What fragrance notes go well together?

While a lot of us would prefer to go into a store to purchase our favourite scents, the more enthusiastic and adventurous fragrance connoisseurs may dabble in scent layering from time to time. With so many options out there to choose from though, how is a beginner meant to know which fragrance notes go well together and which to avoid? Luckily fragrance oil companies and experts have put together a list of five basic scent families to start you off which include the floral family (lavender, jasmine, geranium, hyacinth), the oriental family (patchouli, vanilla, mandarin), the woodsy family (sandalwood, cedar, frankincense), the spicy family (ginger, neroli, nutmeg) and the citrus family (lemon, orange).  These rules are not set in stone however and are open to interpretation. 

 Scents in the woodsy family are versatile and can be combined with almost any other scent. The floral and citrus families also go well together. The basic formula for layering scents should be a mixture of three notes, being the base note, the middle note and the top note. This combination will ensure that your perfume changes subtly throughout the day.  

 

Fragrance oil companies advise that base notes can be from the woodsy family and should ideally comprise 20% of the total blend. However, scents such as patchouli or vanilla are also commonly used as base notes. Next you will need to combine your middle notes which make up the core of the scent. Appropriately enough, the middle notes should comprise approximately 50% of your total mixture. The middle notes will evaporate after some time and leave the base notes on your skin. The last addition to your concoction should be the top notes. These will comprise the remaining 30% and evaporate within a few hours. A few popular choices for top notes include floral oils such as anise, chamomile and orchid but also a few different types of citrus oils. As these are smelt immediately upon spraying, they tend to be the most pungent.  

 

It is also common practice in the perfume mixing world to add a few final drips of what is known as a bridge note. This bridge note serves the purpose of blending the other notes together into a smooth layer. Examples of bridge notes are lavender, jojoba oil, vanilla or vitamin E. These are typically very slow in evaporating off from the skin.  

 

While perfume mixing and layering can be an interesting and fascinating process, it can also become quite an expensive hobby if too many ingredients are wasted in the experimentation process. Fragrance oil companies therefore suggest that you play around with options in small quantities on cotton swabs. Once the mixture is on the swab, you can leave it overnight and see if you are happy with the end result in the morning. This will ensure that the perfume you create is not wasted and that you are truly happy with it.