What's That Smell? TONKA

In the "What's That Smell?" series,  I'll explain some of the less obvious perfume notes that crop up in many indie perfumes. Keep in mind my descriptions and comparisons are based on my own experiences and your impressions may not be the same. Perfume notes are NOT ingredients. They can be natural essences, artificial isolated compounds that imitate the natural substance, blended accords, or a combination. Therefore, the note you like in one perfume may be unrecognizable in another. As with all sensory, subjective things, your mileage may vary.

Tonka is a tropical plant that yields beans, like cacao or vanilla. Its beans have a sweet, smooth scent reminiscent of vanilla. The characteristic smell comes from a chemical isolate contained in the bean called "coumarin." Coumarin can be described as sweet, powdery, and it's a very versatile perfume note, though it's commonly associated with Oriental fragrances.

Tonka is not 1 for 1 a vanilla note, although it can be used to deepen, complete, or enhance vanilla notes. To me, tonka has a slightly less "foodie" feel than vanilla, although it was used in edible recipes for hundreds of years. I say this because vanilla notes in perfumes are usually sugary to the point where they're inextricable from their gourmand associations. But tonka (in general) has a slightly more neutral tone, more like spice or a nutty smell than the rich, creamy sweetness of vanilla. I would describe it as having the lightness and inoffensiveness of vanilla, with nuances of raw almond and something like nutmeg. This is not an overwhelmingly spicy note, but it has the natural spicy feel of fresh mown hay (also associated with the coumarin scent compound) or dry, split wood.

Tonka can be used to add sweetness and smoothness where vanilla would be too "obvious" or too jarring. It works as a natural partner with deeper wood and spice notes. It can be a great companion to fresh or green notes, which need depth and richness without added sugariness. It adds another layer of depth and interest to a fragrance with multiple gourmand notes, especially ones that already contain vanilla.

Perfumes featuring tonka:

• Alkemia Trick or Treat: This is an example where tonka adds more depth and spiciness without tipping the character of this already-sweet scent into cloying territory. In fact, the tonka works with both the candied fruit and vanilla notes and the earthier patchouli and wood notes to marry them without contributing more to one side or the other. The result is a balanced perfume that's both masculine and feminine, sweet and earthy. 
• Solstice Scents Cameo: This perfume is unapologetically gourmand and sweet. It has fruity-floral, almond, and cake notes, but the tonka does double duty here. It completes the yellow cake note, giving it a realistic earthy toothsome feel (if you've had yellow cake, you'll know it's heartier and richer than white cake), but it also grounds the whole scent so that it doesn't float off into powdery sugary fantasyland, where too many badly-formulated gourmands end up. This scent may be entirely foodie, but the earthy tonka makes it both realistic and complex enough to smell all day long without feeling sick.
• Sixteen92 Grimm: While this scent features chocolate, it couldn't really be classified as a gourmand. This perfume is more of a wet, damp green scent, where the chocolate and tonka are earthy modifiers that create a pleasant dirty scent. Here, vanilla would be too obvious and smell like a cupcake dropped in a forest clearing. Tonka is sweet enough to keep the chocolate company, dark and earthy enough to balance the wet and fresh notes. 

What's That Smell? MYRRH

In the "What's That Smell?" series,  I'll explain some of the less obvious perfume notes that crop up in many indie perfumes. Keep in mind my descriptions and comparisons are based on my own experiences and your impressions may not be the same. Perfume notes are NOT ingredients. They can be natural essences, artificial isolated compounds that imitate the natural substance, blended accords, or a combination. Therefore, the note you like in one perfume may be unrecognizable in another. As with all sensory, subjective things, your mileage may vary.

You were probably first introduced to myrrh as a companion piece to frankincense, maybe in the Christian nativity story. It's a scent component that's been used since ancient times, and for good reason. Myrrh is a tree resin that is still used today in its natural oleoresin (type of essential oil) form, but of course there are also accord blends and synthetic notes that mimic or make up the myrrh scent in many perfumes. 

Myrrh is characterized by its ultra-sweet, powdery resinous smell. It's warm, spicy, and a curious mix of both dry and sticky. There's a deep woodsy background, but the predominant smell is sweet, warm spice. It smells like a mix of caramel, dry woodchips, and kitchen spices. Somehow, even though it has that spiced feel, myrrh doesn't smell foodie. However, its sweetness makes it an excellent pairing with fruity notes, and of course it complements its partner frankincense (a fresher scent) very well. Myrrh is often used to add more nuance to an amber/resin scent, and it brings some fun to more serious wood notes.

