Understand olfactory pyramid of a fragrance: the top, heart and bottom notes

The poetic world of perfume is a world full of secrets. We suggest you to discover some of them. Follow us towards beautiful olfactory discoveries!

Every day, our sense of smell is solicited by our environment. Do you remember the smell of the tree in your childhood garden? Family baked pie out of the oven? Or the leathery smell of a new car? All these smells surround us and mark our memory. Candles decorate your home and give it a soul. However, to choose it properly and give your room an olfactory identity, an initiation is required. Ready to enter the vaporous world of perfume?

What is the olfactory pyramid?

The olfactory pyramid defines the composition of a perfume. This is also what we can call the structure of an odor. This chemical structure allows the perfume to have an olfactory harmony over time. The perfume as it evaporates will evolve to offer you a wide range of scents. This olfactory pyramid consists of 3 notes called top notes, heart notes and bottom notes. Ready to learn to read the notes of the perfume organ?

The top note: the fragrance’s appeal

Top notes are the smells that you first smell in a perfume. They are the lightest molecules and therefore the most volatile. Like an introduction or a catchphrase, these notes quickly evaporate. Most often, they last between half an hour and an hour on average after lighting your candle.

Fresh aromatics or citrus fruits are notes frequently used as top notes. These are the notes you will feel first.

Ephemeral, they then give way to deeper notes, heart notes…

The heart note: the heart of the perfume

Heart notes are the most characteristic notes of a fragrance. Like a chorus, they compose the identity of the fragrance. As part of a choice for your indoor candle, they will create this olfactory signature. Soul of the perfume, they can last several hours.

The range of scents, also called olfactory families, is wide for the heart notes. However, floral notes are particularly favoured.

To keep their tenacious characters, these smells are based on the base notes….

The bottom note: the memory of the perfume

A real basis for the perfume, the base notes can last up to several days. Often composed of woody, spicy or leather raw materials, the base notes ensure the fragrance’s longevity.

They support the heart notes and make the pleasure last! The scents that compose it will leave an olfactory trace, a memory and a memory of the perfume.

You are now a “nose” apprentice and hold the keys to olfactory evaluation. When choosing a fragrance, it is important to let the fragrance evolve. Indeed, as the notes follow one another, the olfactory composition must be assessed as a whole.

There is nothing better than giving yourself time to evaluate a fragrant creation. All you have to do now is practice by testing your sense of smell against the huge variety of flavours available!

In a candle, the fragrance is not the only responsible, the wax also has a capital importance in the diffusion of the perfume. At AUGET, we have chosen a mixture of mineral and vegetable wax so that the fragrances hold better over time, are less volatile when cold and diffuse the fragrances we have selected in an optimal way.