Are vegetables the new muse of your perfumes?

Onion, fennel, leek... No, we are not going to talk about cooking today, but about the newcomers of the perfumery world. Responding to the quest for creativity on the part of perfumers and the desire for naturalness on the part of customers, vegetables are the olfactory trend of the moment. If you are wondering how cauliflower can be seductive, or if you are hesitating to try the pinkish notes of artichoke... this article is for you! 

A trend that is not is not new

Unheard of vegetables? Not really. While the trend towards naturalness, authenticity and originality is currently stirring the perfume world, it's not the first time these natural raw materials have found their way into your bottles. You might be surprised to discover that many fragrances contain vegetables in their composition: Bastille, for example, Pleine Lune contains celery! Don't be fooled by appearances: thanks to the essential oil extracted from its seeds, celery, with its warm, spicy and powerful notes, is well and truly at home in perfumery. In the 2000s, this vegetable we're more accustomed to seeing on our plates even became a coveted natural raw material for woody fragrances. 

Other parts of fruits and vegetables are also used in perfumery. Don't be surprised to find tomato leaves or carrot seeds in your bottles ! Tomato leaves, for example, offer a green, herbaceous and fresh facet to fragrances. Their use dates back to the 1980s with Sisley's very first fragrance"Eau de Campagne". Accompanied by jasmine and lily of the valley, the tomato leaf brings power, freshness and a semblance of Mediterranean air to this fragrance. Carrot is used more for its woody, fresh and green notes, even powdery and spicy. Its powdery scent is quite similar to that of iris, making carrot seeds the ideal economic alternative to the "blue gold of perfumery" (iris is extremely expensive: 50 times more than carrot seeds, that's saying something!).

Fennel, a member of the Umbelliferae family like carrots, brings a delicious aniseed flavor to perfumes - usually "masculine". It was first used inAzzaro's"Azzaro pour Homme" fragrance in 1978, then in more original, modern perfumes such as"Patchouli Patch" by L'Artisan Parfumeur. More recently, fennel has also found its way into our latest eau de parfum, Rayon Vert with its green, aniseed and spicy facets. 

Still with their boots in the garden, perfumers are also trying their hand at other, more surprising vegetables. One can notably mention the pea whose earthy, vegetal and fresh smell is replicated thanks to the essence of galbanum.

This earthy side is also found with beetroot. Unlike peas, the notes of beetroot are logically sweeter. A niche brand has made it the star of one of its perfumes by combining it perfectly with the smell of incense and resin! 

Other vegetables, such as cucumbers, are also used in the composition of certain perfumes. As well as being famous in cosmetics for its moisturising and regenerating properties (we can see you with your cucumber slices on your eyes!), the cucumber is also a big hit in summer perfumes. Fresh and green, this natural raw material brings an invigorating touch to perfumes.

The return of natural raw materials

If today vegetables and natural raw materials in general are making a strong comeback in food and perfumery, it is simply because they are an obvious response to consumer expectations. For some years now, consumers have expressed a clear preference for naturalness, sustainability, short circuits, etc. By the way, if you want to understand everything about natural perfumes, this is the place to go!

After the powerful scents of the 80s, followed by the reign of gourmand, floral and sweet fragrances, perfumery is taking a new turn. The trend is towards fragrances that are more natural, green (in every sense of the word, since it's also an olfactory family) and sustainable. This trend is being reinforced by the arrival of perfume houses such as Bastille, which offer fragrances made with 95% natural ingredients. 

This "green" movement is pushing brands to commit to the entire value chain: from product concept to sourcing. What customers are looking for today is not just fragrances with natural ingredients but committed, environmentally friendly, transparent brands that offer original and qualitative fragrances. 

This movement is booming and is not entirely due to chance. Marked by the many ecological and environmental issues of the moment relayed on social networks, consumers want only one thing: to buy less and especially better.

Finally, the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 is also responsible for the growth of this trend. It has increased our hunger for transparency and reassurance, and it has directed us towards safer products. We have become accustomed to studying the labels on our beauty products, including perfumes, much more closely - in fact, if you are curious, here is a little guide to deciphering them!