Perfumes featuring myrrh:

• NAVA Ember: Here, myrrh is used in a very traditional way. It mingles seamlessly with frankincense, creating a celebration of sweet vs. fresh, warm vs. cool, feminine vs. masculine. It's an all-weather perfume that warms on cold days and cools you down on hot ones. One of the best examples of a true resin perfume. Spicy, sweet, fresh.
• Cocoa Pink Spell Caster: Myrrh is paired with honey and mulberries in this festive, warm, sweet scent. I've found this scent can go a bit cloying if you're not careful- here the myrrh isn't tempered by anything fresh, so the whole scent is very sweet and heavy together.
• BPAL Darkness: Another sweet myrrh scent, this is more sinuous and sexual. The narcissus and opium's natural spiciness are enhanced by myrrh's deep, broad spicy aura.

What's That Smell? BERGAMOT

In the "What's That Smell?" series,  I'll explain some of the less obvious perfume notes that crop up in many indie perfumes. Keep in mind my descriptions and comparisons are based on my own experiences and your impressions may not be the same. Perfume notes are NOT ingredients. They can be natural essences, artificial isolated compounds that imitate the natural substance, blended accords, or a combination. Therefore, the note you like in one perfume may be unrecognizable in another. As with all sensory, subjective things, your mileage may vary.

Bergamot is a famous perfume component, one of the trustiest top notes around. It's super versatile, pleasant, and well-liked. It's a citrus fruit whose scent lies somewhere between sweet and bitter, with a scent profile that's not as sour as lemon and not as sweet or heavy as orange. In terms of balance, it's probably like a hybrid of the sourness of lime and the sweetness of grapefruit, but it has its own distinctive aroma that isn't exactly either of those, especially as it contains a zesty spicy note that smells more herbaceous than fruity.

Bergamot is used to tame notes that smell strange upon first application, and it dissipates more quickly, revealing heavier notes which have now had time to mature on the skin and become something more pleasant to smell. Bergamot is bright, spicy, sunny note. Imagine the green-spiciness of basil, crossed with the puckering brightness of lime, crossed with a delectable orange, and you have bergamot. If you've ever sniffed or drank Earl Grey tea, bergamot is the addition that makes it stand apart from plain black teas.

Bergamot is all-purpose. It can be used very lightly so as not to overpower delicate florals, but it's hearty enough to stand up to viscous scents like vanilla, or assertive dominant scents like woodsy notes. In small quantities, you'd never notice its presence (but you'd miss it if it were gone!) but in large quantities, it can be lovely and complex. Out of all the citrus fruits, it probably has the most complex and most versatile scent.

Perfumes featuring bergamot:

• NAVA Frangipani Nokturne: Frangipani, plumeria, and lilac are all somewhat heavy, sweet florals that can veer into sickly-sweet territory if not reined in. If you've smelled a tourist shop in Hawai'i, you know what these notes smell like. Bergamot and a light Egyptian musk temper the blend and make it more smooth and palatable. The bergamot isn't apparent as an assertive citrus note, it just lends a fresh green feel that makes this more of a natural jungle scent than a gift shop one.
• NAVA St. Germaine: Bergamot is used literally here, as a modifier to the black tea, to yield the same effect as a real cup of Earl Grey. The smoky tea and the sweet cream are tempered by the bright and spicy bergamot, giving an overall masculine or unisex feel. Although Earl Grey is an expected use of bergamot, it's clear why this is such a popular combination.
• Solstice Scents Edge of the Night (or the Night series in general): In the Night series, Solstice Scents has crafted a traditional Oriental scent with a musk,, resinous, spiced vanilla base and riffed on it. Bergamot is only a small ingredient in the "Night" base, which has a perfectly-melded, indescribably complex scent. Bergamot shows its versatility in these thicker, sweeter fragrances because it "lifts" the notes out of potential heaviness and gives them an ethereal feel they wouldn't have otherwise.

