Scents That Smell Good Enough to Eat

WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF GOURMANDS

Have you ever smelt a fragrance so good that you wish you could eat it? A gourmand scent is primarily made up of edible notes, the most popular being vanilla, honey, chocolate and fruits. Gourmand fragrances are also called “foodie” fragrances and can be found in both feminine and masculine scents and worn by all, though they have not always seduced our noses.

The gourmand is the domain of vanilla and chocolate. It is sweetness but also savoury and umami too, after all, who said that gourmand fragrances have to be sweet? They can be bitter and sour with the right balance. Recent trends lean towards gourmand fragrances as they’ve been a top seller in many celebrity fragrances and popular among franchises with the usage of vanillas, salted caramel and edible herbs being the most used notes. The gourmand fragrance knows no limits!

At Shay & Blue, we love to showcase a range of different scent families and have some amazing gourmand inspired fragrances that you might find yourself falling in love at first sniff with...

• Salt caramel 
• Parfum Nashwa
• Blood orange
• Watermelon 
• Oud alif
• Sicilian limes

To help you navigate this land of olfactory desserts, let me walk you through the different types of edible gourmand notes.

Photo by Jocelyn Morales 

VANILLA

Vanilla is an enchanter with an undeniable charm. Its hypnotic scent is an invitation to sin but also to happiness. Now do you understand why it has become one of the most used notes in fragrances?

Vanilla is a part of the orchid family and has been used for many years in edible foods and synthetic scents from house hold items to fragrances and beauty products. It is said to contain benefits for fighting fears and anxieties which brings one a sense of strength and warmth. The fine green vanilla pods only give off their fragrance after a long, traditional process. The process of vanilla is a long-time commitment after fifteen to eighteen months of just pollination, they need to be harvested, boiled and put in a blanket for 24 hours. Only after being exposed to the sun from morning to early afternoon, on both sides, only then do they release their fragrance. Fascinating right?

Not all vanilla scents are made from real vanilla beans (like ours), some vanilla is synthetically made which makes it much sweeter. The mixing of both vanillas, the gourmand nectar will bring the fragrance an extreme sensuality in contact with the skin. 

Photo by Tamas Pap

CHOCOLATE 

Who here does not like chocolate? There is no doubt that chocolate and easter go hand in hand with each other, it is a chocolate lovers dream festivity. However, chocolate is far from being a treat to reproduce. Chocolate comes in more than one form, after all when you go to the supermarket, you have a huge selection of chocolate bars to pick from, the same goes for fragrances. Chocolate can be simplistic as it is only a framework to be enriched according to whether one wants something milky, bitter, sweet or buttery. To push this milky note and get closer to the smell of chocolate and custards, perfumers can dress up their accord with molecules and other synthetic oils which are as powerful as you can imagine, contributes to increasing the creaminess of chocolate and boosts the aroma. As you can see, making chocolate is less fun than eating it, in the wrong hands it tips right over into ‘ickiness’, but in the right hands it further ups the sensuality and can be used with other notes such as musk and florals.

Photo by Jonas Kakaroto 

FRUITS

Gourmand fragrances are not always sweet like confectionary; gourmand fragrances can be bitter and citrusy; some of the most popular gourmand fruits used in fragrances and perfumes are coconut, strawberry, cherry, peach, apricot, orange and pineapple.

These are all sweet fruits that give off a bright, sparkly and sensational aroma which brings happiness and uplifting thoughts. Fruity gourmand fragrances are mainly perceived as being a feminine fragrance and are often said to be a reminiscent of childhood, however, fresh fruit notes are often worn in masculine fragrances, with the right balance of leather and tobacco. Fruity fragrances are a very contemporary and some fruits such as melons, peach or watermelon fall into the summer gourmand category. Be careful to not confuse the fruity olfactory family with the citrus olfactory family, which are two very different distinct families and can be read all about on the understanding of the fragrance wheel.

LAYERING FRAGRANCES

Did you know you can layer your fragrances together?

Gourmand scents can be worn alone or can be layered together to make your own signature scent. How to layer your fragrances together is important as nobody wants something clashing. There’s no need to go heavy on scent combinations - the easiest way is by starting off light with something fruity. Heavier scents like vanilla or salted caramels should be applied first, so they don’t overpower their lighter counterparts. That way, you can also judge how much of the lighter scent you need to apply - and how frequently!

Written by Beckii Jane