After a walk in the forest with woody notes and a cruise to the open sea thanks to the marine facets, it is a completely different olfactory journey that we propose you today. Let’s discover the gourmand perfume and arouse your nose and taste buds. Sweet and fruity notes that tickle our emotions and bring us back to our childhood thanks to these regressive and addictive scents!
The history of sweet notes
Although appetizing, gourmand perfumes have not always seduced noses and hearts… While floral scents have been able to stand the test of time, perfumes with more powerful notes began to be appreciated during the Renaissance. Amber and oriental fragrances appear to never really leave the fragrant compositions. The revolution in organic chemistry with the arrival of synthetic molecules has heralded the arrival of new notes, always more creative. This is how tonka bean, cinnamon, vanilla and many other ingredients have seen their synthetic equivalents appear.
Gourmand perfume: a recent trend
A new era had begun and perfumers, more and more curious, were then exploring daring fragrances. Even if vanilla fragrances had a major role in the creations since the late 1800s, it was not until the 1990s that the time of gourmand scents really appeared. And it was in 1992, thanks to Thierry Mugler and his iconic Angel, that a new kind became popular. This fragrance with accents of patchouli, vanilla, caramel and chocolate will bring a sweet olfactory wave to perfumeries…
Sweet and sensual
Sweet scents become the expression of sensuality and femininity. Becoming true chefs for a creation, the most experienced Noses look into this new trend to create seductive recipes. Although they do not constitute a full-fledged olfactory family, gourmand perfumes are affiliated to oriental or amber ones, thanks in particular to their associations with spicy notes.
Addictive fragrances….
Both sweet and sensual, these scents have quickly become essential. But why do we like these fragrances so much? The answer certainly lies in the power of our olfactory memory! Indeed, by using sweet notes, perfumers bring us back to something very personal, even intimate, at the heart of our childhood memories. Notes of warm milk, caramel or praline that resonate with our nose like something familiar and therefore comforting. Because deep down, we remain grown-up children!
By appealing to these purely hedonistic values, the gustatory aspect of the smell is highlighted, and the temptation to plunge your hand into the cake box is high! Our nose and our brain therefore act together when we fall in love with a gourmand perfume. A guiltless pleasure since this olfactory sweetness can be consumed without moderation! A gourmand perfume therefore acts on us like a real antidepressant, releasing our endorphins to provide us with precious moments of happiness. It is hard to resist…
Raw materials that make us drool over
Like the recipe of a chef pastry, creative perfumers enjoy many natural and synthetic ingredients to create a gourmand perfume. Coumarin, furaneol or ethyl maltol… They may not mean much to you, but these substances are widely used in formulas. These components found in nature or created from scratch are an integral part of our diet and now of our scented ritual!
When chemistry starts baking
After vanillin, a synthetic molecule reproducing the sweet scent of vanilla, or coumarin, a tonka bean extract with an almond smell, it is another molecule that has revolutionized gourmand notes: ethyl maltol, also called veltol or ethyl praline. Invented in 1969 and six times more powerful than maltol (which is found naturally in cocoa), this component evokes the scents of ripe fruit or caramel. Before the advent of gourmand perfume, this molecule was only used in the food sector. Today, veltol is present in almost all gourmand recipes of fragrances. Combined with natural ingredients, it brings a delicious sweet touch with caramel and praline accents.
But veltol is not the only molecule that enters into the compositions and chemistry is constantly progressing to create new odoriferous molecules. This is the case of furaneol, which is a natural organic component found in strawberries and many other fruits. This ingredient has roasted sugar tones and is used to reproduce the smell of fresh pineapple. Perfumers can integrate it into their formulas to give a “candy” look or add a hint of cooked fruit.
Gourmand? Carrément!
At Carrément Belle, we hardly say no to a little treat. Neither do you? Then you must love some of our fragrances with sweet notes…
It was in the late 1980s that we decided to put gourmand delicacies in the spotlight with the creation of vanille. Combining Madagascar vanilla absolute with coumarin, almond and a caramelized note, this fragrance is intensely gourmand. A perfume also available as a candle to burn in the kitchen: the motivation you need to start making a good cake! But another fragrance also has a sweet touch.
If vanilla invites itself into the full-bodied eau de parfum alfred kafé, it cannot be said to be the central part of this creation. It is relatively discreet here, barely perceptible. You can also find tonka bean in kilim, our oriental patchouli, or the unique smell of cinnamon in 555. On the other hand, praline gives to ippi patchouli clair a regressive and irresistible touch! This sugar-coated almond brings a new highly addictive twist to the woody and earthy wake of ippi patchouli. Irresistible.
The gourmand perfume remains appreciated, but…
Despite their success, sweet notes have long suffered from an image that is a little too featureless. While marketing and communication have long assimilated it to teenage girls, gourmand perfume has largely taken revenge in recent years. Perhaps too much, since the market has been saturated with gourmand fragrances derived from major perfumery successes. Sometimes fair, often cloying. Let’s keep in mind that perfume is subjective. We will be careful not to judge the creations of our colleagues. But your feedback lead us to believe that you appreciate the slowdown in the launch of sweet fragrances…
So, if you are no longer 20 years old but you are addicted to vanilla or praline, nothing should prevent you from wearing them! It is all about subtlety and desire. These perfumes assert themselves as real assets of seduction, while bringing a certain confidence and a form of elegance. But men also dream of testing them, because after all, sweetness is revealed in each of us! Gourmand notes are found in so-called masculine fragrances, alongside woody ingredients for example, but they also go very well with the acidity of citrus fruits.
Today, perfumers never stop to use their sense of taste since delicacies are reinvented in perfumes. New notes and innovative associations are always pushing back our current knowledge. Chocolate fragrances, sweet candy scents or even cooked fruit flavors: gourmand perfume has not yet said its last word!
Do you like sweet fragrances? Have you tried our delicacies such as vanille or ippi patchouli clair?
Discover the fragrances mentioned in the article
6 Comments