Base note · Gourmand

Vanilla

Vanilla planifolia

Vanilla is creamy, balsamic and sweet, with smoky, woody and boozy facets. The cured pod of an orchid, used in gourmands, ambers, florals and woods.

What does vanilla smell like in perfume?

Vanilla smells creamy, warm and sweet, with smoky, woody and boozy depths. Natural vanilla is far richer than vanillin alone, and it is one of the best-loved base notes in perfumery.

What Is Vanilla?

Vanilla comes from the cured pods of Vanilla planifolia, a climbing orchid. It is one of the most labour-intensive ingredients in perfumery.

Vanilla Scent Profile

Here is how strongly each facet of vanilla comes through, from our own smelling-strip notes.

How Perfumers Use Vanilla

Vanilla adds warmth, roundness and lasting depth. It pairs with almost everything: florals, woods, spices, coffee and citrus.

Growing and harvesting vanilla

Vanilla planifolia is a climbing orchid native to Mexico, now grown mostly in Madagascar. Away from Mexico its natural pollinators are missing, so each flower is pollinated by hand on the one morning it opens. The green pods ripen slowly on the vine, then are blanched, sweated in the sun and dried for months. This curing is what develops the scent.

The molecules behind vanilla’s scent

Vanillin is the main aroma molecule. It forms during curing, as glucovanillin in the green pod breaks down. Beside it, p-hydroxybenzaldehyde adds a softer sweetness and guaiacol gives the smoky edge. Natural vanilla also holds many minor compounds, which bring the woody, boozy and dried-fruit facets that vanillin alone lacks.

Natural or synthetic vanilla?

Most vanilla scent in the world is vanillin made in a lab. It smells sweet and simple. Natural vanilla extracts are richer and darker, with smoke, wood and a rum-like depth. Perfumers use vanilla as an absolute, made with solvents, or as a CO2 extract, which is closer to the smell of the cured pod. Read our guide to the best vanilla perfumes.

Vanilla in history and tradition

The Totonac people of Mexico’s Gulf coast grew vanilla, and the Aztecs used it to flavour chocolate drinks. It reached Europe in the sixteenth century, but plants grown elsewhere would not fruit. In 1841 Edmond Albius, a twelve-year-old enslaved boy on Réunion, found a quick way to pollinate the flower by hand. His method is still used today.

How to smell vanilla yourself

Split a vanilla pod and smell the seeds, then the outer skin: the skin is smokier and more leathery. Compare it with a cheap vanilla essence, which is usually vanillin, and notice how flat it seems. On a smelling strip, vanilla extract starts dark and slightly smoky, then turns creamy and lingers long after the lighter notes have gone.

Smell Vanilla in Prosody London Perfumes

For vanilla at its most expressive, try Mocha Muscari. Vanilla wraps coffee, jasmine and patchouli in a warm, creamy base. You will also find vanilla in Bebop Allure, Jacinth Jonquil, Lantern Reed, Moiré Mimosa, Neroli Nuance, Oud Octavo, Paper Flower Fan, Rose Rondeaux and Santal Foy.

What Blends Well With Vanilla?

Questions About Vanilla

Explore all of our natural perfume ingredients.