Top notes, heart notes, base notes: do you speak perfume?
Every discipline has its own vocabulary, a jargon that is sometimes accessible, sometimes totally abstruse. The notes of a perfume are part of this vocabulary. Head? Heart? Base? Let's delve into this floating world of fragrance pathways, the second part of our perfume discovery. Over time, the scents we create have evolved. Starting with the tastes of their users, "noses" have been marketing them for centuries. Chemists, craftsmen, sometimes artists. That said, as in any discipline, there is a know-how, a way of reading and codes. Here, we're talking about notes. Not keyboard notes, no. Nor those of a ministerial cabinet. No, olfactory notes. Man has turned this gaseous substance into a real science. And of course, to describe a reality and make it palpable, words are indispensable.
Notes to materialize fragrances
Let's proceed in order, because that's the secret of these famous notes. They unfurl like flowers. Except that in this case, it's not a question of removing petals, but of letting time, ambient air and our olfactory senses do their work. The first note is, unsurprisingly, the top note. In oenology, we would speak of the first nose. And that would be entirely justified, since the principle is quite similar. The top note is the one that reveals itself first. These top notes evaporate very quickly. In the case of a body fragrance, they disappear 15 to 30 minutes after vaporization. In the case of a continuous diffuser, they persist, remaining airy. And then, and this is the great strength of our brains, they attenuate them, leaving room for the others. Top notes are generally fresh and green. They are invitations to smell further. A sort of amuse-nez after all, delicate and engaging. Unlike the other notes, they don't evolve and simply disappear. Second step: the heart note. The fragrance enters the heart of the matter. The essence of the fragrance is revealed with the heart note, its identity, its uniqueness. Of course, it lasts longer than the top note, several hours. And over time, its personality asserts itself.
Light then massive notes
The heart note is often floral, spicy or fruity. These three categories make up the majority of fragrances. Nature remains the best ally of perfume, whether for the body or for the ambiance. After all, it's thanks to nature and fire that the olfactory phenomenon has been around since before Antiquity.
Finally, there's the bottom note. It's the one that evolves the most, that we perceive the latest, but like the foundations of any building, the base note is the foundation on which the other two are built. And it is with this note that we find the true signature of a fragrance. It's the "soul of the fragrance". These nuances are richer, more intense than the others. They fix the fragrance on the skin. Base notes are warmer and heavier, like woody, amber or gourmand notes like vanilla and cocoa. It's almost like an olfactory choreography when it comes to determining how this fragrance will be felt, how the succession of notes will operate in the noses and brains of those who perceive them. Certainly one of the most ethereal dances in the repertoire, unique for each fragrance.