Note map
Scent pyramid builder
Sketch a perfume before you mix it: put its notes into top, heart and base, see the pyramid drawn as you go, and download it as an image for your notebook or a label.
Notes
A pick goes to the tier that note usually sits in (the dot shows which: top, heart, base). Pick it again to take it out.
Citrus
Green
Herbal
Spicy
Fruity
Floral
Woody
Resin & amber
Gourmand
Musk, leather & smoke
No notes match. Add it as your own note above.
Pyramid
Top notes3 of 12
- Pear
- Mandarin
- Pink pepper
Heart notes3 of 12
- Osmanthus
- Rose
- Peach
Base notes3 of 12
- Sandalwood
- Tonka bean
- White musk
How to build a scent pyramid
A scent pyramid describes how a perfume unfolds. Top notes are what you smell first: light, quick to evaporate citrus, herbs and spices. Heart notes appear as the top fades and give the perfume its character, often florals and fruits. Base notes evaporate slowest and stay longest: woods, resins, vanilla and musks.
Name your perfume, then add notes. Pick from the list of common notes, grouped by family, and each goes to the tier it usually belongs to; pick it again to remove it. Type anything else under "Add your own note" and choose its tier. Each note in the pyramid has buttons to move it up or down a tier or remove it, so the order works with a keyboard as well as a mouse. Each tier holds up to 12 notes.
The preview redraws as you go. Download PNG saves a 1080 × 1350 pixel image in the colours of the theme you are using; Copy as text gives one line per tier; Use in the blend calculator opens the perfume blend calculator with these notes as materials, one part each, ready for amounts.
Example
The sample, Orchard at dusk, opens with pear, mandarin and pink pepper, settles into osmanthus, rose and peach, and dries down to sandalwood, tonka bean and white musk. In the blend calculator, a 30/50/20 split would give each top note a tenth of the concentrate and each base note about 7%.
About the note list
The list is our own selection of widely used, generic note names, with no brand names. Some are essential oils or absolutes you can buy, such as bergamot, lavender or vetiver. Others are accords, blends of several materials made to suggest something that gives no usable oil: pear, peach, lily of the valley, amber and white musk are usually built this way. Tiers are a guide, because real materials evaporate along a continuum; lavender and neroli, for example, are often described as top or heart notes.
If your top notes include cold-pressed citrus oils, remember that bergamot, lime, lemon, bitter orange and grapefruit can make skin burn in sunlight above low limits. Bergamot FCF (bergapten-free) avoids that; the blend calculator flags these oils by name.
Questions
What is a scent pyramid?
A simple way to describe a perfume in three layers: top notes you notice first, heart notes that form its character, and base notes that last longest. Perfume makers and shops use it to show how a scent changes as it dries down.
How long do top, heart and base notes last?
There is no fixed time. Top notes fade first and base notes can last many hours, but the real timing depends on the materials, the strength of the perfume, your skin and the weather. Smell a test strip over a day to learn your own blend.
Can a note belong to more than one tier?
Yes. Materials evaporate along a continuum, so lavender, neroli or frankincense can be described as top or heart notes depending on the blend. Use the arrow buttons to put a note where it behaves in your perfume.
Why can I not buy pear or lily of the valley oil?
Some fruits and flowers give no usable essential oil, so perfumers recreate them as accords from other materials. Suppliers sell these as fragrance oils or accords; check the supplier's IFRA certificate for how much you can use.
Where is my pyramid saved?
In this browser's local storage, on this device only. The current pyramid is kept automatically and Save adds named copies. Nothing is uploaded; clearing your browser data deletes them.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Perfume: top, middle (heart) and base notes, and accords.
- Tisserand Institute, Phototoxicity: essential oils, sun and safety (2023): phototoxic citrus oils and furanocoumarin-free bergamot.
- International Fragrance Association, IFRA Standards Library: use limits for fragrance materials.