Every fragrance you wear is a composition — a carefully structured sequence of ingredients that reveals itself over time. This structure is called the note pyramid, and understanding it changes how you experience and choose fragrances forever.
Top Notes — The First Impression
Top notes are what you smell in the first 15 to 30 minutes after applying a fragrance. They are the lightest, most volatile molecules — designed to evaporate quickly and create an immediate impression. Common top notes include citrus (bergamot, lemon, orange), light herbs (lavender, basil), and clean aromatics.
Tip: Never judge a fragrance by its top notes alone. The first spray is the greeting — not the full story.
Heart Notes — The True Character
Heart notes, also called middle notes, emerge as the top notes fade — usually 30 minutes to 2 hours after application. They form the core personality of the fragrance and last much longer. Florals (rose, jasmine, peony), spices (pepper, cardamom), and soft woods dominate this layer.
When you fall in love with a fragrance on someone else, you are almost always responding to their heart notes. This is the layer that interacts most with body chemistry.
Base Notes — The Memory
Base notes are the foundation — the heaviest, slowest-evaporating molecules that emerge 2 to 4 hours after application and can linger on skin or fabric for 12 hours or more. Musks, ambers, woods (sandalwood, cedarwood, oud), and resins (benzoin, labdanum) are classic base notes.
Base notes are what remain on your skin at the end of the day. They are often the reason a fragrance feels intimate and personal rather than simply pleasant.
How to Experience the Full Pyramid
Apply the fragrance to a pulse point — your wrist or inner elbow — and wait. Smell it immediately (top notes), again after 30 minutes (heart notes), and again 2 to 3 hours later (base notes). Only then do you know the full fragrance.
Skye Collection
Sauvage Inspired
Fresh, powerful and magnetic everyday luxury.
Sauvage Inspired follows the classic three-layer structure: bright bergamot and pepper in the opening, lavender and geranium through the heart, and a characterful ambroxan base — a clear illustration of how the note pyramid unfolds over time on a single fragrance.
Explore →Tip: The Maison Knowledge Catalogue lists top, heart, and base notes for every fragrance. Use the note pyramid view on any product page to explore how your fragrance is structured.
- Top notes evaporate within 30 minutes
- Heart notes define the fragrance's core character
- Base notes linger for hours and create the final impression
- Body chemistry affects how each layer smells on your skin
- Longevity depends mostly on base note concentration
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