Perfume guide: Everything you need to know about fragance notes

It can be a challenge to find the perfect fragrance that suits your taste or someone else’s for that matter.

This blog post contains all the the relevant knowledge you need when shopping for perfumes. We will teach you about the famous fragrance notes which are the key ingredients a perfume is made upon. These provides an indication of what the fragrance smells like.

Tips and tricks for purchasing perfumes

• Ask the sales assistant which fragrance notes the perfume contains and get familiar with them
• Try only 1-5 different fragrances at a time
• Neutralise your ability to switch between different fragrances by smelling coffee beans. Coffee beans neutralises your scent
• Test the parfume directly on to your skin and leave it to soak in for a few minutes. This is where the key notes will appear and you will truly be able to smell the true fragrance 

What are fragrance notes?

Perfumes have three different levels of fragrance notes: The top notes, the middle and the base notes.

Top notes are the immediate scents which appears immediately after trying on a specific perfume. These normally lasts for 10-15 minutes and are most commonly described as “fresh”, “pure” or sometimes even spicy. Key ingredients in top notes are grapefruit, cinnamon, roses or ginger.

Middle notes appear after the topknots disappears. These ingredients form the heart of the perfume and are the ones that are mixed with your personal odor. These are the notes that makes a fragrance and scent appear different from person to person.

Base notes appear at last and the ingredients here make up for the main theme of the perfume as they provide depth to the fragrance. The base notes usually mature onto the skin after a few hours. Some of the most common used base notes are vanilla, sandal wood, amber, tonka beans and not. In the end it is worth mentioning, that perfumes and fragrances are somewhat personal as scents can be associated with memories, feelings and emotions.

Happy perfume shopping!