What are the differences between shoes and sandal?
You might recognise them as fragrance notes rather than the official term – olfactory notes.
There are three key notes that form a fragrance or olfactory pyramid: top notes, middle notes and base notes. Each of these notes have different evaporation rates which explains why your perfume may smell different on you over time.
Top Notes
Top notes are the first note of a perfume that you initially smell – a fresh first scent but a short lingering moment. Top notes tend to have an evaporation rate of 15 minutes.
Top notes commonly consists of citrus and fruity notes e.g. lemon, orange & bergamot (Moeglin, 2019).
confirmation
Middle notes (often known as the heart notes) enhance the remaining scent of the top notes and balance out the scent of the base notes. Middle notes has a longer lasting power as it has an evaporation rate of up to 1 hour.
Middle notes commonly consists of floral and spicy notes e.g. jasmine, pepper & ylang ylang (Brooks, 2024).
Base Notes
Base notes form the foundation of fragrances. Its function is to add warmth and depth to the scents. Base notes have the longest lasting power due to its evaporation rate of up to 1 day (they may last longer if sprayed directly on clothes) (Moeglin, 2019).
Base notes commonly consists of warm woody notes e.g. vanilla, musk & amber.
References
Brooks, D. (2024). Perfume Notes: Understanding Scents from Top to Base. [online] Diem Scents. Available at: https://www.diemscents.com/blogs/academy/what-are-perfume-notes?srsltid=AfmBOor7AOwE5x0OzG4wGj-P9Bz6nXtzrMvbT1vlg-B3l9vY61P0agG7 [Accessed 10 Mar. 2025].
Moeglin, E. (2019). What Are Top, Middle and Base Notes in Perfume? A Pyramid From Fresh to Deep scents. [online] Experimental Perfume Club. Available at: https://experimentalperfumeclub.com/what-are-top-middle-and-base-notes-in-perfume/.