What's That Smell? OSMANTHUS

In the "What's That Smell?" series,  I'll explain some of the less obvious perfume notes that crop up in many indie perfumes. Keep in mind my descriptions and comparisons are based on my own experiences and your impressions may not be the same. Perfume notes are NOT ingredients. They can be natural essences, artificial isolated compounds that imitate the natural substance, blended accords, or a combination. Therefore, the note you like in one perfume may be unrecognizable in another. As with all sensory, subjective things, your mileage may vary.

Like heliotrope, osmanthus is a flower that doesn't have a traditional floral smell. In fact, osmanthus (sometimes referred to as tea olive) has a distinctive fruity aroma. It smells a lot like peach and apricot. Often, osmanthus is used to blend fruity and floral notes together in a sweet, natural way. Because it straddles the fruity/floral line, it can be used as a mixer to harmonize disparate notes, but it's characteristic and lush on its own when it takes on a starring role.

The scent profile of osmanthus has some very distinctive components, that when blended together, yield a really pleasant and easy-to-like aroma. It contains some of the white floral nuances of jasmine (accounting for its lushness), some creamy apricotty notes that give it a fruity feel, and a touch of a powdery violet-like scent which makes for an inoffensive floral twist. Imagine sliced apricots and peaches, swaddled in light whipped cream and a dusting of powdered sugar, and you have the essence of osmanthus.

Perfumes featuring osmanthus:

• Cocoa Pink Paper Butterfly: This spring-y fragrance is entirely dedicated to showcasing the distinctive osmanthus scent. Its light, white amber notes underscore the powdery nuances, and the musk and cream complement the silky sweetness. This is a truly enchanting, innocent scent that gives you a great idea of what perfumers love about the osmanthus flower. Please note this is a seasonal fragrance, and is only available in Spring/Summer.
• Solstice Scents Attic: Here, osmanthus attar is used very sparingly to give a hint of sweetness and coziness to a primarily-wood blend. The main components of this scent are cedar and sandalwood, so it's a powerful, hearty scent, but the vanilla and osmanthus add a touch of natural sweetness that pulls it back from being a true lumberjack scent. Unisex.
• Cocoa Pink Faded Memories: In this scent, osmanthus is heady and syrupy, like candied apricot. It mingles with the deep honeyed resin notes of copal and amber and dances with the sweet lush vanilla. It's not tamed or restrained, in fact it's pushed over the top into sweet and vibrant. This can be overpowering in large doses, but applied sparingly it has a wonderfully juicy and complex sweetness.

What's That Smell? HELIOTROPE

In the "What's That Smell?" series,  I'll explain some of the less obvious perfume notes that crop up in many indie perfumes. Keep in mind my descriptions and comparisons are based on my own experiences and your impressions may not be the same. Perfume notes are NOT ingredients. They can be natural essences, artificial isolated compounds that imitate the natural substance, blended accords, or a combination. Therefore, the note you like in one perfume may be unrecognizable in another. As with all sensory, subjective things, your mileage may vary.

Heliotrope is an odd duck, because while it's a flower, the scent is more like food. To be exact, heliotrope smells like fluffy, powdery almond mixed with syrupy cherries. There's almost a vanilla sweetness there at times. Imagine a flower that smells like cherry pie topped with almonds and marzipan. Hungry yet? Not all heliotrope notes smell like all of these things. Cherries and almonds are a classic scent combo because they share some scent characteristics (a certain sharp "high" fruity note is common to both) so in real life, a heliotrope bush may smell lighter, more like vanilla, more almondy, etc, depending. Heliotrope as a note has a very distinctive smell that does well in sweet, strong floral blends. It's can be adapted to suit aquatic or fresh/green formulations in small quantities.

Perfumes featuring heliotrope:

NAVA Ariadne: Definitely supposed to be a "soliflore" type of perfume highlighting the brazen and unusual heliotrope qualities. This smells like baking with almond extract and canned red cherries. Very sweet, a bit tart and red, and syrupy smooth.

What's That Smell? LINDEN BLOSSOM

In the "What's That Smell?" series,  I'll explain some of the less obvious perfume notes that crop up in many indie perfumes. Keep in mind my descriptions and comparisons are based on my own experiences and your impressions may not be the same. Perfume notes are NOT ingredients. They can be natural essences, artificial isolated compounds that imitate the natural substance, blended accords, or a combination. Therefore, the note you like in one perfume may be unrecognizable in another. As with all sensory, subjective things, your mileage may vary.

