Understanding the fragrance pyramid in perfumery

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Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
00:42 - What are top/mid/base notes?
04:55 - The fragrance pyramid in marketing
09:49 - Thinking in terms of evaporation curves when creating
14:04 - How can I make my top notes last longer?
16:07 - Positives and negatives of using the fragrance pyramid model
18:55 - Outro

[@brianbailey7128]

Very good explanation here. As a knowledge surfer, I really appreciate your video.

[@sammacer]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@curioclassicperfumeguide]

I am not a perfumer, I am a perfume lover just like you. I was very curious about the fragrances and being watched videos, read books and articles , Indian and Western. Now I am sharing videos of fragrances formulation .

[@jankucera8505]

youre my favorite starter perfumer so far

[@sammacer]

Thank you!

[@cgpetey]

Nice Job Sam. Excellent as always!

[@sammacer]

Thanks!

[@yuriybesarab11]

Love your videos on perfums!

[@777VIBRANT]

Thank you for al the creative videos and explanations you give.

[@sammacer]

Thanks!

[@marialopes9365]

Thank you for the presentation. Loved it. Cheers !

[@bkscents7050]

Another solid video!

[@sammacer]

Cheers!

[@Club432]

very insightful!

[@girardirene6916]

I believe you answered it.

[@teddyperera8531]

This video is very informative. Thank you

[@sammacer]

Thank you

[@anndymurillo8870]

Great video Great job understood everything.

[@sammacer]

Thank you

[@petermichaelmarnick8989]

your videos are exactly what i have been looking for! 😊 hoping you can help me with some advice. pell wall is the website i found, is that the best uk one? also i have seen fragrance oils for sale that mention to be used in candles or soaps, if i was to dilute with perfumers alcohol to 10-20% would that be ok?

[@sammacer]

Pell wall is probably the best in my opinion though recently I’ve been liking Artifiscent which offers the same quality at better prices (you need to email them for a list though). About fragrance oils, watch this video: m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/bGimkmVve5h9m6s

[@petermichaelmarnick8989]

@@sammacer brill! i actually stumbled onto that one right after i messaged so thank you for saving me some money. i went on your website and seen your starter kit. how many different combi type could you make from arounf 12 samples? the types a like are gourmand, and freshies. also love tobbaco vanille, is there samples in your kit to make something similar? also when it comes to ambroxan and iso e. would you make a 1 to 10 ratio mix, ie 10ml, then pour that into your overall fragrance, or put powder in direct

[@danarwicaksono9755]

So.. if youre gonna make 1 notes last longer, is it add more fixative?

[@IICARUSMUSIC]

thanks for another great video sam. question, is it possible to augment materials through dilution to use as different notes. such as diluting a ‘base note’ and using it in dilution at a higher percentage in the formula to act as a ‘top note’, i hope that makes sense?

[@sammacer]

I don't really understand what you mean here. If you dilute something then you're lowering the percentage but if you add more of it you're just increasing the percentage again. If something is top, mid or base is intrinsic to the material, not the dilution.

[@IICARUSMUSIC]

thank you that answers the question, i just wondered if the evaporation curve of the material changed upon dilution. from analysis on scent strips this is what tends to happen. but adding more of it in would give a similar effect to using more in the first place. this really is an interesting hobby to wrap your head around 🤔

[@sammacer]

@@IICARUSMUSIC Yeah so the amount you use for each material is the same as the starting height for the material on the curve. If you use a higher dilution that's the same as using less so the starting height is lower.

[@skylineuk1485]

Very well explained.

[@sammacer]

Thank you

[@BoriSSon-Malikov]

Thanks a lot!!!

[@jori7398]

I’m deeply enjoying your artistry and teachings, Sam. This platform has finally realized that I am fragrance obsessed-not as a perfumer, but as one who cherishes a small but beautiful collection of perfumes. It’s been wonderful to learn so much here, about how this thing I love is brought into being. I marvel at your work. With gratitude and encouragement to you. Never stop… the world needs beauty. 🌷🌱🪵🌹🌾🌲🐋🪻🍋🍍🍓🍑🍐🍊🥒🍯

[@sammacer]

Thank you for the kind words and beautifully thought out collection of emojis, glad you’re enjoying my videos

[@camaronCamarona]

Oh! You really know, Sam.

[@girardirene6916]

I haven't watched the entire video yet but I want to say, can we kinda match the middle to the base to give the illusion of the top notes lasting longer?

[@sammacer]

Yes!

