Be Your Own Master Perfumer!

Have you ever thought about creating your own signature scent?  It can seem daunting at first - where do you start?  How do you determine how strongly to feature each note in the final blend?  Will it dry down into something that still smells good?

Blending fragrances is much like painting or playing music – they all rely on compositions of harmony, be it color, sound or scent. In the realm of perfume, there are three main components that must function together to create a true accord. These “notes” are the top, middle and base of a perfume.

Top Notes:

Top notes are the attention getting notes that are first noticeable upon application, but fade first due to their molecular structures. While these scents may be the least lasting of the blend, they are still essential to a good perfume by creating the perfect initial impression that brings you in and leads smoothly to the middle (or heart) notes that are the binders in a good fragrance blend.


Top notes tend to be bright, fresh and often herbal or citrusy. Common top notes include:

Lemon
Lavender
Pink Grapefruit
Bergamot
Sage
Berries

Middle Notes:

Also referred to as Heart Notes, these notes are the second layer of a scent accord. Middle notes emerge after the evaporation of the Top notes and provide the transition from the initial impression to the final dry down when the Base notes come into play. These notes are where fruit and floral notes tend to come into play, bridging the gap between brighter top notes and heavier woody or resinous scents. Like a middle child, they are often overlooked and more difficult to identify, but the right Middle notes can add not only body and fullness to a blend, but a bit of mystery as well.

Popular Middle Notes:
Chamomile
Rose
Tea Tree
Geranium
Lemongrass
Neroli
Jasmine

Base Notes:

Base notes are the rich foundation of any well blended perfume. These are the scents that last the longest on the skin, lingering past dry down and giving the fragrance its main character. Base notes should be a bit stronger and richer to provide that lasting layer of fragrance. Effective base notes tend to be woodsy or resinous – fragrances that can last for hours after the more volatile top notes have dissipated. These notes are the best place to begin the process of blending your fragrance, building the middle and top notes onto them to create a fully developed scent journey from initial application to final dry down


Recommended Base Notes

Cedar
Sandalwood
Patchouli
Vanilla
Amber
Oakmoss
Musk

A well crafted fragrance starts with a solid foundation and builds into top notes.

Of course, these are all guidelines! The best thing about blending a custom fragrance is that it fits what you want it to smell like, so go wild and experiment – you never know what amazing combinations you may come up with!


Interested in trying your hand at a blend? You can check out custom perfumes from the Haus here.