Perfume notes help to understand the structure of perfume and ingredients. A Perfume pyramid is an illustration that depicts fragrance notes. It differentiates into three kinds: Top Notes, Middle Notes, and Base Notes. Fragrance notes help you understand how the perfume notes come into existence and work cohesively to establish harmony.
Top Notes vs Middle Notes vs Base Notes
The main difference Between the Top notes, Middle notes, and Base notes are that the Top notes are the top priority notes that surface when the smell of a fragrance arises. Middle notes surface once the top notes vanish. On the other hand, the Base notes emerge when the center notes mellow down. They are the last notes.
Top Notes are the immediate and primary notes which appear once the perfume is applied. It allows people to immediately identify the fragrance as it forms the first impression of the aroma. A top note needs to have a lasting effect. It is necessary as it attracts the user’s attention towards it.
Middle Notes are the secondary notes of the perfume. They are light, elegant notes that emerge when the top notes evaporate from the surface of the skin. They are the central component of the aroma. Hence, they refer to it as the heart of the perfume. They have a dominant lingering fragrance.
Base notes are the last notes felt by the skin. They are essential to forming a lasting impression of the perfume. They appear when the top notes disappear while the middle notes are still present on the skin. They stay the longest on the skin and leave an impression on the wearer.
Comparison Table Between Top Notes, Middle Notes, and Base Notes
| Parameters of Comparison | Top notes | Middle notes | Base notes |
| Other Names | Head notes or Opening notes | Heart notes | Signature notes |
| Volatility | Most volatile | Medium volatile nature | Least volatile |
| How Long Does it Last? | It lasts up to 5-15 minutes. | It lasts up to 20 minutes to an hour. | It can stay on the skin for hours and extends up to 6 hours. |
| Feel | They are the lightest notes due to light molecules in a perfume. | It is a mellow aroma and lingers lightly on the skin. | It has a dominant and pleasant aroma that lasts on the skin. |
| Time to Evaporate | They evaporate quickly. | They take time till they can mask the base notes’ initial smell. | They last the longest and evaporate slowly. |
What are Top Notes?
Top notes are the primary sensation a perfume provides. They constitute light molecules. The top notes do not linger on the skin for long and immediately vanish on evaporation. The bright, fresh notes include the citrus notes associated with Top notes.
They add an automatic lift in the aesthetics and uplift the ascent notes. They come in first on the olfactory pyramid and are the most important layer of the fragrance. It is because top notes define how much a person will like them. It drives or pushes a person away.
As the primary notes, they refer to the opening notes of a fragrance. They settle down on the skin surface in about 5 minutes. They have a strong, quick scent to allow people to decide whether they like a perfume.
What are Middle Notes?
Middle Notes are the heart notes in a fragrance. They are well-rounded notes and build up the body of the perfume. It implies that the percentage of middle notes is very high in oil perfumers. It generally uses an amalgamation of herbal and floral notes.
Middle notes immediately take up the space as the top notes dissipate. They are called the heart or the main body of the perfume as it surfaces in the middle of the scent experience. They have a mellow smell. They are necessary to mask the primary impression of the base notes. They leave a musky impression on the wearer’s skin.
The base notes take time to imply a pleasant experience with time. The mellow floral notes and spices like cinnamon and nutmeg used in the middle notes define the entire body of the perfume.
What are Base Notes?
Base notes emerge when the aroma of the heart notes is still lingering on the skin. The base notes are the final notes. They are responsible for building the fragrance theme. Base notes decided the complete body, structure, and depth of the fragrance. They also provide a heavy density to the aroma.
The compounds used in base notes are called Fixatives. The fixatives are responsible for boosting the strength and aesthetics of the top and middle notes. They have the largest and the heaviest molecules that stay on the skin for long.
Rich and flavorsome essential oils are present in Base notes. Some popular aromas like the musky and woody aromas can last for as long as 24 hours in high-class perfumes. They are a favorite choice to create the base notes.
Main Differences Between Top Notes, Middle Notes, and Base Notes
- Top notes do not contribute to the final scent of the fragrance. Middle and Base notes define the final aroma and body of the perfume.
- Top Notes have volatile, fresh, and keen notes. Whereas, Middle notes have versatile and all-rounder fragrances. Base notes have deep and plush scents.
- Popular scents of Top notes are Eucalyptus, orange zest, peppermint, and grapefruit. However, Middle notes have lemongrass, Jasmine, Lavender, Geranium, and Rose. Base notes have vanilla, cedarwood, amber, and sandalwood.
- Top notes offer an instant burst of fragrance on the skin. However, Middle and Base notes take time to develop their effects.
- The Top notes depict lightness and liveliness. Middle notes define the personality of the perfume. On the other hand, Base notes show opulence and richness.
Conclusion
The Olfactory pyramids of the top notes, middle notes, and base notes are usually present in high-end fragrances. Most of the commercial fragrances available in the market use synthetic fragrances and thus may not use the pyramid.
Perfumers use the Olfactory pyramid mechanism to develop the perfumes the same way the musicians create their compositions. The uniqueness of each note builds up the unique characteristics of a fragrance.
The notes are blended so that the emergence of one-note compels the previous one to disappear. It balances the aroma to offer a wonderful experience for the users.
References
- https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=1-1PDAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA431&dq=top+notes,+middle+notes+and+base+perfume+notes&ots=b7FUU5b69g&sig=9Gy7DM6r-vDEqWQmg_0Zk_V2QcQ
- https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=dG0oDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA137&dq=top+notes,+middle+notes+and+base+perfume+notes&ots=WBi0xlHLVs&sig=54DuPNHbhOILRf3ZZeor9UCs9Yw