[@nikolaradakovic5050]

Where can I find a list of only base notes

[@konschianestis9208]

Hey very nice Video, could you tell me where you buy your oils from? and which site you can recommend for beginners. greetings from Germany

[@sammacer]

Thanks! Most of mine are from Pell Wall or Harrison Joseph. Some are perfumers world and perfumers apprentice

[@user-kh7zm7dz1s]

Amazing explanation but can you kindly help me understand: 1- How come the same note be in the middle and top if they have the same evaporation rate like the rose note in "Love Chopard" ?? 2- How can notes be mixed as linear distribution , like "Argentina Memo" , or as pyramid distribution like "Jamal's Palace Memo" for the same house?

[@sammacer]

Fragrance note listed for marketing are open to the imagination of the marketers, they are subjective, not factual

[@jrccandleco7939]

As always, you explained everything soo well!! What do you think about essential oil perfumes? Is it possible with perfumers alcohol? Also, I made some home made perfume using ( test kit from perfumers apprentice). I let it sit for a couple of weeks, but has an oily residue on the skin. I usually use 15% perfume and the rest perfumers oil. Help!!!! I wish I could fly out to the UK and Spend the day with you! ☺️ your so knowledgeable

[@sammacer]

Thank you. Yes it's fine to use essential oils though you should look to get some aromachemicals to go with them. Perfumers alcohol is good to use. What do you mean by perfumer's oil - do you mean perfumer's alcohol?

[@jrccandleco7939]

@@sammacer yes, typo. I meant perfumers alcohol. Thanks so much. I appreciate you!

[@sammacer]

If you use 15% oils and 85% perfumer's alcohol it shouldn't be sticky usually. Can you send a link to the oils and perfumers alcohol you used?

[@jrccandleco7939]

@@sammacer this is what I used to dilute.

[@sammacer]

@@jrccandleco7939 It might either be the brand of perfumer's alcohol or the type of oils you use in your perfume, it's hard to know

[@KoPhyo-lv2bi]

Really Useful for Perfume Lover Thank for Knowledge sharing 🖤 And Please explain me balsamic scent is how like and in it which materials are possess balsamic scent

[@sammacer]

As far as I’m aware it’s often sweet, sometimes ambery. You can get tolou balsam, for balsam absolute, Labdanum, benzoin

[@whitegirluc6242]

Hi... I'm Destiny from Nigeria I really learnt a lot🤗

[@sammacer]

Fantastic

[@EmptyKingdoms]

I am just a Brazilian perfume collector and enjoyer beginning my journey. Let me ask you something: when I smell a fragrance, be it a "clone" of international ones, a middle brow national, or even a niche (highbrow) national one, I hardly ever notice all the chords and notes. All I can sense is one block of scent, with rarely a memory of another scent in the midst of it, but all very mixed as a single monolith of smell. Do I have some sort of olfactory incapacity, or is it really that way and I am overinterpreting textual descriptions of basically monolithic scents? Even evolution on skin seems very one-dimensional, going from, say, sweeter top to wooden base, but nothing too drastic, the sweet at the top is like a sweet wood, the wood at the base is also like a sweet wood (say Sandalwood, for example). I would be very happy if you could help me understand this, as it seems so confusing to me, reading all those notes and chords, yet sensing almost none of them separately, yet noticing a single unit of specific scent.

[@sammacer]

What I’ve noticed is that some perfumes blend into one smell and others have more distinguished notes. It’s normal to notice smells blending into one since this is what accords are. This means that even if a lot of individual smells went into you might only get one back out (part of this will depend on your ability to distinguish smells). Marketers need something to say though so if a new smell is undescribable in words, why not list what went into making it?

[@EmptyKingdoms]

Thank you, @@sammacer. That cleared up a lot of my doubts. As a collector, but not a chemist (I'm actually a language teacher in middle and high school), I do lack the proper background to make educated guesses. If you want to look on Fragrantica or somewhere else, two perfumes I'm using more recently (it's winter here) are Essencial Oud, by Natura, and Malbec Black, by O Boticário. One has an oud that shows up after more than an hour of drydown, which then mixes with a note of praline, both very prominent, even to the point of not being so good together, but eventually the praline disappears and only the long-lasting oud remains, comfortable, slightly warm, welcoming, inviting even. The other, uses oak wood chips from oak cuts used in the manufacture of oak barrels, but has a wine accord that distinguishes it, providing a very slight sweetness, just a hint of sweetness, a comfort to the strong woody scent. Both lovely for the cold weather, but both very much _not_ corresponding to their moderately-sized notes pyramids. And now I know this is just plain old chemistry: they get mixed, their scents mix, and they come out as one thing or another, monolithic. I can sense the Cinnamon, Cardamom, Ginger, Juniper from Malbec Black's top notes, but they are not distinct, they are fused together as a single hot spicy olfactory block. It is the same with the base wood notes. Once more, thank you.

