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What's meant by "notes" in a fragrance? And what the heck are some of those exotic sounding ingredients?
Top notes refers to the first scent impression of a fragrance once it has been applied to the skin. They are usually lighter, more volatile aromas that evaporate quickly. Their scent usually lingers for 5 to 30 minutes.
Middle notes are sometimes referred to as "heart notes", and refer to the body of the blend. They may be noticible from the start, but will usually take 10-30 minutes to fully develop on the skin. These are the notes that classify the fragrance family (floral, oriental, chypre, etc, see below).
Base Notes are the aromas in the blend with the greatest molecular weight. They last the longest, and are also important as fixatives (fixitives help slow down the evaporation rates of the lighter notes, giving the fragrance holding power). Common base notes include oakmoss, patchouli, woods, musk, ambergris, and vanilla.
A fragrance which does not have traditional top, middle and base notes is usually described as "linear". In a linear fragrance, all notes are experienced at the same time and with equal weight. Chanel Allure is a good example of a linear fragrance, as is Estée Lauder White Linen.
Aldehydes
Amber
Ambergris
Balsam
Benzoin (BEN-zjwahn)
Bergamot
Bulgarian rose
Cassia (kass-EES)
Cistus (also Labdanum)
Civet
Courmarin
Fixitives
Galbanum
Guaiac wood
Heliotrope
Heliotropin
Iris (also "Florentine Iris" also Orris)
Leather
Mimosa
Muguet (MEW-gay)
Musk
Myrrh
Neroli
Olibarnum (also Frankincense)
Opoponax
Orris, Orris Root
Patchouli
Petitgrain (PETTY-grahn)
Rose de Mai (May Rose)
Rosewood
Sandalwood
Styrax
Tiaré (tee-AR-ray)
Tonka Bean
Tuberose
Vanilla
Vanillin
Vetiver (French: vetyver)
Violet/Violet leaf
Ylang-Ylang (ee-LANG ee-LANG)
Top, Middle, and Base Notes
Top notes refers to the first scent impression of a fragrance once it has been applied to the skin. They are usually lighter, more volatile aromas that evaporate quickly. Their scent usually lingers for 5 to 30 minutes.
Middle notes are sometimes referred to as "heart notes", and refer to the body of the blend. They may be noticible from the start, but will usually take 10-30 minutes to fully develop on the skin. These are the notes that classify the fragrance family (floral, oriental, chypre, etc, see below).
Base Notes are the aromas in the blend with the greatest molecular weight. They last the longest, and are also important as fixatives (fixitives help slow down the evaporation rates of the lighter notes, giving the fragrance holding power). Common base notes include oakmoss, patchouli, woods, musk, ambergris, and vanilla.
A fragrance which does not have traditional top, middle and base notes is usually described as "linear". In a linear fragrance, all notes are experienced at the same time and with equal weight. Chanel Allure is a good example of a linear fragrance, as is Estée Lauder White Linen.
Common Fragrance Ingredients
Aldehydes
Organic chemical compounds derived from
natural or synthetic ingredients. There are many, many kinds of
aldehydes, and more are being created. Aldehydes are used to alter,
enhance, brighten, or soften perfume formulations. Chanel perfumer
Ernest Beaux is credited with being the first to use aldehydes to give
No. 5 a rich and brilliant sheen it would otherwise lack.
Amber
Processed from the fossil resin of the
fir tree, and sometimes from the leaves of the cistus (rock rose) plant
(see also cistus, below). Amber gives perfumes a warm, slightly smoky,
burnished leather fragrance and is usually used as a base ingredient to
add a mellow grow, as well as being an excellent fixitive to bind the
other ingredients together. Extensively synthesised in many subtle
variations of the basic amber scent.
Ambergris
A fatty/oily
substance regurgitated from the stomach of the sperm whale. This
substance has a disgusting natural smell, but when processed it takes
on a warm, sensual fragrance which is used with great discretion in the
base notes of very exclusive perfumes. Because it is now far too costly
to collect commercially in its natural state, it is usually replicated
synthetically with almost identical effect.
Balsam
A rich, gummy resin which is harvested
from specific trees, shrubs, and plants usually found in northern
Africa and Southeast Asia. Balsam is sweetly aromatic with a honey-like
sensuality. It is used in the base notes of perfumes, usually of the
Oriental family.
Benzoin (BEN-zjwahn)
A sweet, cocoa-like balsamic resin
derived from processing the resin of the tropical Southeast Asian
stryax tree (see also styrax, below). It is used in the base notes of
perfumes (mostly Orientals) to give a deep, rich, chocolatey note, and
it is an excellent fixitive.
