A tremendously addictive fragrance scents the skin. Its secret ? A caressing velvetysoft vanilla. Almond flower and heliotrope combine and enhance this Madagascan pod with their powdery facets. A shift toward woody and musky facets fills the air. Soft and milky sandalwood brings warmth to this fragrance, velvety and sweet with a head-turning toffeescented trail.

PS : this vanilla comes straight from Madagascar, it’s an absolute. Can you smell how wonderful it is ?

What is the toffee accord ? 

An accord is a carefully balanced and harmonized blend of several ingredients. Perfumers have recreated the scent of toffee. It creates the impression of burnt sugar, vanilla and milky notes. We love its nostalgiainducing gourmand notes and sweet aromas.

Where does heliotrope come from ?

Originally from South America, this flower loves the sun. It follows it all day long, hence its name (in Greek, “helios” means sun and “trepein” to turn). Headspace technology is used to capture the scent of heliotrope. Head what ? No need to have a PhD in chemistry to understand, it’s actually quite simple. Heliotrope is a very delicate flower.

It isn’t possible to obtain an essential oil smelling of it using steam distillation. The heliotrope is put under a glass dome. The odor compounds fill the air and are captured by an absorbent stalk, which is then rinsed with a solvent to isolate the “scent”. Next, this mixture of aromas is analyzed by a machine, which indicates the amount of each component. 

The perfumer now has all the information needed to recreate the scent of this blue flower. It can be found in Guerlain’s famous fragrance L’Heure Bleue – a real wonder. Heliotrope gives a floral hint with vanilla-like, sweet, velvety and balsamic notes. Be careful not to confuse it with heliotropin. The two smell very similar! Perfumers use heliotropin to create a heliotrope accord. It is slightly creamier and more almondy than the flower.

Why Madagascan vanilla ?

It is THE finest kind of vanilla in the world. Perfumers and chefs adore it for its sweet, warm, spicy, balsamic and sometimes even animalistic facets. It all begins with the only orchid on the planet that can produce an edible fruit. It is called Vanilla planifolia – a beautiful name. This “black gold” is a source of local pride, with over 7,000 farmers painstakingly working to ensure exceptional quality and to bring vanilla to us, hundreds of miles away. Vanilla plants take three to four years to form a mass of vines, which will later become pods.