Fragrance notes explained: top, heart and base
Why a perfume smells different after an hour than it did in the first minute, and how to read a notes list before you buy.
Every fragrance changes on your skin. The bright burst you smell in the first minute is not what you'll smell at lunchtime, and neither is what's left on your jumper the next morning. Perfumers plan for this. They build a fragrance in layers that evaporate at different speeds, and those layers are the notes you see listed as top, heart and base.
Top notes: the first impression
Top notes are made of small, light molecules that evaporate quickly. They're what you smell when you first spray, and they usually fade within the first half hour or so. Citrus is the classic top note: bergamot, lemon, mandarin and grapefruit. Light herbs, pink pepper and some fruits sit here too.
Top notes are designed to catch your attention at the counter. That's also why judging a fragrance in the first minute is a mistake.
Heart notes: the character
As the top notes fade, the heart (sometimes called the middle notes) comes through. This is the main character of the fragrance, and it lasts for several hours. Florals live here, such as rose, jasmine, iris and orange blossom, along with spices like cardamom and cinnamon and green notes like fig leaf.
Base notes: what stays
Base notes are the heaviest materials. They appear slowly, anchor everything above them and last the longest, sometimes into the next day. Think woods (sandalwood, cedar, vetiver), resins and amber, vanilla, musk, patchouli, leather and oud.
The base is what people remember when you've left the room, so it matters more than it looks on a notes list.
Notes and accords
You'll also see the word accord. An accord is a blend of materials that together create one impression, the way several instruments make a single chord. A "leather accord" usually contains no leather at all. Apps and websites often summarise a fragrance by its main accords (woody, fresh, sweet, powdery) because they describe the overall feel better than a long list of ingredients.
How to test a fragrance properly
- Spray it on skin, not just on a paper strip. Your skin changes how it smells.
- Wait at least 30 minutes before deciding, so you meet the heart rather than the opening.
- Smell it again after a few hours to find out what the base is like.
- Test no more than two or three fragrances at a time, on different spots, or your nose stops telling them apart.
In Layer
Tap any bottle on your shelf to see its notes and its character at a glance, such as Woody · Aromatic.
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Layer shows the notes of every bottle you own.
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