Notes of a Person

Notes of a Person

During my internship at Galimard, I’ve had the pleasure of guiding people through a perfume creation workshop. The process is much like composing music; helping clients work their way through the perfumer’s organ to create their own “melody” of scent. Like a piano, it plays in notes: the top notes, the heart notes, the base notes; each unfolding in time, telling a story through fragrance.

One moment stands out vividly: the day my friend visited the workshop. She’s a fellow member of our book club, where we have a habit of reading between the lines, looking for the deeper meaning beyond the obvious. As she worked her way through the organ, she told me something that has lingered in my mind like a beautiful drydown.

She said:

«Perfume is like a person. The top notes are the first impression; the part that smiles politely, that plays nice. The heart is who you are when the first impression fades; where your mood, your real personality starts to show. And the base is your core. Your values. The part that remains long after everything else fades.»

That struck me.

Because she’s right ; we are all built in layers. We move through the world showing just enough, until someone gets close enough to sense the rest of us. Perfume, in its quiet way, does the same.

And it’s not just this three-layered structure of scent that mirrors life. It’s the rhythm of threes that appears everywhere:

Mind. Body. Soul.

Past. Present. Future.

Top. Heart. Base.

Is that a coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not. Perhaps it’s the universe whispering the same truth in different languages; with scent being one of them.