With their sweet and vanilla-y softness, quite a few gourmand fragrances list ‘sugar’ as a note. It’s a ‘fantasy’ note, of course: as perfumer Christine Nagel explains, ‘Sugar doesn’t exist in perfumery – but sugary facets can be found in synthetic notes called maltol and ethyl maltol’; that sweet and caramel tone is very much used in perfumer, these days. When you’re smelling a gourmand scent, then, see if you can make out either a ‘burned sugar’ caramel quality, or a candyfloss, spun-sugar airiness.
Smell sugar in:
By Kilian Love by Kilian
Fresh Brown Sugar
Giorgio Armani Acqua di Gioia
Gucci Flora by Gucci Gorgeous Gardenia
L’Artisan Parfumer Poivre Piquant
L’Occitane en Provence Délice des Fleurs
Max Mara Max Mara
Vera Wang Princess Night