The Fragrance and Vanilla

What does vanilla bring to a perfume?

It is both mysterious and delicate. Gourmet as you wish, it has the gift to plunge you at the other end of the world with a simple breath and to evoke in an instant an exotic universe... You will have recognized it: it is vanilla. One of the ingredients that go into the composition of oriental perfumes.

Vanilla in perfumery

Vanilla is a unique ingredient in perfumery. Its pod is the fruit of an orchid flower, blooming in tropical rainforests. Delicious and bewitching, it has the gift of revealing its softness and voluptuousness on the skin.

Discovered by the Spanish in the 16th century, vanilla was brought to Europe in the 17th century and first used for its medicinal properties. It was not until the 19th century that perfumers began to be interested in its sweet and addictive scent.

Traditionally used to compose perfumes for women, it has been democratized and now also faces mixed or male perfumes.

From the vanilla pod to the perfume extract

While vanilla is a highly prized raw material for perfumers, it is also a precious ingredient, reserved for fine perfumery, which requires many steps to go from the vanilla flower to the fragrance, as it is known in a fragrance.

The vanilla plant needs a warm and humid tropical climate to grow. This climbing plant must not receive direct sunlight and cannot thrive in high heat. Vanilla must first be pollinated. In Mexico, this process is done naturally by bees. On the other hand, in Madagascar or on the island of Reunion, this delicate task is done by men. It is then necessary to wait several months after the fertilization to see appearing the invaluable pods of vanilla...

At first odorless, it is soaked in water heated to 65 ° C for a few minutes. This is called the scalding stage. The vanilla is then placed in a natural wool blanket for 20 to 30 hours, in order to lose its water while keeping its heat. It is at this moment of the steaming that its brown color appears. Three months are then necessary for its drying, before the dried vanilla pods finish their maturation in wooden trunks. To recover the vanilla flavor, the extraction is finally done by volatile solvents.

Two types of vanilla are used in perfumery, vanillin and vanilla

Vanillin can be natural or synthetic. It is the odorant principle of vanilla. It is the most common idea of vanilla: tasty, sweet.

Pure vanilla extract, on the other hand, is very different and brings a more animal, leathery, woody and spicy dimension.

The facets of vanilla

Associated with the sweetness of childhood, the scent of vanilla will probably act on your subconscious like a real Proust's madeleine. In Western countries, vanilla reminds us of childhood, because the cookies, pastries and sweets we eat as children are traditionally flavored with vanillin.

Likewise, baby milks used to moisturize the skin are marked by this scent. That's why vanilla notes immediately evoke a reassuring feeling of comfort. Let yourself be filled with its reassuring sweetness and transported to your most beautiful memories!

The other facet of vanilla, vanilla absolute, brings tenacity, sensuality and mystery to the fragrance. Because of its richness of scent, vanilla is easily combined with other fragrances, regardless of their scent family.

When this ingredient is mixed with coffee, chocolate, caramel, or almond, its gourmand facets contrast and intensify.

With its powdery effects and voluptuous scent, vanilla is sometimes used in musky perfumes.

Which vanilla do we use at Goutal?

Our perfumes contain vanillin, for that sweet, comforting and addictive quality, but they also contain an over-absolute vanilla. Indeed, our perfumes are characterized by the choice of exceptional raw materials, and vanilla super-absolute is one of them. This extremely noble ingredient, even more precious than the absolute, is a work on the quintessence of vanilla: it is a manufacturing secret. The natural vanilla we use at Goutal is a Bourbon vanilla, from the island of Madagascar.

With their unique know-how, we have created a subtle harmony between vanillin and vanilla super-absolute, which form an ideal, balanced and bewitching duo, especially in Vanille Exquise. This eau de toilette will transport you to Cleopatra's baths, through the creamy scents of almond and woody vanilla. A greedy and sensual perfume for intoxicating moments.

 

 

Frequently used in the base notes of compositions, vanilla brings depth, wake and hold to the perfume. In the eau de parfum Nuit et Confidences, thought as a vanilla to be worn on the skin, we have enriched it with tonka bean. The vanilla is hypnotic and brings an addictive dimension to the perfume, whose musk amplifies the charnel sillage.

Vanilla is also present in our Songes fragrance, where it enhances the exoticism of the frangipani with a spicy trail, and in Petite Chérie, where it underlines the delicate and fruity character.

Sensual or leathery, sweet or more intense, the vanilla Eau de parfum and Eau de toilette are for all types of personalities, in pursuit of sweetness and sophistication.