[@laronbridewell9468]

I am new to perfumery and wanted to know is it better to mix the top notes, mid notes, and base notes separately or can I just blend everything together as it's being made?

[@sammacer]

Usually people do it all together, but actually, making them separately can be an excellent tool for learning and understanding the perfumes you make better!

[@laronbridewell9468]

@@sammacer thanks for the information.

[@mi-vy8xm]

sir if we cannot make top notes last longer,can we put some of base notes in top notes,what i mean is that i will use long lasting base notes oils or aroma chemicals and place it in pyramid,with low percentage on top,middle percentage on middle and high percentage oon base,correct me if my question is wrong!thank you so much!

[@sammacer]

Sorry but I don't understand!

[@9senseswellnessretreatnz191]

Hi, on your question... you said you want to put base notes instead of top notes plus base notes as a base note too. So this won't work. It will be too heavy scent. As much as we want to have long lasting perfume we still want to have pleasant scent. Top not is first impression, so we can't put only middle and bases as most of them heavy scents. Happy creation...

[@Haqzino]

How do we contact you mate

[@kg20008]

Hey Sam, great video. I've been going through every video and learning lots. I've picked up some naturals, benzoin, vanilla, muget, mandarin, tonka, etc. I'm thinking of picking up some synthetics. I want to create a Kiwi accord, which I think would be similar to your pineapple accord. However, how do I make it distinctly "kiwi"? Keep up the great work!

[@sammacer]

Thank you. Sounds like a nice collection of naturals you have there. I don't know anything about a kiwi accord though it sounds interesting. Ethyl butyrate and Trans-2-hexenal might be good places to start though: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/jsfa.2740340112

[@kg20008]

Awesome! I'll be sure to grab those. I also had a suggestion for a video. "The differences between Masculine and Feminine scents, and what makes a fragrance Unisex." Seems like they all share the same ingredients just in different ratios. Understanding the differences might help some people.

[@sammacer]

@@kg20008 To be honest dude, I don't know anything about the differences between masculine and feminine ingredient ratios from a high-street perspective. I think its roughly men like woods and women like florals as a stereotype. In my opinion a smell shouldn't have a gender in the same way boys can still like pink and girls can like blue. Maybe I could do a video on that though...

[@kg20008]

@@sammacer You're right, it doesn't really matter who wears what. It's more of a descriptor. Technically, we could just label them all Unisex, or not label them at all. Either way I'd watch that video.

[@JeffersonAlves-sq1my]

TOP !!

[@nomimagic]

Hello Sam Best Magic Regards. Your chanell helps. How do You think is it possible to recreate kind of cheap scent having chromatography results of it with an interpretation? I have a plan to do So. The fragranve i used to have been produced in UK by Next Retail. It was caled Next Intense. You had to spend 15 pounds to get 100ml. So I bielieve the ingridients can not by that expensive.

[@sammacer]

I don't really know what you're trying to say but if you do a chromatographic analysis you can use it to help work out what molecules are in a sample.

[@nomimagic]

@@sammacer Thank You for Your reply. I Just wanted to get to know if its possible to recreate or copy my favorite after shave that has been discontinued. And if chromatography shows all chemicals that has been used in particular faragrance?

[@sammacer]

@@nomimagic You can certainly use it to help recreate it. It should give you most of the information you're looking for but it will not be 100% complete.

[@thaboshikwambane5578]

How did you become so skilled at such a young age?🙆🏽‍♂️ What was your learning journey?

[@Leukick]

I'm wonder what is the point of top notes? And even middle notes? Because if you put on the cologne, and go out on your date, by the time you arrive he or she won't even smell the top notes

[@sammacer]

The middle notes do sometimes last for some hours, and top notes make the experience when spraying it on enjoyable.

[@Leukick]

@@sammacer ahh thank you, appreciate your answer

[@rebirthofthecool5619]

The magic trick to smell the top notes again is to reapply

[@sammacer]

Indeed

[@andym28]

Low key illuminati thumbnail haha

[@sammacer]

Haha

[@PedjoniR]

so,there is no oud in perfumes?! Why? what is not possible in this case? I still dont know enough and I just ask

[@sammacer]

You can use oud in perfumes!