Understanding Notes When Making Perfume

If you’re planning to make your own perfume, it’s important that you understand the basics.
When we think of expensive perfume, we automatically think of France, since France is the
perfume capital of the world. Although the French did not discover perfume, they were the ones
that turned making perfume into a Science.

Although the perfumers in France were not the original creators of perfume, they were the
geniuses that figured out a way to make the fragrances last longer than a few minutes. Their


method was by layering the different fragrances. They started using the three layers that we
now call notes.

If you’ve never made perfume before, you may not know the importance of using the different
notes. For the best fragrances, you can’t just throw together several essential oils and hope for
the best. Some fragrances are stronger and longer lasting than others. Knowing what essential
oils are in each note group will help you to make some beautiful and interesting creations with
your perfume. Notes are what make up the difference between perfume and cologne.

Top notes are the scents that you smell as soon as you apply it. If you’ve ever sprayed a
perfume in a store, the smell you get immediately after spraying is coming from the top notes.
The top notes, although they quickly evaporate, are what give us our first impression of a
perfume. Examples of some popular top notes include bergamot, peppermint, lemon, orange,
lime, chamomile, lemongrass and neroli.

Middle notes are what we smell when the scent from the top notes disappears. It is generally
considered as the heart of the perfume and often server to cover up any unpleasant scents that
may come from the base notes. This scent often evaporates after 15 seconds. Some typical
middle notes include lavender, geranium, rosewood, ylang ylang, jasmine, rose and hyacinth.

Base notes are what you smell after about 30 seconds of applying it to your skin. The based
and middle notes are what make up the main fragrance of the perfume. However, for a perfume
to be successful, they must have a combination of all three notes. Commonly used for based
notes are vanilla, sandalwood, patchouli, cedarwood, clove, vetiver, cinnamon and
frankincense.

Keep in mind, when making your perfume, that you can mix and match different essential oils to
get the scent that you want. The purpose of using the specific notes is to ensure you have a
fragrance that’s not only appealing but one that lasts as well.