All these reasons lead us to believe that vegetables have a bright future in perfumery. Indeed, the concepts of naturalness and sustainability, very much in vogue today, can be expressed through the use of these new raw materials in perfumes.

The newcomers in the vegetable garden

This future is gradually taking shape. In keeping with this "green" trend and to meet consumers' needs for freshness and authenticity, new extraction technologies have been developed to capture the flavour of vegetables and thus broaden the scope for creativity.

Symrise, a supplier of fragrances, flavours and raw materials, set itself the challenge of creating ultra-concentrated vegetable alcoholates. The company has developed a rather innovative vegetable upcycling technology: the SymTrap™. 

A little background to understand the process Imagine yourself in your kitchen cooking steamed vegetables for your evening meal. A few minutes later, steam escapes from your pan and smells are released.

The company has adopted this type of cooking to some extent. It captures the most concentrated odour molecules in the first few minutes of cooking, and after removing the water and adding alcohol, the result is powerful essences straight out of nature.

Thus, it has given birth to five new vegetable spirits: artichoke, cauliflower, leek, asparagus and onion (yes, you read that right).

The artichoke has a tender green appearance with a fleshy, meaty base. A thistle flower originally appreciated by kings, and particularly by Louis XIV for its sweet taste obtained thanks to the cynarin it contains, it also conquers the hearts of perfumers with its creamy facets and green notes. Interestingly, the artichoke brings a pulpy touch and richness to a composition.

Cauliflower is used in perfumery for its animalic, musky and powerful facets, which are popular with 100% vegan brands. It is generally found in perfumes for its pungent mustard seed facet and its acidic nuances which can remind us of the smell of wasabi.  

Anecdote: cauliflower also reveals roasted tones that can remind us of roasted popcorn. 

Leek is an intriguing ingredient because it presents itself as a vegan alternative to ambergris - a musk produced by sperm whales. In a perfume, leek reveals moist notes as well asiodine and mushroom nuances. It can also be a perfect match for exotic fruits and add a surprising touch to certain accords - especially chypre or fern - thanks to its power and depth.

Asparagus promises the smell of a green and floral spring. Its olfactory profile is also very interesting. It is the multi-tasking of the vegetable garden.

Its earthy, green and salty notes, even powdery (close to the smell of patchouli), generally give a new aspect to floral or woody fragrances. Its hazelnut and cereal facets add a touch of madness to certain compositions.

Unsuspected in the composition of a perfume, the onion turns out to be the most caliente of the bunch.

It brings a sensual, aphrodisiac and powerful aspect to a composition thanks to its sulphurous, pungent and sparkling tones as well as its sweet and acidic facets. Finally, combined with exotic fruits, the onion takes its role as an acidity enhancer very seriously.

These new natural raw materials therefore make it possible to add"texture" to a composition or toadd new facets to more traditional ingredients.

A new playground for perfumers

We interviewed Caroline Dumur, the master perfumer behind our perfume Demain Promis and Anne-Laure Pouquet, evaluator at IFF, to tell us how they use vegetables in perfumery. 

Have you ever worked with vegetable notes in the composition of one of your fragrances? If so, what was the most surprising vegetable you used?

Caroline Dumur - I haven't yet signed a "vegetable" fragrance as such, but I love working with these ingredients and their green and floral facets - as in the forthcoming fragrance Bastille, which has a fennel facet. At IFF, we've also created Lady Million Lucky, where beet plays a role in the composition of the fragrance, even though it's not necessarily highlighted by the brand. It's one of the vegetables most often found in perfumery, with beautiful earthy notes that are often associated with raspberry.

Anne-Laure Pouquet - We've been working on the subject for a long time, but the trend clearly accelerated after Covid, which made us more curious about these subjects. However, at the start of our projects, we still rarely include vegetables in the olfactory pyramids of our creations... It's difficult to "claim", i.e. to make a claim on consumers - whereas we have no trouble talking about fruit, for example.

