Decoding Perfumes

Just as the creation of melodious music requires a combination of notes to align in perfect harmony, perfumes too need separate pieces or notes that combine to create the divine scents that we love so much. These notes, which come in separate layers, together help build a range of scents from one single perfume, which is one of the reasons why the scents seem to evolve over the course of the day. 

Almost all perfumes consist of three notes. The opening note is the first one you come in contact with, and it is what gives you the first impression. This is also the lightest, and hence evaporates the quickest. Most opening or top notes consist of citrus smells, or those of berries or herbs, to provide that strong and sharp scent to attract us almost instantly. 

Next is the heart of the notes, which makes up most of the fragrance. This can be felt once the top layer fades off, and lasts much longer than the more volatile first layer. Since this is more long-lasting, it usually comes in smoother scents such as rose, lavender, jasmine or other floral or amber scents. 

The heaviest is left for last. The base note is the longest lasting of all, and helps boost the scent of the first two layers before finally releasing its own scent, which makes it a pretty important layer. The base notes cling onto the skin, becoming richer with time, and are mostly composed of sandalwood, patchouli or other similar woody scents. 

The evaporation process of the three distinct notes is what creates the accord, and releases a different scent once every layer evaporates away. 

Even though it takes many ingredients to stir up the perfect combination of scents, they all boil down to three categories. Scents are either developed from plant products, animal products such as wax or natural musk, or chemicals, which layer beautifully in different combinations of top, middle and base layers to create your perfect scent. 

Although we might differ in choices, at the end of the day, we all love perfumes. They act as instant mood lifters and shield us from outside odours. So it is important that we understand the basic composition of this prized possession of ours and choose them wisely.