Scent guide · Notes
Top, heart and base notes: how a perfume unfolds
Learn how fragrance notes and accords shape the opening, heart and dry-down—and how to read a perfume description before sampling it.
A note is a useful description, not always one ingredient
Perfume descriptions use familiar materials and impressions to help us imagine a composition. A 'rose note' may combine several aroma materials to create the idea of a rose; amber is usually an accord rather than a raw material collected from one source.
The three-part map
The note pyramid is a simple way to describe change over time.
- Top notes are the first impression: often bright citrus, herbs or sparkling spices.
- Heart notes give the scent its main character after the opening softens.
- Base notes form the deeper dry-down with woods, musks, amber, vanilla, leather or resins.
Why the transitions overlap
Perfume does not change in three abrupt steps. Materials evaporate at different rates and overlap, so the opening can echo in the heart while the base is already present. That continuous movement is why a fragrance should be tested for hours rather than minutes.
Use notes to shortlist, then use skin to decide
If you already enjoy bergamot and clean woods, First Light is a sensible place to begin. Rose and warm amber point toward Velvet Ember; cardamom, leather and oud lead to After Hours. Notes help narrow the shelf, but the complete accord—and the way it sits on you—is what you actually wear.