Harmonizing Your Blend

Have you ever noticed that a fragrance smells differently after several hours than when you first apply it? Some essential oils evaporate more quickly than others. As the oils in a blend evaporate, the aroma will change to reflect the aroma of the remaining oils.

Using the analogy of a musical scale, oils that evaporate the quickest, usually within 1-2 hours, are called “top notes.�?Oils that evaporate with 2-4 hours are considered “middle notes.�?Oils that take the longest time to evaporate are referred to as “base notes.�?Some base notes can take several days to evaporate! Edward Sagarin credits Septimus Piesse with this analogy that has been used by many perfumers:

“Another contribution to the field of odor classification was made by the famous perfumer and perfume historian, Septimus Piesse. This unique figure in the history of the science created what he called an “odophone.�?the odors were like sounds, he pointed out, and a scale could be created going from the first or lowest note, the heavy smell to the last or highest note, the sharp smell. In between there was an ascending ladder. Each odor note corresponded to a key on his odophone, and in the creation of a happy mixture of many different odors, which we call a “bouquet�?and which every finished perfume must be, the creator seeks not only to hit the right notes, but to strike those notes which go with one another. His perfume must not be out of tune.�?[Edward Sagarin, The Science and Art of Perfumery (New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 1945), 145.]