Marshmallow isn’t just a smell. It’s a sensory experience: that candied breath of sugar. So with the rise in gourmand fragrances, marshmallow has begun to feature as a ‘fantasy’ note in perfumes, adding an airy sweetness, sometimes with a ‘toasted marshmallow’ edge.
Strictly, marshmallow is also a plant: Althaea officinalis was used to cure sore throats. And it’s sticky, which is how the powdered root came to be used in candy-making. Most marshmallow-makers today use gelatine (for convenience – and because the root’s quite hard to come by), mixing it with sugar and corn syrup to create the familiar, ‘puffy’, sponge-y sweets.
The gourmet food world has just ‘discovered’ marshmallows, with ‘designer’ marshmallows becoming available. And we fully expect it to be used in quite a few more ‘mouthwatering’ fragrances yet…
Smell marshmallow in:
Christina Aguilera Royal Desire
Dolce & Gabbana Pour Femme
Guerlain La Petite Robe Noire
Mariah Carey M