Perfume notes are the same as music
a well-made fragrance or a well-produced song?
Like the opening bars of a song, top notes make the first impression. They are not meant to be the main character but arrive quickly and they fade just as fast to introduce the mood.
Top notes typically last 5-15 minutes.
Heart notes are the melody and chorus. This is the body of the song that repeats and is easily recognised. Essentially the catchy bit that everyone keeps humming.
Similar to a melody it actually expresses most of the emotion and becomes personal to you. If the heart moves you, that’s your scent.
These middle notes last 2-6 hours.
Base notes are the beat and hold up the whole structure. Beats determine how long all the notes last like a steady pulse. It’s the framework in the background that is weighty yet restrained enough for the body to shine.
Base notes have a 6-12 hour duration.
People often mistakenly judge a scent by the opening but just as in music, the opening is not the point. The memory lives in the middle, and the meaning sits in the base. There are layers and rythms and time involved.
A twelve hour song.
Love, Azama
