Perfume Notes

Besides family classification perfume is described in a musical metaphor as having three sets of notes, making the well-balanced scent accord. The notes unfold over time, with the instant impression of the top note leading to the deeper middle notes, and the base notes slowly appearing at the end. These notes are created carefully with knowledge of the vanishing process of the perfume.

Top notes: The scents that are perceived immediately on application of a perfume. Top notes are usually lighter, more volatile aromas that evaporate without delay. They form first impression of a perfume also called the head notes. Their scent usually remains for between 5 and 30 minutes.

Middle notes: The scent of a perfume that may be evident from the start, but will usually take 10-30 minutes to fully develop on the skin. They are the notes that classify the perfume family (floral, oriental, green, etc, see above). The middle note compounds form the "heart" or main body of a perfume and act to mask the often unpleasant initial impression of base notes, which become more enjoyable with time. Sometimes they are also called the "heart notes".

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 are those with the greatest molecular weight and are usually not perceived until 30 minutes after application. Common base notes include oakmoss, patchouli, woods, musk and vanilla.

The scents in the top and middle notes are depended on the base notes, as well the scents of the base notes will be altered by the type of fragrance aromas used as middle notes. Manufacturers of perfumes usually publish perfume notes and typically they present it as fragrance pyramid, with the components listed in creative and abstract terms.

Different fragrances are suitable for different age groups or for different circumstances. For a young woman green scents are more suitable than oriental ones. But for the evening meetings or dates you should wear heavier, more sensuous types rather then light ones which, in turn, are suitable for daylight use.

Also don't wear one perfume all year all. Temperatures have an effect on the scent. Cold temperatures decrease the strength of the perfume so wear stronger scents in the winter. And vice versa, in the summer wear lighter scents.

Remember that perfumes can be fun to wear, but starting a new perfume always use it on only one small area of skin. If there is an allergy to any of the ingredients it's the safest way to realize it. After an hour, if there is no negative reaction, the perfume is safe to wear. Once you open a bottle of perfume, wear it! It will keep indefinitely when not opened, but... once the air has infiltrated into the perfume, it must be used within a year or two at the maxium.

Perfume Families

Cosmetics, used to give the human body a pleasant scent is called perfume. Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils, aroma compounds, and other substances accustomed to enhance the odor of the human body. There are numerous types of perfumes, so you may easily feel lost with so many new fragrances being presented into the market each year.

Commercial perfumes consist of complex ingredients and odorants that they are of little use in providing a points in explanation of the experience of a scent. The most realistic way to start describing a perfume is according to the elements of the fragrance notes of the scent or the family it belongs to, all of which have an effect on the overall idea of a perfume from first use to the last lingering hint of scent.

Grouping perfumes, like any classification, can never be a completely objective or final process. Many fragrances contain aspects of different families. Although there is no officially established categorization, each of the new fragrances have certain tones which allow its tagging to one of the following groups:

Floral: Fragrances that are dominated by a scent from one particular flower or a combination of fragrance of several flowers. These fragrances are maybe the most popular ones.

Fruit/Citrus: These fragrances are featuring the aromas of fruits most often defined as fresh and light scents. They use the aromas of peach, black currant, melon, lemon, orange, tangerine, grapefruit, orange blossom, mango, passion fruit, and others.

Ocean/Aquatic /Ozonic: A very clean, modern smells leading to many of the modern perfumes. These fragrances are the newest types of fragrances based on synthetic ingredients which smell like fresh ocean waters.

Green: Modern interpretation of distinctive and fresh aromas with pronounced cut grass, crushed green leaf and cucumber-like scents, reminding you sweet smells of woods, grass, apples or lavender.

Oriental/Ambered: A large fragrance category introducing the sweet exotic spices and flowers, sandalwood and resin, scents of ambergris or labdanum, often combined with vanilla, tonka bean and woods. Can be enhanced by camphorous oils and incense resins. The oriental fragrances are usually very strong.