Perfumes
and Fragrances are
Categorized into Notes
- by KissMeGoodnight.com
Did you know that there is music occurring
in your nose? Well, there is, only instead of music you hear
with your ears, it is music for your olfactory senses. You’re
probably wondering what the heck all this means. Well, in the
world of perfume and fragrance manufacturing, the varying scents
that make up a fragrance or perfume are categorized
into different categories called “notes.” In music, notes are varying levels
of tones; and in the perfume world, notes are varying degrees
of smells.
With regards to perfumes and fragrances, these notes have
three levels: the top note, the middle note and the
base note. Each note provides an essential, unique character that makes
for a one of a kind scent. If you have ever heard anyone say
that they have to make a good first impression, in perfume
terms, the top note does this job.
The
top note of a fragrance or perfume gives us an initial impression
of the scent. Because
the scent of these top notes only last for a short time,
usually ten to thirty minutes, they must capture the olfactory
senses
with that good first impression. They are usually light scents
that will stimulate the senses in preparation for that fragrant
middle note. Some of the most common top notes in perfumes
and fragrances are citrus scents like grapefruit, lemon and
orange. Other popular top notes are the aromatic eucalyptus
and cool mint. The middle
notes give a body to the perfume or fragrance.
The middle notes are also called the “heart” of the fragrance.
You can usually smell these middle notes right when you apply
the perfume to your skin. However, it can take several minutes
for your body to warm the scent and “wake” it up. The middle
notes identify the type of perfume or fragrance family the
scent belongs to like the floral, spicy or oriental family.
Some of the types of scents common in the middle note category
are rose, cinnamon, ylang-ylang, chamomile and lavender.
The base
notes provide the foundation for a perfume or fragrance.
These scents last the longest and provide that “lingering”
smell we look for in a perfume. Because the top notes tend
to evaporate quickly, the base notes fix onto the top notes
to allow some of the scent to stay with the base notes. The
most popular choice in base notes is vanilla. Other base notes
commonly used are musk, sandalwood, cinnamon, pine and other
woodsy type of scents.
Each perfume or fragrance is unique and their top, middle
and base notes all differ. For example, in some fragrances
cinnamon could serve as the base note while in others, it would
be a middle note. It all depends on the direction the perfume
or fragrance manufacturer wants to go with the scent. And the
reason for this is tied greatly into the various emotions and
even a certain style that various scents can invoke within
a person.
In regards to the perfume notes, there is also a category
called the “single note.” Perfumes and fragrances that are
deemed single note scents have just one source in which to
draw its smell. There are no varying levels of the top, middle
and base notes to contend with. Basically, when a fragrance
is a single note scent that means the essential oils that form
a fragrance comes from one particular flower or source. Lavender
and vanilla are two of the most popular single note fragrances
on the market these days. And for those fragrances applied
to the body as an aromatherapy tool, most of these will be
single note fragrances.
In many shops and boutiques where you can mix your own fragrances,
those individual essential oils you end up “test smelling”
are single note scents. From those individual single note smells,
you can choose to mix your own blend of single note fragrances
to create a totally new scent. These shops and boutiques are
very popular these days among teenage girls and young women
seeking something fun and unique.
Music for the nose … top, middle and base notes define fragrances
and perfumes. After this little crash course in the differences
between these levels of smell, can you detect them in your
own favorite scents you have at home?
Click here for the largest selection (over 15,000) and best prices (up to 80% off) for perfumes and colognes. It's my KissMegoodnight recommendation.
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KissMeGoodnight.com
: 2006
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