If you've ever read a product page and wondered what are fragrance notes, or what are top, middle and base notes in perfume, this is the answer. Every list of perfume notes you'll see, on our full perfume range or anywhere else, is built on this pyramid. Understanding it makes choosing a scent far easier.
What is the olfactory pyramid?
The olfactory pyramid is a way of mapping a fragrance by when you smell each part of it, not by how much of each ingredient is in the bottle. It splits a perfume into three layers: top notes, heart notes (also called middle notes), and base notes. You experience them in sequence because the molecules evaporate at different speeds. Light, small molecules like citrus oils lift off the skin first. Heavier resins, woods and musks stay put for hours.
The model was formalised by French perfumer Jean Carles in the mid-20th century as a teaching tool, and it's still the standard way modern houses describe a scent. When you read our perfume reviews or any brand's note breakdown, that pyramid is what you're looking at.
Why it's drawn as a pyramid
The shape is a teaching tool, not a recipe. Top notes sit at the wide base of the diagram because they're the first thing your nose registers, but they're also the shortest-lived, often gone within 15 to 30 minutes. The heart sits in the middle: smaller in volume than the opening burst, but where the fragrance settles into its true character for the next few hours. The narrow tip is the base, which lasts longest on skin (sometimes 6 to 10 hours with a well-built luxury fragrance).
So the pyramid maps two things at once: how loud each layer is at first, and how long it sticks around. Width is impact, height is time.
Top notes: the first impression
Top notes are what you smell in the first few seconds after spraying. They set the opening pitch of a fragrance and do most of the work of pulling you in at the counter, but they're also the shortest-lived part of the pyramid. Expect them to last anywhere from 15 minutes to about two hours before they fade into the heart.
Typical top notes are bright, sharp and volatile: citrus like bergamot, lemon and grapefruit, light fruits, fresh herbs such as basil or mint, pink pepper, and aldehydes (the soapy, sparkling notes that open many classic floral perfumes). These molecules are small and lightweight, so they evaporate from your skin quickly. That's a feature, not a flaw, they're meant to make way for the heart notes underneath.
Heart notes: the character of the fragrance
Once the top notes burn off, the heart notes step forward and take over. This is the middle layer of the fragrance pyramid, and it's where the real personality of a scent lives. Expect things like rose, jasmine, tuberose, warming spices like cinnamon or cardamom, and softer fruits that bridge into the base.
Heart notes typically sit on the skin for around 2 to 4 hours. They're the part most people mean when they describe a perfume as "floral", "spicy" or "fruity". If the top is the handshake, the heart is the conversation, and it's what someone will remember when they think about how you smell.
Base notes: the foundation and fixative
Base notes are the anchor. They appear once the heart starts to fade, usually around the 30 to 45 minute mark, and they can linger anywhere from 4 to 12+ hours on skin. These are the molecules with the highest boiling points and the largest, heaviest structures, which is why they evaporate slowly and stick around long after the rest of the composition has lifted away.
Common base notes include sandalwood, vanilla, oud, musk, amber, tonka bean and patchouli. You'll find these doing the heavy lifting across our woody perfume collection and our amber perfume range, where depth and longevity are the whole point.
Base notes also act as fixatives. They slow the evaporation of the lighter top and heart notes, holding the composition together so it doesn't collapse after the first hour. Without a solid base, even a great opening fades fast.
Top, heart and base notes: duration at a glance
If you want a quick mental model of how perfume notes unfold on skin, this table covers it. Timings are approximate and vary with skin chemistry, climate and concentration.
| Layer | Role | Example notes | Approximate duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top | First impression, opening burst | Bergamot, lemon, pink pepper, mandarin | 5 to 30 minutes |
| Heart | Main character of the scent | Rose, jasmine, saffron, cinnamon | 2 to 4 hours |
| Base | Foundation and fixative | Sandalwood, vanilla, musk, amber | 4 to 12 hours |
With our Eau de Parfum concentration, base notes often sit at the longer end of that range.
How fragrance families shape the pyramid
Not every pyramid is built the same way. The fragrance family a perfume belongs to changes which layer carries the most weight, how long each phase lasts, and what you actually notice when you wear it. Here's how three of the big families distribute their notes differently.
