The Perfume Making Podcast11 Jul 2023

The Symphony of Fragrance: Delving into Top, Middle, and Base Notes in Perfume Creation

Perfume is not just one scent, most are made of many fragrances and these fragrances are split into what we call top, middle and base notes. But what exactly are top, middle and base notes, how do we identify them and how do we create a perfume with our desired notes? This week on the show, Karen will explain in detail and give you the tools you need to create that perfect scent.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Top, middle and base notes have one meaning for perfume makers and one meaning for perfume industry marketing. Karen breaks down the differences.
Top notes are the scents you notice first, mid notes are still present after a few hours, base notes are the scents you smell when the others have evaporated.
Perfume pyramids are used for marketing purposes to help sell the product, but they will not help you when you are trying to deconstruct the notes of a fragrance.
When you’re making a perfume, every single material is going to react with the others and create new scents. Practice helps you learn to understand how one scent reacts to another.

BEST MOMENTS

“Mid notes are the heart of the fragrance and are sometimes referred to as Heart Notes.”

“Base notes are the ones that help to fix the fragrance to the skin.”

“The way fragrance materials behave in a full composition is very different to how they behave alone.”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Getting Started Guide: https://www.karengilbert.co.uk/podcast-getting-started-guide

Artisan Perfumery Mastermind: https://karengilbert.info/artisan-perfumery-mastermind

ABOUT THE HOST

Fragrance expert, author, teacher and speaker; Karen Gilbert runs courses in the UK and online which demystify the secretive world of perfumery in a fun and interactive way.

Karen has inspired thousands of students to explore their olfactory sense and create their own personalised fragrances.

With extensive product development experience in both the commercial perfumery and the organic skincare industry, Karen is able to offer a unique insight into creating natural and mixed media fragrances for fine fragrance, room scents and skincare/bodycare products using commercial perfumery techniques.

Karen is also a certified meditation teacher and has a passion for helping people to create daily rituals that integrate scent with other modalities to shift state and increase your sense of wellbeing.

CONTACT DETAILS

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(126)

Done with Hustle? - Building a Stronger Perfume Business That Won’t Burn You Out in 2026

This isn’t the usual New Year’s episode about planning, vision boards, and big 2026 goals. Instead, Karen looks at what happens when you actually need to do less, and how that can be the key to buildi...

4 Jan 40min

Layering Like a Pro (or a Rebel): From TikTok Hacks to Indie Perfume

Ever wondered why everyone’s suddenly talking about layering their favourite scents? In this special year-end episode, Karen dives into the layered world of fragrance - examining the trend that’s gone...

14 Des 202546min

Don’t Sell Yourself Short! Building a Perfume Business Without the Discount Spiral

It’s easy to think that the best way to stay ahead in business is by watching your competitors and lowering your prices when they do. But as Karen explains in this episode, that common fear-driven rea...

7 Des 202530min

Making a Mod: Embracing Iteration in Perfume Making and Doing It Right

This week Karen follows on from the conversation she had about learning to evaluate your perfumes. She covers something that is done as a matter of course in the industry. It's something a lot of peop...

30 Nov 202526min

Evaluating Your Fragrances: How to Judge Your Scent Like a Professional

Do you really know if your fragrance works? Or are you just hoping for compliments? In this episode, Karen reveals why friends and family are not likely to be giving you the feedback you really need. ...

23 Nov 202530min

Why Buying More “Magic” Materials Won’t Make You a Better Perfumer

It’s easy to believe that the secret to creating great fragrances lies in having more materials - more naturals, more synthetics, more obscure aroma chemicals. But as Karen explains in this episode, t...

16 Nov 202534min

You’ve Made Soup! - How to Avoid a Muddy Fragrance

“You’ve made soup!” is a phrase French perfume teachers often say to their students. In the world of fragrance, soup refers to a perfume that smells muddy, flat, or undefined. But what causes a scent ...

10 Nov 202533min

Raw Notes - What I Learned from Bruce Springsteen

Karen recently went to the cinema, something she doesn’t do very often. However, on this one-off trip to see the new Bruce Springsteen film, something resonated with her. We often chase perfection, ei...

2 Nov 202517min