Bergamot
An essential oil made from the peel of
the small, sour, inedible bergamot orange. It is powerful, highly
distinctive, and gives its bright, zesty, citrus scent to about
one-third of all perfumes, usually in the top notes. (Essence of
bergamot is also the distinctive difference in Earl Grey tea, just as a
side note.)
Bulgarian rose
A special variety of rose, grown in
huge commercial quantities in Bulgaria's "Valley of Roses". This flower
yields the' finest rose absolu (rose essence), and is incredibly rich
and heady. Because of its richness, potency, and desirability, it is
extremely expensive and is used only the most luxurious of perfumes.
Cassia (kass-EES)
A richly scented and powerfully potent
aromatic oil distilled from black-currant buds to impart a dark, deep,
pungent fruity fragrance.
Cistus (also Labdanum)
Cistus is a fragrant oil distilled from
the gum of leaves and twigs of the shrub known as the rock rose (also
known as the cistus; see also amber, above), which is grown profusely
around the Mediterranean. It has a warm, leathery amber scent and is
also an efficient fixitive.
Civet
One of the most powerful fixitives
still used in perfume. This ingredient was originally obtained from the
genital glands of the Abyssinian civet cat. In its raw state the smell
is absolutely horrible, but when processed and used in minute
quantities, it creates a sensual, seductive fragrance note. Now
obtained synthetically (as the animal is endangered).
Courmarin
Found naturally in tonka beans (see
below), clover, and lavender, but today it is mainly synthestised for
greater control in the base notes of perfume. Courmarin gives perfumes
a rich almond/marzipan and slightly sweet-green note, similar to
freshly mown hay.
Fixitives
The very strong ingredients in the base
of the perfume's construction that bind all the other ingredients in
the formula. Fixitives allow the perfume to fade gradually while
remaining pleasant and fresh. They are usually gums, resins, and
balsams.
Galbanum
A rare, extremely expensive gum resin
derived from the sap of Asian ferula trees, found mostly in Iran. Used
to give an intensely green, leafy, fresh note to perfumes.
Guaiac wood
An aromatic resin and oil derived from
the heartwood of the South American palsanto tree. It is used as both a
fixative and to impart an unusual floral/wood note reminiscent of rose,
violet, and white tea.
Heliotrope
Sometimes called the "Cherry Pie
Plant", heliotrope is a flowering shrub which bears clusters of
intensely perfumed purple blossoms, from which is distilled an oil with
a sweet vanilla/cherry fragrance.
Heliotropin
A chemical aldehyde which is extracted from sassafras. It has a floral/almond scent, similar to heliotrope.
Iris (also "Florentine Iris" also Orris)
An aromatic oil or butter somewhat
reminiscent of violets, derived from the specially dried roots of the
iris (a process which originated in the city of Florence and which is
still carried out there). Some iris oils may have a woody smell with a
fainter hint of violets, depending on the process used. This is one of
the most expensive ingredients used in perfumes, and is commonly also
known as orris.
Leather
Derived from certain birch and fir
trees, or, more rarely, from the distilled essence of treated hides.
Imparts a strong, animalistic, warm, smoky scent that gives a burnished
note to many perfumes, particularly Orientals. Today, it is usually
chemically synthesised for greater control of the fragrance.
Mimosa
Derived from the bark, wood, leaves,
and fragrant blossoms of the mimosa tree (known sometimes as "wattle",
particularly in Australia). This ingredient gives a sweet, fresh, warm,
but light effect.
Muguet (MEW-gay)
French for lily of the valley, this
scent is sweet, bright, and quite penetrating. Due to the difficulty of
capturing the natural essence, it has for many years been synthetically
but very convincingly manufactured.
Musk
An extremely strong but pleasantly
sensual ingredient traditionally obtained from the musk glands of the
Himalayan musk deer. Today, it almost exclusively synthetically
manufactured and available in a considerably array of varieties and
strengths (such as white musk, pink musk, amber musk, etc.). Musk
imparts an instantly recognisable, warm, sensual scent, and is a strong
fixative which is used in the base of a very wide variety of perfumes.
Most perfumes use it sparingly, as it can be quite strong, and even
"musk" perfumes are actually blends.
Myrrh
A highly arromatic gum resin derived
from the shrubby tree known as the Commiphora myrrha, native to north
Africa, although there is also a type of myrrh known as East Indian
myrrh (derived from a similar shrub from a different region). This
substance has been highly prized since ancient times and used in
ointments, perfumes, incense, and other aromatic concoctions. In modern
perfumes, mostly Orientals, it is used to impart an exotic,
incense-like note.
