant and aromatic oils, and spices that showcase the truest nature of the perfume. Similarly to the base notes, they help to boost the lighter notes while adding more depth to a fragrance. Heart notes last for 20-60 minutes.
Base Perfume Notes
Base notes form the foundation of a fragrance. In a similar fashion to heart notes, the base notes are pivotal in boosting the lighter notes, whilst adding more depth to the fragrance. Base notes start to emerge 30 minutes after the initial application, and can last for 6 hours or more. They work simultaneously with the heart notes to create the fragrance’s scent. Popular base notes include vanilla, amber, and patchouli, as well as woodier notes like sandalwood.
Finding your Signature Scent
Learning and understanding perfume notes, as well as the fragrance wheel, is important in establishing your signature scent that is truly representative of your personality. The fragrance wheel is a concept invented by scent expert, Michael Edwards. The fragrance wheel is a tool to help perfumers and perfume lovers alike. The wheel places families that share common olfactory characteristics next to one another. As these fragrance families share common characteristics, it directly correlates to their ability to blend well together in a perfume.
Click here to read more about the Fragrance Wheel and the fragrance families.
Click here to explore Michael Edwards’ Fragrance Wheel.
