Top notes open a perfume. Middle notes are the heart. Base notes sit underneath and stay the longest. Every Bandholz bottle lists all three.
What Is a Perfume Note Pyramid?
A note is a smell you can pick out in a perfume, like bergamot or leather. Most brands sort their notes into three layers by when you notice them: top, middle, and base.
People draw those layers as a pyramid. The top is small, the middle is wider, and the base is the widest part at the bottom. Middle notes are also called heart notes. They are the same thing.
All three layers start the moment the perfume goes on. Lighter materials lift off first. Heavier ones move slower and stay last. The pyramid shows which layer leads at each stage, in the order you notice them.
What Is the Difference Between Top, Middle, and Base Notes?
Top notes are the first impression. They are usually the brightest and quickest part of the perfume, like citrus or a puff of smoke.
Middle notes are the main character. Once the opening settles, the heart tells you what the perfume is actually about.
Base notes are the floor. They sit under everything else, stay closest to your skin, and last the longest. Woods, resins, and leather often live here.
That order is why I would not judge a perfume on the first breath. If you only read one line of a note table, read the base. That is the part you live with.
The order holds in oil too. Our perfumes are oil, about 20 percent fragrance, in 20 mL glass roll-ons. Oil wears closer to skin and develops with your chemistry, so the layers unfold close to you. What Is Oil-Based Perfume? covers the base oil, and How to Apply Oil Perfume covers putting it on.
How Do You Read a Perfume Note Table?
Read it left to right. The line goes top, then middle, then base. Every comma marks a separate note.
Start with Temple Smoke. It has the shortest table in the line.
Temple Smoke: TOP Woodsmoke | MIDDLE Palo Santo, Vanilla, Spice | BASE Frankincense, Patchouli.
That is a single top note. Woodsmoke opens it. Palo santo and vanilla carry the heart. Frankincense and patchouli hold the floor. The full story is in What Is Temple Smoke Perfume?
Norse Winter has more going on.
Norse Winter: TOP Bergamot, Pimento Berry | MIDDLE Amber, Frankincense, Opoponax | BASE Fir Balsam, Oak, Leather.
Bergamot and pimento berry open it. Amber, frankincense, and opoponax make a resin heart. The base is three separate notes: fir balsam, oak, and leather. The full story is in What Is Norse Winter Perfume?
Can the Same Note Sit in Different Layers?
Yes. Each bottle sets its own layers, so the same note can open one perfume and close another. So check where a note sits as well as whether it is on the list.
Our own tables show it. Amber is a middle note in Norse Winter and a base note in Bold Fortune and Old Money. Frankincense is a middle note in Norse Winter and a base note in Temple Smoke. Tobacco sits in the middle of Black Sails and Four Vices and in the base of Bold Fortune.
Cardamom is a top note in Bold Fortune and a middle note in Black Sails. Oud is a middle note in Bold Fortune and a base note in Four Vices.
Some notes keep the same spot across the line. Bergamot is a top note in Black Sails, Ghost Tracer, Norse Winter, and Old Money. Leather is a base note in Norse Winter, Desert Road, and Old Money. Patchouli is a base note in Bold Fortune, Four Vices, Ghost Tracer, and Temple Smoke.
That is how to use a note table when you pick. Find the notes you like, then check which layer they sit in. A note you love in the base stays with you. A note you love only in the top leads the opening and then steps back.
The layers help when you wear two at once, too. How to Layer Two Perfumes covers that. How to Pick a Perfume walks the rest, and every table in the line sits in the perfume collection.
Defy Common Scents.