How to read a fragrance pyramid
Top, heart, base. The structure everyone cites and almost nobody uses correctly.
The pyramid is a marketing diagram that happens to be roughly true. Notes are grouped by how quickly their molecules leave your skin, not by how important they are to the composition.
Top notes are a first impression, not a fragrance
Citrus and light aromatics evaporate within fifteen minutes. Judging a fragrance at the counter means judging almost none of it. This is the single most common and most expensive mistake a new collector makes.
The heart is where the intent lives
Between thirty minutes and two hours, the middle notes carry the composition. Florals, spices, and green materials sit here. If you dislike the heart, you will dislike the fragrance.
The base decides whether you own it
Woods, resins, and musks persist for six hours or more. They are what other people smell when they stand near you at the end of an evening, and they are what you will remember the bottle by.
Wear a sample for a full day before deciding. Nothing else tells you the truth.