Vanilla Note in Perfume

Smooth, warm and decadently sweet — vanilla is mostly grown in Indonesia, Madagascar, Mexico, the Comoro Islands, Tahiti and China. A process of extraction using volatile solvents produces the concrete, absolute and resinoid.

Three forms of vanilla are used in perfumery:
– Vanilla absolute is obtained after extraction of the pods with a volatile solvent. Its leathery, warm, balsamic, almost smoky smell is less gourmand than the one we have in mind.

– Vanillin and the powerful ethyl-vanillin are synthetic molecules that are much less expensive. All sweet and powdery, these are gourmet vanilla beans, almost milky, with all the roundness we like.

– Vanilla tincture is made by macerating split beans in alcohol for about 1 month. This is a very rare technique.

If rose is the queen of flowers, vanilla is a key ingredient for “oriental perfumes”, loved for its sweetness and sensuality.