Fragrance Demystified
For many years there has been a great deal of mystery surrounding perfumes and the way it is composed. Lately, much of this information has been made known to a greater number of people. The question remains – do we want to know all of this or should it rather remain secret so as to keep the mystery alive?
Perfumes are composed of fragrance notes of the “scent” or the “family” it belongs to, all of which affect the overall impression of a perfume from first application to the last lingering hint.
The trail of scent left behind by a person wearing perfume is called its sillage, after the French word for “wake”, as in the trail left by a boat in water.
Fragrance Notes (Perfumery)
Perfume is described in a musical metaphor as having three sets of notes, making the harmonious scent accord. The notes unfold over time, with the immediate impression of the top note leading to the deeper middle notes, and the base notes gradually appearing as the final stage. These notes are created carefully with knowledge of the evaporation process of the perfume.
Top Notes
Also called the head notes. The scents that are perceived immediately on application of a perfume. Top notes consist of small, light molecules that evaporate quickly. They form a person’s initial impression of a perfume and thus are very important in the selling of a perfume. Examples of top notes include mint, lavender and coriander.
Middle notes
Also referred to as heart notes. The scent of a perfume that emerges just prior to the dissipation of the top note. The middle note compounds form the “heart” or main body of a perfume and acts to mask the often unpleasant initial impression of base notes, which become more pleasant with time. Examples of middle notes include seawater, sandalwood and jasmine.
Base notes
The scent of a perfume that appears close to the departure of the middle notes. The base and middle notes together are the main theme of a perfume. Base notes bring depth and solidity to a perfume. Compounds of this class of scents are typically rich and “deep” and are usually not perceived until 30 minutes after application. Examples of base notes include tobacco, amber and musk.
The scents in the top and middle notes are influenced by the base notes; conversely, the scents of the base notes will be altered by the types of fragrance materials used as middle notes. Manufacturers who publish perfume notes typically do so with the fragrance components presented as a fragrance pyramid, using imaginative and abstract terms for the components listed.