Neroli
An intensely perfumed oil obtained from
the fragrant, unopened buds of the Seville bitter orange tree, used as
a bright, citrus top note in hundreds of perfumes. The opened buds of
the same tree yield an orange flower absolute (essential oil).
OakmossA smooth, woody ingredient derived from
a particular lichen which grows mainly on oak trees in southern-central
Europe. Commonly used in the base notes, it gives a dark green,
mossy-damp, forest-floor scent to a perfume. It is an excellent
fixitive.
Olibarnum (also Frankincense)
A highly aromatic resin derived from
the boswellia tree, native to northern Africa. It adds a heady, spicy,
and slightly smoky note, and is used in the base as it is also an
excellent fixitive.
Opoponax
A gum resin with a sweet licorice/green scent, similar to myrrh. It is also an excellent fixative.
Orris, Orris Root
See Iris, Florentine Iris, above.
Patchouli
A natural ingredient derived from the
leaves of the Southeast Asian patchouli plant. It provides an
earthy-sweet note which, used discreetly, gives a huge number of fine
perfumes a sensual note.
Petitgrain (PETTY-grahn)
A bittersweet citrus oil derived from
the roots (and some sources include the leaves and bark) of the Seville
orange tree (see neroli, above). It adds a light, sparkling, citrus
scent to the top notes of perfume.
Rose de Mai (May Rose)
A powerful, precious
essence distilled from the rosa centifolia, grown in southern France
(especially in Grasse), and also in northern Africa. The scent is a
piercing, memorable pure rose fragrance, and it is used in countless
perfumes.
Rosewood
A precious oil obtained from the
Brazilian rosewood tree (known in Australia as the jacaranda), and
nothing at all to do with roses. This oil has a warm, rich, mildly
resinous scent and is used to impart a stronger woody note than can be
obtained from sandalwood.
Sandalwood
An extremely common and highly popular
ingredient, very few fine perfumes are without this oil, which is
distilled from the timber and roots of the sandalwood tree.
Styrax
From the bark of the Asian styrax tree
is derived this oddly sweet aromatic oil, reminiscent of jonquils (the
styrax tree also is the source of benzoin, see above). Styrax has an
oddly sweet scent reminsicent of jonquils, and as it is an efficient
fixitive, it is usually used in the base notes (primiarily in
Orientals).
Tiaré (tee-AR-ray)
A relative of the gardenia, although
with smaller flowers, native to Tahiti and French Polynesia. A gardenia
fragrance can be distilled from the blossoms much more easily than from
the classic gardenia (which is notoriously difficult to distil and is
usually synthesised).
Tonka Bean
A powerfully fragrant oil extracted
from the pods and seeds of the South American tonka tree. The oil has a
unique sugar caramel/almond marzipan scent with a somewhat earthy
accord. Used primarily in the base notes of Oriental perfumes.
Tuberose
A member of the lily family, and not a
rose at all, famous for its fantastically powerful, sweet, heady
fragrance. Used in hundreds of finely balanced floral bouquet perfumes.
Vanilla
Vanilla essence or absolute is
extracted from the seeds and beans of the vanilla orchid. In perfume,
vanilla both a warm, sensual, softly sweet fragrance and a fixitive,
and is found in the base notes of hundreds of perfumes, many of them
Orientals.
Vanillin
Vanillin is an excellent synthetic
derived from the vanilla pod. It is somewhat sweeter and lacks the
complexity and depth of the natural essence, but, like vanilla, is
commonly used in the base of hundreds of different perfumes.
Vetiver (French: vetyver)
An essential oil extracted from the
fragrant khuskhus grass, a native of southern India, Sri Lanka, Haiti,
and the Caribbean. The fragrance of the oil is green/earthy, and is
used in the middle and base notes of many fragrances, particularly of
the fresh green variety.
Violet/Violet leaf
The scent of violet is almost
impossible to extract from the blossom, itself, so the violet fragrance
is usually synthetically reproduced or suggested by the use of Orris
(Florentine Iris - see above). Natural violet leaves have a peppery,
green, crispy sort of fragrance wit ha hint of the blossom's fragrance,
and add natural cool freshness to perfumes.
Ylang-Ylang (ee-LANG ee-LANG)
"Flower of Flowers" in the Philippine
language of Tagalog. This fragrant oil is extracted from the long,
highly scented flowers of the Cananga odorata tree which grows across
the Philippines, Southeast Asia, and in the Comoros Islands in the
Indian Ocean. The scent is somewhat exotic, rich, heady, sweet, and
slightly musky. It is a principla ingredient in a great number of
Floral perfumes as well as Orientals.
Guide created: 15/06/06 (updated 12/12/08)
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