A perfume never goes unnoticed. Its mysterious pull over our moods has always been experienced. It can help us relax, perk up, focus our attention, coax us into buying things or make us feel safe. Perhaps, it influences us in far too many ways to know. If it was used in medicaments in the middle ages, it was also used by tribes in Asia and Africa to appease spirits. Of course, it was always known to enhance its wearer’s natural charm and ability.

The science of making perfume is perhaps the oldest in cosmetics, and has evolved over a long time. Though broadly it is made up of alcohol, water and fragrance oil, it imbibes more than 250 ingredients.

Over 100 years ago Freud had said, “The quickest way to trigger an emotional response is with scent.” The Greeks were the first to recognise that aroma has stimulating, seductive and calming effect. In ancient India, Arabia, Greece, Isreal, Egypt, and Rome, perfume was used to heal, attract and anoint. It can release emotion, awaken joy; it can simply enchant us or send us off on paths to dreams and fantasy. In short, scents can change the way we live and feel. These are also associated with intense personal memories and responses.

Much like music, perfumes are composed of notes—high notes, middle notes, and base notes. Top note scents are perceived a few minutes after the application of a perfume. It forms the initial impression of a perfume. Because of this, they are very important in the selling of a perfume. The scents of this note class are usually described as “fresh”, “assertive”, or “sharp”. The compounds that contribute to top notes are strong in scent, very volatile, and evaporate quickly. Citrus and ginger are common top note scents.

Heart notes or middle note scents emerge after the top notes dissipate. Heart note compounds form the “heart” or main body of a perfume, and act to smooth the sharpness of the initial impression of a perfume caused by the top notes. Therefore, the scent of heart note compounds is usually mellow and “rounded”. Scents from this note class appear anywhere from ten minutes to one hour after the application of a perfume. Lavender and rose are typical heart notes.

Base note scents of a perfume appear after the departure of the heart notes. Base notes bring depth and solidness to a perfume. Compounds of this class are usually the fixatives used to hold and boost the strength of the lighter top and heart notes. The compounds of this class are typically rich and “deep”, and are usually not perceived until 30 minutes after the application of the perfume. Musk, vetiver and scents of plant resins are commonly used base notes.

For effective disbursement of perfume it can be applied on the pulse points or on the ‘A’ points, which are the front and sides of the neck, over the breast crease—in women just under the breasts—and elbow and knee folds, as these are moist areas of the body and allow the fragrance in a perfume to mix with your body odour and make a new blend that comes out stronger.