Reading a note pyramid without getting fooled

What top, heart and base actually tell you, and what they hide.

Note lists sell fragrances, and they mislead more often than any other part of a product page.

A note list is a menu, not a photograph. Two fragrances can share eight notes and smell nothing alike.

What the three tiers mean

Top notes are what you smell in the first fifteen minutes. Heart notes carry the middle hours. Base notes are what remains, and what people around you will remember.

What a list hides

Proportion. A fragrance listing rose, oud and vanilla could be a rose with a whisper of oud or an oud that swallows everything. Accord strength tells you far more than the note list, which is why every profile here shows it.

How to use it

Read the base notes first. If you dislike patchouli, no amount of pretty top notes will save the fragrance for you six hours in.