The Secret Language of Perfume: How Fragrance Notes Tell a Story
Let me take you into my world for a moment. Imagine I place a drop of perfume on your wrist. Don’t rush it, just let it breathe.
The first thing you’ll notice is the top notes. They’re like a first hello, a quick smile, a spark of curiosity. Citrus often lives here: bergamot, lemon, grapefruit. In BELLAVITA CEO Man, that fresh grapefruit opening is what immediately says ‘confidence’ before the warmer tones step in. These bright notes rise quickly, then disappear, but they’re essential - they make you lean closer, curious for more.
As minutes pass, the heart notes reveal themselves. This is where the fragrance shows you its soul. Perhaps it’s a blooming jasmine, or a spicy nuance like cardamom. At BELLAVITA ROSE Woman, the heart is unapologetically floral, rose layered with peony, soft, feminine, but with a strength that gives it presence. This middle stage is more personal, the part of the scent that lives close to the skin, the heartbeat of the composition.
Then comes the part I love most are the base notes. They arrive slowly, like the final chapter of a novel that lingers long after you’ve put the book down. Woods, musks, resins, amber, these are what stay, what fuse with your warmth. In BELLAVITA HONEY OUD, for instance, it’s that deep oud wrapped in golden sweetness that remains hours later, leaving a memory you carry into the night.
As a perfumer, I don’t see these as just notes. To me, they’re characters. Citrus is light-hearted and fleeting, florals are soulful and expressive, woods and resins are grounding and eternal. My job is to choreograph them so they don’t just coexist, but tell a story together, your story, once you wear it.
Perfume is invisible, but it is never silent. It whispers, it lingers, it remembers for us. And each Bella Vita fragrance I create is, in a way, a different novel, some light and playful, some deep and mysterious, all waiting for you to step in as the narrator.
