Would you like to understand Fragrance Notes?

If you are like me you want to learn more about the things you love and I love Perfume.

So how the heck do we choose a perfume using the fragrance notes or describe a perfume?  I’m definitely going to need to pick this up quick with our new fragrance range.

There are three categories they are Head Notes, Heart Notes and Base Notes

Head Notes

Form the top layer of a fragrance. They are the scents you detect first after spraying.  These set the first impression & shape a fragrance. They evaporate after 5-15 minutes then transition into the next part of the fragrance.  Popular head notes include lemon, orange, bergamot, lavender, rose and basil.

Heart Notes

Make up the heart of the fragrance.  They retain some of the head notes and also introduce new scents to deepen the fragrance.  These notes last longer and remain evident for the full life of the perfume. Popular heart notes include jasmine, geranium, ylang-ylang, cinnamon, pepper, lemongrass and cardamom.

Base Notes

The foundation of a perfume to boost the lighter notes adding depth and resonance.  They are rich, heavy and long lasting.  The base notes kick in after about 30 minutes of spraying working with both the head and heart notes.  Popular base notes include vanilla, amber, musk, patchouli, moss and woody notes like sandalwood.  You always remember the base notes the most from a perfume!

Every note adds a  certain quality to the fragrance. For instance, fresh and floral scents are almost always top notes while woody and musky scents typically appear toward the bottom of the note pyramid.

Fresh Notes

These are light & citrusy in nature.  Orange and Bergamot give a fresh sweet fragrance where as Lemon and Bergamot would give more bitter sharpness fragrance.

Floral Notes

These give a natural feel to a fragrance and normally form the head or heart notes.  They can be mixed with other notes to for a more dramatic scent.

Jasmine will give a fragrance a fruity and white floral scent where as Ylang-ylang adds more of a tropic scent.

Fruity

These are usually found in the heart notes.  They can add depth to the fragrance.  Blackberry would give you a rich musky scent but Apple or Strawberry would give you a nice juicy vibe.

Spicy Notes

Spicy notes add warmth and potency. Cinnamon & Nutmeg add spice and sweetness whereas Rosemary and Basil would possess a more herby scent

Woody Notes

Sandalwood and Patchouli usually form the base of the fragrance to add strength to the lifetime of the perfume.  Most woody oils are earthy like Cedarwood and Oud which provide a nice sweet scent.

Musky Notes

Normally found in the base notes for richness to help fill in the foundation and increase the duration of the scent.  Musky notes can be Black Musk-Cashmere Musk

Hopefully you found this as interesting as I did although I love all different types of smell depending on my mood.  My collection has every kind of fragrances from sweet to musky and all those in between.