Caroline Dumur - That's the problem: even if a vegetable is just as noble as an apricot, for example, it risks being associated in the imagination with something rather edible. This is especially true of the hints of garlic or alliaceous plants (leek, garlic, onion, chives, etc.), which are important in certain formulas, but are not easy to claim.

Do you use them as your main raw materials, or rather to add texture and nuance to a composition?

Caroline Dumur - I often use them to facet floral fragrances, because there is a real kinship between flowers and vegetables. For example, I like to reinforce the fruity effect of the rose by using the dimethyl sulphide note, which exists naturally in many fruits and brings a vegetable aspect.

That said, vegetables can also bring an animal side... as for example when working with kale. When I studied this ingredient, I found a common raw material with hyacinth: there is therefore a real link between vegetables and floral notes! This is also the case with mushrooms, which have something in common with lavender.

Anne-Laure Pouquet - We also think of rose, which can evoke artichoke, or even pepper, which brings roundness to the pink notes. Vegetables allow us to be innovative in the reinterpretation of the great floral themes - because the perfumer's job is often to "reinvent the wheel"! We are currently working on a potato & patchouli note, two ingredients that go together perfectly.

Are these vegetable notes natural or synthetic? 

Caroline Dumur - For many, it's a question of chords, i.e. mixtures of several notes, both natural and synthetic, that create a coherent whole. This is the case with peppers, for example, which I recreate by using a metallic pink note, a terpene pepperiness, and also a watery facet - peppers are a vegetable filled with water, you can feel it! 

For petit pois, a classic accord in perfumery, I use 4 or 5 green and pyrazine notes, and mint. Natural vegetable notes are limited to seeds, which can be extracted naturally: for example, fennel, carrot or celery (used in Pleine Lune at Bastille).

Anne-Laure Pouquet - For my part, I love celeriac: it brings to mind both jasmine and coconut notes. It's an incredible ingredient.

What do vegetables mean to you in a fragrance? 

Caroline Dumur and Anne-Laure Pouquet - Essentially nature, and vegetality! These notes are generally played at the top or in the heart of the perfumes, with the floral notes. For some creations, it's also a question of surprising, of creating a clash thanks to a different and little felt material, which we use to shock a little.

Do you think that these new scores will be "assumed" by brands and become selling points for consumers?

Anne-Laure Pouquet - Apart from some brands that dare to do so, few claim vegetable notes. Moreover, it also depends on the ingredients: cucumber, tomato leaf or rhubarb are easier notes to claim. Cauliflower is inevitably more complicated...

Caroline Dumur - I believe it! Green notes evoke rebirth, and traditionally come back after wars and crises. For example, they were very fashionable in the 1930s. With the pandemic we've just been through, customers want to go back to something more plant-based, it opens the way. And they are very fashionable in Asia...

How did you use these notes in your latest creation Bastille, soon to be unveiled? 

Caroline Dumur - In this bright green composition, I used the aniseed and addictive side of fennel to soften the whole. I married it with a fruity start reminiscent of pear and pineapple, to facet the note. I also used basil to round out the sage. The whole is magnificent!

A big thank you to Caroline Dumur and Anne-Laure Pouquet for this interview with a very vegetable touch!

The last word: even if the current craze for natural, organic and sustainable products is real and can only play in favour of this innovation, we don't know if vegetables will become the main raw materials of tomorrow or if this new palette will be used to add texture and nuance, without necessarily being explicitly mentioned in the composition. Vegetables can be a bit scary, we can understand.

At Bastille, we believe that these new natural raw materials represent a great opportunity for perfumers to let their imagination and creativity run wild. Ultimately, they're a new playground, and we find it exciting to be able to incorporate these surprising ingredients into our fragrances! If you're ready to take the plunge, start with Pleine Lune, our evening floral with a celery facet:

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Sources: anthopom.com, thenewmeninthecity.com

Photos: Unknown, Enrico Sottocorna on Unsplash, Eva Elijas on Pexels, Unknown