What are Top, Middle, and Last Notes in Perfume? - Why Scents Change Over Time
When you apply perfume,
the scent you feel first and
the scent you feel after a while
have you ever noticed they are different?
At first it was a refreshing scent,
but as time passed it became a little sweeter.
Or perhaps
it was a light scent,
but it gradually became a more settled scent.
This is due to the
top note
middle note
last note
structure of perfume.
Perfume is not made of just one scent,
but is designed so that the scent changes over time.
And there is a
very simple reason for that change.
Scents change based on their 'volatility speed'
The reason perfume scents change
lies in the
speed of evaporation
of the fragrance ingredients.
Fragrance molecules
differ in size and weight.
Generally
Lighter fragrance molecules
→ Spread into the air quickly
Heavier fragrance molecules
→ Remain slowly
Because of this difference,
The scent felt first
↓
The scent that appears in the middle
↓
The scent that remains at the end
this order is created.
Top Note (Light Fragrance)
The top note is the
scent you perceive immediately after applying perfume.
It is, so to speak,
the first impression of the perfume
that you encounter.
Fragrances that are
highly volatile are often used here.
For example,
・Citrus
・Herbs
・Green notes
are such scents.
These fragrances have
relatively light molecules,
and because they spread into the air quickly,
they are felt first
the moment you apply the perfume.
However, because they also evaporate quickly,
the top note settles down
in a relatively short amount of time.
Middle Note (The Heart of the Fragrance)
Once the top note settles,
what appears next is the
middle note
.
The middle note is
the scent that forms the core of the perfume,
and it is, so to speak,
the main body of the fragrance
that can be said to be the essence.
Here, ingredients such as
・Floral
・Tea
・Fruity
・Spice
are often used.
It is not as light as the top note,
and not as heavy as the last note.
It is a fragrance with a medium volatility speed.
Therefore,
from the moment you apply the perfume,
for about 30 minutes to several hours,
it plays the role of supporting the impression of the scent.
Last Note (The scent that remains at the end)
What remains at the end is
the last note.
Here,
ingredients that do not evaporate easily are used.
For example,
・Musk
・Wood
・Amber
・Vanilla
are such scents.
These ingredients have
relatively large molecules,
spread slowly into the air,
and remain faintly for a long time.
The scent you feel
several hours after applying the perfume
is often this last note.
However, scents are more of a gradation.
When explained this far,
Citrus = Top,
Wood = Last
It might seem as simple as
that.
However, actual perfume is
a bit more complex.
For example, even with citrus,
bergamot can sometimes
linger for a relatively long time.
Conversely, even with musk,
there are types that spread lightly.
Furthermore, with the development of synthetic fragrances,
in perfumery,
the evaporation speed of the scent
can be controlled to some extent.
In other words,
top,
middle,
last
is a structure that serves as
a way to understand perfume,
a basic concept
but,
actual scents
overlap
like a gradient.
Perfume is completed by "time"
With perfume,
judging it only by the scent at the moment of application
can sometimes be a bit of a waste.
In typical shops,
it is often the case that people judge the scent
solely by the top note they feel first.
As a result,
"It smells different than I thought"
is something people sometimes feel.
Perfume
changes its scent over time
through top, middle, and last notes.
And the scent of the last note is
actually something that is
quite difficult to understand without the passage of time.
At HUGONIST,
while actually blending scents,
whether this scent comes out first,
whether it comes out in the middle,
or whether it remains at the end
such
flow of scent over time
is something we experience while
thinking about our blends.
Perfume is
not just a scent for the moment you apply it,
but a scent whose character
changes little by little over time.
Feeling that change while
composing a fragrance
is also an interesting part of perfumery.
