Perfume Notes

Question: Why do perfumes smell different?

Answer:

Perfume is a generic term used for liquids with a distinctive pleasant smell.

A more scientific definition is that perfume is a liquid solution, which is a mixture of a liquid solvent and different solutes.

The liquid solvent for perfumes is generally ethanol (alcohol) or a mixture of water and ethanol.

The solutes in perfumes are aromatic substances called scents that will dissolve in the solvent used.

Scents are also called notes. This is because , like musical notes, scent notes must be combined to create a melody, scent notes must be combined to create a special fragrance.

There are three types of notes, top notes, middle notes, and bottom notes.

top notes: Scents that evaporate first, which are light fragrances that are smelled first and last a few minutes.

middle notes: Scents that evaporate about 15 minutes after application and last about one hour.

bottom notes: Scents that evaporate last and their fragrance last the longest, usually several hours.

Notes are aromatic oils. The mixture of notes (scented oils) used in a perfume is called the “juice.” The differences between the scent of different perfume is due to the type of oils that make up of the “juice”