Perfumery notes are descriptions of fragrances that may be smelt after the use of a fragrance. Notes are divideded into 3 parts; top, middle and base. Each refer to groups of smells that can be smelt with regard to the time following the application of the perfume. These remarks are produced with the knowledge of the vanishing time of the substances in addition to the purpose for which the perfume is intended. That said, each class of note can effect the rest. Hence it is not as easy to be aware of a precise note as they continually alter over a period of time. For example, the occurrence of a certain root or heart note will compliment the fragrance perceived when the top notes are strongest, and similarly the scent connected with the foot notes will regularly change depending on the aroma of the heart notes.
The idea of notes is used principally to illustrate a aftershave for marketing and advertising purposes. Occasionally they are referred to by perfumers to portray the numerous phases of a scents bouquet to the layman.
Top notes.
These are the aromas detected instantly upon the application of a fragrance. They consist of tiny, lightweight molecules that fade speedily. Top notes are vital to the selling of a fragrance as it is these that shape a person's early view of a fragrance. They are regularly described as fresh, sharp or assertive. The compounds that lead to top notes are volatile, pungent in bouquet, and vanish promptly. Citrus and ginger are normal compounds for top notes. Top notes are occasionally referred to as the head notes.
Middle notes.
From time to time known as the heart or main body of a fragrance, they emerge in the focal point of the fragrance's diffusion process. It is the smell of a cologne that appears immediately ahead of the closing stages of the top notes. Their purpose is to mask the often unpleasant first impact of the base notes, which become more appealing with time. Compunds used for a scent's middles notes are regularly more soft and rounded. The middle notes can occur anywhere from two minutes to one hour following the initial use of the cologne. Rose as well as lavender are standard compounds used to generate the middle notes.
Base notes.
The middle and base notes jointly develop the key theme of a fragrance with the base notes showing just before the end of the middle notes. Base notes make the strength and intensity of a scent. Bass note compounds are frequently the fixatives used to hold and increase the intensity of the lighter middle and top notes. The molecules contained in these compounds are sizeable and heavy which mean they evapourate slowly. These compounds are typically deep and rich and are not generally sensed until at least thirty minutes after the fragrance has been applied. This period of time is regularly referred to as perfume dry-down. A quantity of of the long lasting base note compounds can still be sensed in excess of twenty four hours after use. This above all applies to the animalic notes.
Author Resource:
Elizabeth Rogriguez has over 20 years experience in the perfume industry specialising in the promotion and marketing of Men's Fragrances .