Fougère: top-heavy and aromatic
Fougères lean on a bright opening of lavender, bergamot and herbs, with a heart of geranium or clary sage and a base of coumarin, oakmoss and tonka. The top and heart do most of the talking, while the base sits quietly underneath. Our aromatic fragrances sit in this territory.
Chypre: base-driven and structured
A classic chypre composition is built around the base. Citrus tops fade quickly, a floral heart bridges the middle, and the real character lives in oakmoss, patchouli and labdanum. The base can carry 60% of the wearing experience.
Amber: heart and base dominant
Amber fragrances put their weight in the warm middle and base. Resins, vanilla, benzoin and woods anchor the scent, while the top is a brief spice or citrus flash. Browse our amber perfume range to see this structure in action.
Perfume notes are not the same as ingredients
Here's something worth clearing up: when a brand lists "fig leaf" or "leather" as a fragrance note, it doesn't always mean a literal extract sits in the bottle. A note is an olfactory impression, the smell your nose registers, not a guaranteed ingredient list. Some notes come from natural materials our perfumers source through Grasse and Provence suppliers, the same region that supplies the big luxury fragrance houses. Others are built from modern synthetics, which let perfumers recreate scents like fresh rain or warm skin that can't be distilled. Reading a fragrance pyramid with that in mind makes the whole thing easier to interpret honestly.
Concentration, longevity and why our EDPs last
The pyramid tells you what you'll smell. Concentration helps determine how long you'll smell it. Eau de Parfum holds a higher percentage of aromatic compounds than Eau de Toilette or Cologne, which is one of the factors affecting wear time on skin. Our fragrances are formulated at 20-25% concentration, the same EDP strength used by the luxury houses in Provence, which is why our scents can last up to 12 hours depending on skin chemistry, climate and where you spray.
Concentration also shapes how a pyramid unfolds. Some fragrances are linear, meaning the top, heart and base read fairly similar from spray to dry-down. Others are evolutive and shift noticeably across the hours. You can see this play out across our full fragrance range.
What's the difference between EDP and Extrait de parum?
Eau de Parfum and Extrait de Parfum differ mainly in how much perfume oil they carry. An EDP runs roughly 15–20% aromatic concentration; an extrait (also called parfum) sits higher, around 20–40%. More oil and less alcohol means an extrait might project less aggressively but lingers longer, typically 8 hours up to a full day. They also "wear" differently: an EDP opens with a brighter top-note burst and a wider sillage trail, while an extrait skips much of that fizz and settles closer to the skin, letting the base (musks, woods, resins, ambers) surface earlier and hold. We formulate our fragrances between 20-25% concentration, sitting at the sweet spot between a strong EDP and a wearable extrait This means you still get the presence in a room and the longevity on skin.
How to read a fragrance pyramid before you buy
Reading a pyramid is a quick way to predict whether a scent will work for you. Start with the heart notes, since that's what you'll smell for most of the wear. If the middle reads jasmine, rose or spice and that appeals, you're on the right track. Next, check the base. Woods, amber and musks tell you how warm and skin-close the dry-down will be. Then glance at the top, knowing it'll fade within the hour.
Match the overall profile to the occasion you have in mind, work, evening, summer days, and to fragrances you already love. Skin chemistry still changes things, which is why testing matters. We back every order with a 30-day risk-free returns policy, so you can wear a scent properly before deciding.
A worked example: reading Velvet Underground's pyramid
Let's put the theory into practice with our Velvet Underground. The top opens with cherry and almond, a sweet, slightly boozy hit that lands the moment you spray. You'll get this for roughly the first 15 to 30 minutes, and it sets the mood: rich, a little decadent, more dessert than fresh.
As the top burns off, the heart steps in: clove, rose, jasmine and plum. The clove adds warm spice, the rose and jasmine bring floral depth without making it feel feminine or old-fashioned, and the plum keeps the fruity thread going. This is the stage most people around you will smell for the next few hours.
The base is where it settles for the long haul: Peru balsam, tonka, vanilla and incense. Expect a warm, resinous, slightly smoky skin scent that hangs around well into the evening, which is what you want from a gourmand fragrance like this one.
