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What is the Fragrance Pyramid and Perfume Notes?

Perfumes life cycle pyramid

What is the Perfume Pyramid?


The perfume pyramid is the composition of a fragrance. The perfume pyramid have the three different phases through which a fragrance develops when you spray it on your skin. Fragrances have a three-part life cycle; think of an evaporating pyramid where the top slowly disappears until you reach the base. Each of the three sections contain individual scents, or notes, that are belted together into what you smell.
There are three different types of notes that comprise the scent of most fragrances: top, medium, and
base notes. These three notes are categorized as the basics in a perfume.

Top (Head) notes of Fragrance

Serves as the first impression of a fragrance, is intended to arouse curiosity and vanishes quickly. The top note is the initial, lighter smell of the fragrance that hits the nose immediately after application to the skin. The top note lasts from 15 minutes to 2 hours. Typical top notes are various light floral scents, citrus, fruity scents, powdery scents, marines and aquatics, and spices such as cinnamon.

Medium (Heart) notes of Fragrance

The half-way point between top and base notes. Also referred to as the middle or heart notes. The middle note showcases the main element of the fragrance. Middle notes develop after the top note clears and can last 3-5 hours after being sprayed. This is in addition to the top note; they build off each other. Heart notes most often include heavier floral scents such as jasmine, or green scents such as grass or stone. Spice scents such as cinnamon and clove can appear here, along with fruity scents as well.

Base (Bottom) notes of Fragrance

These are the most important to the perfumer because they act as a fixative for the rest of the scents. The last to develop, these scents are often the bolder notes of the scent which become more noticeable later in the day. Base notes lay the foundation and will determine how long the fragrance lasts on your skin. They tend to last from 3 to 6 hours. Typical base notes are sandalwood, moss, vetiver, vanilla, tar, leather, smoke, tobacco, and musk. When a perfume reveals its base notes it is also known as a ‘drydown’. They create the memory that makes the theme linger in your mind.

The top notes are usually present in smaller amounts than the middle notes, but the base notes usually account for over half of the scent. These time frames are relative: The boundary separating top from middle from base is a sliding scale, not a hard cutoff. Some top notes last only a few minutes, whereas others last up to an hour. Some base notes last 3-6 hours, and others last for weeks.

What does linear mean in perfume?


 A fragrance which does not have traditional top, middle and base notes is usually described as ‘linear’. Linear perfumes may present the same smell from start to finish, with minimal development. Other fragrances may develop a ‘patchwork’ upon which several contrasting ideas can be detected at the same time.

2 comments

  1. My favourites scents are jasmin, orange flower, red rose, musk, vanilla lime, bergamot & of course cardamom. I always do my best to get some of these smells in the perfumes I buy whatever cheap or expensive.
  2. In his book Odours, Fragrances and Cosmetics (1865), S.Piesse developed theories that related specific odors to notes on a musical scale in an attempt to categorize the spectrum of smells. In 1890, Atkinsons published one of the books on perfume technology, essentially concerned with the production of absolutes by the cryoscopic removal of fats. In 1861, Guerlain created Eau Imperiale for Empress Eugenie, the influential wife of Napoleon III. By the end of the century, this redeveloped fragrance was shown tobe created around neroli, rose, geranium, sandalwood, musk and the synthetic chemical coumarin. Fragrances began to be described in a structural form, with the adoption of top, middle and bottom note terminology.