When someone starts talking about the high notes, middle notes and low notes, you could start thinking about an orchestra. But wait, those notes could be talking about something entirely different. Notes are also used to describe the scents of a perfume.
Let’s start at the top and learn a little about the high notes of your favorite scent. The high notes, also known as the top notes of a perfume, are the scents that you perceive first. Seeming higher and softer they are much like the flutes in an orchestra. Light floral and citrus fragrances created these ethereal floating fragrance “sounds.” Because you notice these scents first, they determine your initial response to a fragrance. This makes them very important to the manufacturers as the major component of in a perfume’s ability to be sold.
The major contributors to top notes are stronger and volatile, much like the violins. They evaporate very quickly to make way for the lower notes. Perfumes often have top notes of citrus and ginger to create a fresh burst of scent right out of the bottle.
Next come the middle notes, also known as heart notes. Like the cellos and French horns, these scents emerge as the top scents fade away. Middle notes ingredients form the body of a perfume. They act as a buffer for the base notes since it often takes a while before the base notes may be pleasantly noticed.
Heart notes generally have a mellower, well-rounded scent such as lavender and rose. You usually notice heart notes anywhere from two minutes to an hour after your perfume application. When top notes and heart notes are combined, they are often referred to as head notes.
Once the top notes dissipate, you begin to notice the base notes. Like the double bass and tuba form the anchor of an orchestra, the base notes of a perfume are foundation on which the scent is built. When the base notes combine with the heart notes, they form the main theme of a perfume.
They support the lighter notes that cannot stand on their own for very long. Base notes are deep and rich and do not develop fully until at least thirty minutes after applying your perfume. Musk and/or plant resins most often create base notes.
Since the notes of a perfume do not all become noticeable all at once, you should not choose a fragrance simply on the basis of what it smells like right out of the bottle. You may love the top notes but discover that the base notes do not appeal to you at all. Or, you may not enjoy the top notes as much but love the scent that lingers on in the base notes. You must give all the notes a chance to appear on the scene and to do their job.
In the same way that all of the pieces of an orchestra must work together to play a great piece of music, the notes of a perfume also must blend for you to get the most enjoyment out of it. After all, you would not want to sit through a two-hour performance of just the tubas, would you?