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Music of scent
WTDFJul09_Perfume
Music of scent
Three notes define perfumes
P erfume is a bit more complex than many people suspect. Like musical compositions, the best perfumes are a blend of three notes that create a harmonious whole.
Top notes don’t last long, usually a few minutes, according to the experts. Then the middle note begins to emerge. The middle note, also called the heart note, forms the body of the perfume and can last considerably longer. Once the middle note fades, the base note, which is the strongest and richest scent, may last several hours.
Melvern Pinder, perfume operations manager for Parfum de Paris, explains that the notes are revealed as a perfume evaporates. “The top note is what you instantly smell,” she says. “It lasts for several minutes before it dissipates into the middle note—and the same for the base note.”
Notes are generally classified according to a family of scents. Top notes are usually fresh and sharp, like citrus, ginger and light florals, while middle notes include heavier scents such as rose or cardamom. Weighty scents such as amber-musk or vanilla are examples of base notes.
Night and day
Pinder explains that the strength of a perfume’s notes can determine whether the fragrance is appropriate for day (lighter scents) or evening (more dramatic, heavier scents) or even for the climate.
“Givenchy’s Very Irresistible is an ideal light scent for warm climates such as in The Bahamas,” says Pinder. Its top notes include star anise and verbena leaf before unfolding into a blend of centifolia rose and peony middle notes, finishing with base notes of passion and fantasia rose.
“Spicier, woody, stronger scents are more suitable for colder climates,” says Pinder, noting that Versace Crystal Noir, Versace Woman, Burberry’s London and the classic fragrance Obsession by Calvin Klein are popular examples.
While the notes of a perfume remain consistent, its fragrance can be different from one person to the next after it is applied to the skin, depending on an individual’s body chemistry.
“We get a lot of customers who come in asking not to try the perfume on the skin because of [the possibility of] allergic reactions, so they try it on the blotter strip of paper,” says Pinder. “But the true way of testing a perfume is by applying it to your skin, and after about five to seven minutes you will begin to smell the perfume’s true scent.”
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