Perfume Story

What Exactly is Perfume Made of…
(and Why Do We Like Perfumes, Fragrances and Scents So Much)?

Perfume Is…

Perfume is usually made of a mixture of fragrances, either man-made (synthetic) or organic which, when combined, creates a pleasant scent or aroma. As well as on our persons, perfume fragrances are used in air fresheners for homes and cars, and many other everyday commodities.
Perfume fragrances are the ways we identify with our surroundings, people, and memories. Perfumes and perfume scents surround us, but perfume is more than just a pretty scent. Perfume design is a science.

When we first smell a perfume, our brain tries to identify the origin of the aroma. Perfume developers have categorized perfume scents into seven different categories, used to create both synthetic and natural perfumes. The perfume categories include Chypre, Citrus, Floral, Fougère, Leather, Oriental (Amber), and Woody. In addition, perfume designers sub-categorize these scents even further by whether the perfume is designed for men or women.

• Chypre has a base of bergamot, jasmine, or oak moss with a scent similar to apricot or custard.
• Citrus is based on the distinctive smells of citrus fruits like oranges, limes, and lemons.
• Floral perfumes are the scents of a single flower variety or a group of flowers.
• Fougère (aromatic) is usually men’s cologne and tends to have a woody smell mixed with herbs.
• Leather is another usually masculine scent with a focus on honey, aromatic wood, or tobacco smells.
• Orientals are based in camphorous oils and incense resins.
•  Woody fragrances come from natural woods and other aromas you’d find in the forest such as patchouli and sandalwood.

Although you may be familiar with the distinct aromas of each of these categories, what many people don’t know is the perfume note classifications of their perfumes.

Perfume Notes

Perfume notes explain how the scent changes after application.

The top notes are the initial scents you smell when you first apply your perfume. After approximately 30 minutes or so, you’ll notice that the top note changes. These changes are the middle notes, or heart notes. The true scents of the perfume, the heart notes, also last the longest. As these scents fade, the perfume’s base components, such as musk or essential oils, are the final notes of the perfume.

What are perfume’s base components?
As noted above, perfumes are either synthetic or natural (organic).

Natural Perfume Scents:
Many plants exude a natural fragrance, which comes from the part of the plant that has been broken down to its essential oils and compounds. Several parts of a plant may be used to extract the scent for a perfume. Flowers and blossoms are obvious plant parts used in making perfume, but leaves, twigs, roots, bulbs, seeds, fruit, bark, wood, resin, and even lichens can be used as well. Other organic fragrances, such as musk, civet, castoreum, ambergris, and honeycomb, come from animals.

Synthetic Perfume Fragrances:
Creating perfumes from organic substances, such as plant and animal scents, is an expensive process that results in very pricey perfume. The use of chemical compounds to create perfumes allows designers to develop similar scents for a fraction of the cost, making perfumes affordable and favorite fragrances readily available to everyone in the world.

Synthetic aromas in perfumes normally aren't found in the environment, but are common in many of today’s perfumes. Synthetics come from combinations of some of the chemicals found in petroleum and pine. One such example is the pale yellow liquid ionone, with its woody, dry, fruity, raspberry, and violet aromas. Another is linalool, a naturally occurring terpene alcohol chemical with a floral scent with pleasant hints of spice.

Why We Like Perfume So Much
Think of perfume and pleasant thoughts float to your mind. The mention of perfume brings a different smell and memory to each person. Just about everyone wears or owns perfume or cologne of some kind. In the United States, many children are introduced to perfume by the time they are three or four years old.
Perfume is like an olfactory photograph. The fragrance of perfume attaches itself to you and your memories. When you smell the perfume of a close friend or relative, you automatically think of the person. Although you can’t see their features, their essence is captured in the lingering fragrance of their perfume.

Fragrance Notes
Perfume is described with a musical metaphor as having three 'notes', which together produce the harmonious chord of the scent. The notes unfold over time, with the immediate impression of the top note leading to the deeper middle notes, and the bass notes gradually appearing as the final stage. These notes are carefully created with knowledge of the evaporation process of the perfume.

Top Notes
These are the scents that are perceived immediately on application of a perfume. Top notes form a person's initial impression of a perfume and thus, they are very important in the selling of a perfume. The scents of this note class are usually described as "fresh," "assertive" or "sharp." The compounds that contribute to top notes are strong in scent, very volatile, and evaporate quickly. Citrus and ginger scents are common top notes.

Middle Notes
The scent of a perfume that emerges after the top notes dissipate. The middle note compounds form the "heart" or main body of a perfume and act to mask the often unpleasant initial impression of base notes, which become more pleasant with time. Not surprisingly, the scent of middle note compounds is usually more mellow and "rounded." Scents from this note class appear anywhere from two minutes to one hour after the application of a perfume. Lavender and rose scents are typical middle notes.

Base Notes
The scent of a perfume that appears after the departure of the top notes. The base and middle notes together are the main theme of a perfume. Base notes bring depth and solidness to a perfume. Compounds of this class are often the fixatives used to hold and boost the strength of the lighter top and middle notes. The compounds of this class of scents are typically rich and "deep" and are usually not perceived until 30 minutes after the application of the perfume or during the period of perfume dry-down. Musk, vetiver and scents of plant resins are commonly used as base notes.