Linden blossom is one of the floral notes you won't find by visiting your local flower shop. Linden is also called "lime blossom." It's a beautifully bright, sunny, sweet, and sharp scent. It's reminiscent of honey, honeysuckle, and grass. As a perfume note, I think it needs to be balanced by deeper or smoother notes, as its honeyed vibes can tip dangerously into cloying or powdery when not used correctly. Used right, it smells like being outdoors in a park on a sunny spring day. It smells juicy, sharp, bright, and very sweet. Although it has a powerful sweetness, the greenish sap nuances make this note versatile, more so than honeysuckle in my opinion, because it can be used as a brightener in masculine blends too.

Perfumes featuring linden blossom: 

• Possets Linden Blossom Tea: Linden is the main note in this perfume, and it's at its most bright and honeyed. This doesn't actually smell like a cup of tea- it smells a bit grassy, green, and syrupy, like the pollen from a flowering tree. This blend really underscores the green vibrancy of linden, which makes the whole scent a bit more unisex. A woman or man could wear this, and it wouldn't be out of place.
• Deconstructing Eden Beloved: This is a more feminine scent, fruity, fluffy, and sweet. The apple and cucumber have a raw, vegetal juiciness that is only made more complex and interesting from the sweet green linden. I love how the linden functions as a fluffy sweet AND a bright green modifier here, because there are no contradictions or jarring combinations here, just seamless fruity-floral harmony.
• Deconstructing Eden Jealousy: Another DE scent, this one is far more masculine and powerful than Beloved. SO incredibly green, this fragrance is wild, jungly, fresh, and herbaceous. There's basil and figs, which have a raw green quality, and the touch of linden sweetens the blend without creating an overpowering floral impression. 

What's That Smell? BENZOIN

In the "What's That Smell?" series,  I'll explain some of the less obvious perfume notes that crop up in many indie perfumes. Keep in mind my descriptions and comparisons are based on my own experiences and your impressions may not be the same. Perfume notes are NOT ingredients. They can be natural essences, artificial isolated compounds that imitate the natural substance, blended accords, or a combination. Therefore, the note you like in one perfume may be unrecognizable in another. As with all sensory, subjective things, your mileage may vary.

Benzoin is another trusty tree resin (where would perfumery be if tree resins weren't a thing, man?) which has an incredible effect on blends. In its natural form, it's a very thick, viscous resin (it's not pourable at room temp) and it has a light sweetness but is a powerful fixative/base note for any formulation. It's reminiscent of vanilla, but without that characteristic rich, vanilla...thing. To me, it adds a roundness, a sweetness, without actually adding to any sugary or food aspects of a scents. I love benzoin in combination with sweeter scents, because it supervises and herds those flightier notes, complements them, but doesn't add to the mix or make it cloying. 

To me, it is the gentlest and most easy-to-like of all the popular perfume resin notes. It has no characteristic OOMPH or power where you smell it and immediately go, "Yup that's benzoin for ya!" Instead, it has a silky, soft, wraparound quality where it transforms in any scent to add a hint of smoothness that binds all the notes together in an unobtrusive way. If you like lighter amber notes, you will probably also love benzoin. If you like gourmands, but find they get too sticky, look for something with benzoin notes to lend sweetness without being overpowering. If I had to distill it into a few words: it's vanilla without the rich foodieness, and it's a less-sweet version of sugar.

Perfumes featuring benzoin:

• Cocoa Pink Vintage Halloween: In this blend, the benzoin serves to add sweetness and softness to the bright, herbaceous green and ozone/air notes. Benzoin is doing an excellent job of balancing the richness of the vanilla notes so that this doesn't become a BAM vanilla scent.
• NAVA Bastet Amber: This is a classic "skin scent," which gives you an aura of something without explicitly smelling like perfume. The amber and benzoin are both at their lightest, sweetest, and most lingering. You basically can't smell this if you sniff your wrist, but you will find it in the air around you for hours after you apply it.
• Sixteen92 Paper Moon: Peachy vanilla floral could easily turn little-girlish and body-spray like. However, in this blend, benzoin adds a resinous anchor note that plays nice with the lighthearted top notes without joining them. It basically supervises them to keep them from being cloying.