NOTE DE COEUR
The middle notes, the notes de coeur, rise after the départ has opened the senses to possibility and the top notes have begun the narrative. The nose loves stories, and while the top notes are the “once upon a time” opening, the middle notes begin to suggest destiny. Is the scent telling a story of passion now or remembered passion? Perhaps of love to come? Jasmine, for example, mixes well with almost any other oil, and at the same time has an almost hypnotic effect, and so can suggest past, present, or future. It must have a companion to define its story. In fact, the real story of modern perfumes is the art of blending, just as the different people who are in it are the real substance of any one life.
—Notebooks of N. Tours