The Olfactory Pyramid

Families of Perfumes

The pyramid is a theoretical view of the degree of evaporation of the components and their persistence. E 'consists of 3 levels that allow you to illustrate the temporal development of the fragrance.

The top notes are fresh and light and low persistence, they vanish in a few minutes.

Those few minutes are enough to trigger the desire to find out, which is why this stage is called the "flight of perfume", generally built from citrus fruits, aromatic plants and aquatic notes or marine.

The heart notes are more powerful, the most consistent of the top notes and medium persistence. For two or three hours will intertwine the smells of flowers, fruit and green notes, expression of the wealth of a perfume and its "wake".

The base notes, woods, musk, amber notes, vanilla, spices, animal notes, etc., evaporate with sensual slowness and may persist for days. They express the "personality" of the fragrance that generates loyalty in use.

The result of each olfactory fragrance depends also by the personal olfactory and from its own skin that, depending on the different acidity of each of us, may affect the interpretation of the fragrance itself.


The perfume may, however, be divided into different "families" olfactory:
 

AMBER
It is a source of inspiration for animal substance called "ambergris" produced by the sperm whale or created in the laboratory, the smell of which is nuanced animals, similar to woody balsamic and tobacco. It 'an agreement that often animates the oriental fragrances, characterized by sweet notes, powdery, vanilla and animals very marked.


Chypre
It derives from the name of Francois Coty perfume launched in 1917, inspired by the evocative emotions of the island of Cyprus, who later became the founder of a namesake fragrance family. In the chypre scents the contrast between the freshness of bergamot and the depth of oak moss is a wonderful synthesis. L 'agreement is an infinite number of variations on the theme in women's fragrances, for example, it is often complemented by aldeico-musky nuances or by touches of seaweed and driftwood, or by floral notes, spicy, leather fragrance and type of animal such as amber, musk and the owl. In the male field instead they are characterized by the presence of conifers, leather and animals, sometimes with variations fresh and spicy-woody.


FLOWERY
The name itself tells us that fragrances are mainly characterized by a floral arrangement and are divided into two broad categories: the greens with a fresh impact, as well as special synthetic compounds, as galbanum, mastic, parsley and violet leaves, and flowered- flowered in which the predominance of flowers is reconfirmed  with a strong scent such as rose, geranium. The tuberose, ylang-ylang, narcissus, orange flowers and mimosa; the majority of women's perfumes and fragrances belong to this subgroup, however, almost all perfumes contain floral nuances.

 
Floriental
It's the recent interpretation of oriental fragrances often tempered by spicy or floral notes


FOUGERE
It does not mean fern (literal translation of the French word), but it is a fancy word that basically includes all men's fragrances that have an agreement born from the combination of oak moss and lavender, wood, patchouli, geranium and bergamot .

FRESH
Freshness is a subjective sensation that may depend on different olfactory sensations, in fact if Europe is generally associated with lemon, lavender, green notes and light flowering components, in the United States powdery or sweet scents are considered fresh too.


FRUITY
It is said of perfumes in which the olfactory perception is linked to the smell of fresh fruits such as strawberry, raspberry, melon, pineapple, apricots and peaches. If the fruity notes have the upper hand over the other notes, the fragrance becomes greedy, almost edible and it loses its sensuality. Being known as a particularly persistent fragrance, it tends to remain even when those flowers are fresh and evaporated.


WOODY
Woody notes such as that of sandalwood or patchouly, are the leitmotif to an infinite number of perfumes. They are usually used in the bottom and they owe that enveloping effect that persists on the skin after the evaporation of the most volatile notes.

MUSK
It is precisely the musky notes to give the fragrances substance and depth and among the many shades, the most used are the oak and tree moss, while the others have woody, leather or marine scents. Vegetable moss should not be confused with musk, a substance of animal origin

ORIENTAL
They can be decomposed in oriental with predominance of flowery notes, or spicy and amber. To this family belong the perfumes of the most ancient tradition, coming mainly from Asia, warm and persistent, ideal for moments of great seduction, their characteristic is that of being deep, enveloping, markedly sweet and sensual, especially indicated for the evening or the winter season. The oriental note is given by some flowers (such as rose, geranium, tuberose), but above all by some food notes such as vanilla and animals such as ambergris, the civet and the musk of Tonkino.

OZONE - MARINE
Among the flower-blooms there are some ozonates, that is, with starting notes that give a sensation of fresh or clean air or water.

SPICY
We must make a distinction between spices and aromas: the first are substances that are dried before being used, while the latter are used exclusively fresh. Among the best known spices we have cinnamon, marjoram, cloves, coriander, pepper and ginger, while among the aromas we recall anise, fennel, oregano, laurel, cumin, basil. , the verbena.

GREEN
The term usually refers to the scents of the grass, the leaves of some other plant components. Green notes are used to often get special effects in the top notes. The female green perfumes tend to be fresh and light, or balsamic and powdery, the masculine ones tend to be more citrus.