Perfumery is an artful combination of aromas that create a unique, memorable scent. These fragrances can be divided into three distinct levels: top notes capture your attention instantly and fade away quickly, middle/heart notes are the main body of the aroma which will linger on your skin longer than top notes do; finally base scents add depth to the creation by providing long-lasting fragrance after the application of the perfume.
Top Notes
The top notes of a fragrance are sometimes known as opening notes or head notes because they are the fragrance notes recognised on immediate use, burning or application of the scent.
Common fragrance top notes include citrus (lemon, orange zest, bergamot), light fruits (grapefruit, berries) and herbs (clary sage, lavender).
Heart / Middle Notes
As their name suggests, heart notes lie at the heart of the fragrance. Otherwise known as middle notes, this scent layer is the foundation of any fragrance and is known to make up approximately 40-80% of the final fragrance’s overall scene.
Common fragrance middle notes include geranium, rose, lemongrass, ylang ylang, lavender, coriander, nutmeg, neroli and jasmine.
Base Notes
Finally, the base notes will start to shine through once the top notes have completely evaporated. Alone, base notes make up 10-25% of the final fragrance. However, the base notes also blend with the heart notes to deepen the complexity of the fragrance.
Common fragrance base notes include cedar wood, sandalwood, vanilla, amber, patchouli, oakmoss and musk.
Fragrance oils can be complex blends of scents and aromas. To help you better understand what’s in each bottle, we have started incorporating top, middle and base notes into our descriptions. Top notes are the initial scent that hits your nose; for example think citrusy oranges or green leaves from a fruit tree! Middle Notes make up most of the body of a fragrance like fresh sea air with seawater minerals – while Base Note brings it all together to provide subtle sweetness like powdery fragrances or creamy textures.