Base notes

Fragrances arouse emotions, they tell a story and take us on a true olfactory journey. However, they are above all based on the technical mastery of the perfumer-creator, who composes each perfume by giving it a structure in a scientific way. 

The notes are part of the orchestration of a perfume.
The choice of the notes, selected according to their physical and chemical properties, will give the perfume all its splendor. 

There are three types of notes in perfumery: top notes, heart notes and base notes. The base notes are essential to the perfume. They evaporate slowly and fix the perfume, so it lasts in time.

Base notes in the olfactory pyramid

The architecture of a perfume can be represented in the form of a pyramid, called the olfactive pyramid, where the top notes are on the top of the pyramid, the heart notes are in the middle, and the base notes are at the bottom. This diagram is often used by perfume brands to describe a fragrance. In reality, the different notes are intertwined and respond to each other. When a perfume is well constructed, you can feel the base notes from the beginning. 

Thus, the notes finally evaporate all at the same time in a rather disordered way. The representation of the olfactive pyramid allows the perfumer to organize and prioritize his fragrance to make it harmonious. In this way, he will also be able to balance the orchestration of a formula and make the evaporation of his fragrance continuous and gradual. This is how the perfume will be able to deliver all its facets and the fragrance will come to life (cf. The olfactory facets).

 

What is a base note?

Base notes are the notes that come after the heart notes. It is the densest and most intense part of the olfactive pyramid. They are also called signature notes because they are the ones that give the perfume its soul. They possess a very important tenacity, that can vary according to the olfactory family of the fragrance (oriental base notes, for example, will have more tenacity than base notes in an eau fraîche).

Located at the base of the olfactory pyramid, the base notes convey the main message of the perfume. They are made up of deep notes that give the memory of the perfume (these are the scents that will last the longest on the wipe (a strip of paper used to test a perfume). According to the support on which they are diffused, the bottom notes will not have the same effect, and will sometimes be sublimated on the skin.

 

 

The base note: the soul of the perfume

The base notes represent the soul of the perfume and have an intense tenacity, they will remain in the memory of the person who wears it. If they are well orchestrated, the base notes will give character and depth to the perfume. They are the ones that will determine if the perfume really pleases.

The base notes last from two hours to several days. There is no precise rule, and everything will depend on the orchestration of the perfume and the talent of the perfumer.
Certain families, such as chypre, oriental, leather, white florals, powdery, or musky generally have a remarkable hold. On the other hand, the eaux de Cologne, the eaux fraîches, the airy floral perfumes and the aromatic fragrances last a shorter time.

The origin of the base notes

Jean Carles, a perfumer at the Roure company (now called Givaudan), is the creator of Ma Griffe by Carven and Miss Dior. He was also the founder and first director of the Roure Perfumery School in the 1940s. He was a famous perfumer and the first one to create a method to help apprentice perfumers master the art of using raw materials. We owe him the concept of "top, heart and base notes", which today allows us to understand the construction of a perfume. 

 

Base notes and raw materials 

The perfumer Jean Carles classified all natural and synthetic raw materials according to these three notes. Many can be used to create base notes, for example the following materials:

  1. Woody notes (cf. The woody facet)
  2. Oriental or amber notes (cf. Oriental or amber family)
  3. Gourmand facet
  4. Spicy facet with hot spices 
  5. Natural animal notes, such as indole, ambergris, as well as molecules with an animal effect.
  6. Musky notes 
  7. Various notes such as iris (cf. Floral Notes)
  8. Leather notes (cf. Leather facet)
  9. Synthetic notes, such as cashmeran or ambroxan (cf. The woody facet)

 

Natural materials and synthetic products

Perfumes can be made of natural raw materials or synthetic materials.
The more natural materials are in a perfume, the more it will be alive and evolutionary in time. A perfume only orchestrated with a majority of synthetic products would be linear. The ideal is to have a greater percentage of natural notes, that will give to the fragrance all its soul. 

Synthetic material brings stability, technicality, but also power and durability to the perfumes. The perfumer will use them when nature will not be able to deliver the notes they need, such as lily of the valley, violet, or certain dried fruits, that are impossible to treat in a natural way.

 

The base note and the choice of perfume

It is very important to take time when choosing a perfume and this is especially true with regard to the base note, that will be present for a certain length of time.
For example, if you choose a perfume in a store, take the time to go outside the perfume store for a while to let the fragrance evolve on your skin, or sleep wearing the fragrance. The way you feel when you wake up will be very revealing. This will allow you to determine if the perfume, that can be very pleasant to breathe at first, does not feel too heady if it is worn for a long time (cf. Testing a perfume).
On the other hand, if the fragrance is well received by your family and friends, and they compliment you, it will surely mean that you have found your olfactory signature. 

 

Conclusion

The base notes represent the capital notes of a perfume. It is important to take time to discover them and to try the fragrance on the skin in order to validate the alchemy between the fragrance and the skin. The base notes are not discovered right away, they are revealed like a meeting with someone who is a little shy and mysterious, who will need time before revealing his true nature, finally letting you succumb to his charm.

 

Sylvaine Delacourte perfumes

In order to allow you to discover perfumes progressively, while leaving the base notes time to evolve, each of Sylvaine Delacourte's Collections offer a Discovery Box of 5 perfumes, so that you can test the fragrance at home, over several days: