Not just when it comes to selecting a great attar perfume but knowing the basics of Perfume Notes is needed in selecting any fragrance for that matter. It helps you truly appreciate the scent, conserve the attar perfume or fragrance for as long as possible (by knowing the durations attached to each perfume note), and to know the difference between good perfumes and those bad knockoffs or no-names that we find in markets or high streets.

But Before That – What Is In Them?

Another name for Attar Perfume is Pure Perfume. Because, in general, attar perfumes do not contain chemical compounds that are harsh to the skin. They are comprised of essential oils or natural fragrance oils. Meaning they are safer and can even be a benefit to the health in many cases.

Imagine an attar perfume that contains lavender, eucalyptus, or even peppermint. These are known to have amazing health benefits. So why not get perfumes that smell great, and are even good for you at the same time.

The 3 Main Perfume Notes That Make Up A Great Fragrance (Or Attar Perfume)

So, how would you ever know how long a fragrance lasts? Simple: by know the 3 types of perfume notes that make up any fragrance, from sprays, to roll-on oils. Now when we say 3 types, keep in mind that each type or category contains 100s of different scents.

This is what they are:

Top Notes: They are perceived immediately upon application of a perfume. Highly volatile, last about 5 – 20 mins, and are normally citrus and light in nature. They can include some aromatic herbs too. Examples: Peppermint, citrus and ginger.

Heart Notes (aka Middle Notes): compound the main body of a perfume and emerge just before the top notes dissipate. They serve to mask the often unpleasant initial impression of base notes, which become more pleasant with time. Last about 20 – 60 mins, are generally fruity and floral in nature, includes oils, more dense than top notes. Examples: Lavender and rose

Base Notes: Scent of a perfume that appears close to the departure of the heart notes. Compounds of this class are often the fixatives used to hold and boost the strength of the lighter top and middle notes. Low volatility, lasts several hours to a few days, are rich and heavy, have a very low evaporation level. Examples: Musk and oud.

What are examples of perfume notes?

Leather Notes

Leather has quite an important presence in our history, First known to be discovered around 400,000 years ago in England! It has been used to produce a large variety of products from providing warmth to becoming luxurious shoes and bags.

Although it may not seem like it, the leather goods market was worth USD 407.92 billion in 2021 and is expected to continue growing. Leather can be obtained from cows, rabbits and more but how is it transformed into fragrance…

The simple answer is that it isn’t. Perfumers use birch tar, juniper, oud, tobacco, or other man-made synthetic molecules to replicate the “scent” of leather as a perfume ingredient. This innovation has led to a lot of success with leathery fragrances such as colognes and sprays.

Here at Maison Anthony Marmin we have taken this innovation to the next level with attar oils, the level of excellence. Dragon Oud is one of our popular choices for the perfect leather scent experience, made with a base of Oud Cambodi to further enhance the scent.

Sweet Notes

In the world of perfumery, notes are used to describe how each scent smells . Today I want to focus on sweet notes and how they are implemented in perfumery.

Musk Fragrances

In Musk Fragrances, Sweet notes are usually projected through fruity ingredients from sour lemon to strong sweet smells like strawberry and everything in the middle, blended with powdery white musk and other supporting ingredients can make for a pleasant fragrances, like our Samiah, a white musk attar which captivates a very delightful smell.

Oud Fragrances

In Oud Fragrances, most scents focus on strengths and a powerful sillage blended with sandalwood or spicy notes. However, a touch of sweetness can really transform an attar. It adds a whole new perspective to these scents. Dragon Oud does this perfectly. Primarily it's another tremendous oud scent, using the famous Cambodian oud as a base, combined with leathery and woody notes and a hint of caramel sweet notes which completes this wonderful fragrance.

Amber and Ambergris Fragrances

Amber attars are quite close to Musk scents in the way sweet notes are used and it's usually used as a top or heart note. However in Ambergris fragrances, sweet notes can make for quite a contrast similarly to oud scents. The best example of this is our Sheikh Al Faransi, our best seller and for a good reason, it's quite a complex composition however it's quite noticeable that a touch of sweetness is present within. This sweetness adds an extra layer of depth to the elixir that wouldn't be there otherwise without.

Conclusion

The 1000s of scents present within the 3 categories of notes can be combined in so many ways to give such a diverse range of smells.

There you have it. The perfume notes to get you a super attar perfume just need to be combined by a perfumery expert. Why did you need to know all of this? Because knowing what a fragrance is made up of, can really help you determine how long it will last (saving you money and giving you the power to find the most quality fragrance there is).

What are Perfume Notes?