Fragrance—the word that describes the smell of a product—is used in a wide range of personal care products. It may be in shampoos, body washes and colognes but also in scented soaps, lotions, deodorants and even scented laundry detergents. Fragrance ingredients have been linked to hormone disruption, allergies and skin sensitivity and it’s important to avoid fragrances that contain synthetic chemicals like phthalates, synthetic musks and synthetic ambergris. Natural perfumes made with essential oils are a healthier alternative and free of the hormone-disrupting chemicals found in commercial fragrances.
Fragrances are classified according to their structure and odour, and each perfume can have a head, middle and base note to provide the initial impression, the body and the final impact of the scent. The head or top notes are comprised of light molecules that evaporate very quickly. Often these include citrus (lemon and orange) or light fruits and herbs such as sage and lavender.
Middle notes, sometimes called heart, form the middle of a perfume and give the fragrance its body and solidity. These typically blend several odours and are usually categorized into the floral group (jasmine, rose and lily of the valley) or the woody group, which is dominated by aromatic woods such as sandalwood and cedarwood and the mossy group which is dominated by the odour of oak moss.
The base or end of a perfume provides the final impression and lasts up to 30 minutes after the middle notes have dissipated. Base notes are typically rich and deep odours such as tobacco or musk and can be derived from either natural or synthetic odourants such as the compound calone, which has a fresh ozonous metallic marine fragrance, or olorosoe, a compound obtained from the leaves of certain orchid plants.