Oh no, I don’t mean the notes you scribble down in your jotters and books. In perfumery, these notes are used to highlight the ingredients of a perfume and how the perfume matures and dissipates into the air. Perfumers combine aromas and scents with different ingredients that grow and come to life as the fragrance matures.
When you spritz a perfume at first, the initial scent you perceive is quite different from the scent the perfume has at the end of the day. This is because the ingredients of the first notes evaporates and give into later notes. There are three notes in perfumery
- Top or head notes
- Middle or heart notes
- Base notes
These notes are usually arranged in a pyramid depicting how they mature and dissipate.
Top or Head Notes
Top notes are the scent note you smell first immediately you apply your perfumes. It is the first impression you have of a perfume but it does not last as it evaporate quickly. Top notes are usually sharp, fresh and volatile scents. Some popular aromas used for perfume top notes are orange, lavender, jasmine,eucalyptus and orchid. Do not judge a fragrance by its top notes but wait between 5-15 minutes for the top note to mature into the middle note, then you can decide if it is a fragrance for you or not.
Middle or Heart Notes
When the top notes fade off, you begin to perceive the middle notes of a perfume. It doesn’t dissipate as fast as the top notes but last between 20-60 minutes after the perfume has been used. Perfumers create the heart of a perfume with middle notes as that are pleasant and well rounded. Common middle notes are rose, lemongrass, geranium, clove and juniper. Wait for a perfume to mature after you test it to discover fragrances with middle notes you love.
Base Notes
Base notes are the final scent notes that appear close to the evaporation of the middle notes. It is the main depth of the fragrance and the scent you usually remember about a fragrance. They are mainly deep and rich scents. Base notes appear during the middle of the heart notes and can last up to 6 hours as they do not evaporate quickly. Popular base notes are sandalwood, vanilla, cypress, ginger and patchouli.
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