Archive Caramel
Base note · Sweet
Caramel.
Burnt sugar, buttery and slightly bitter at the edge.
Our read on the material, not a measurement.
What it smells like.
Caramel is cooked sugar: buttery, warm and just slightly burnt, with a bitterness at the edge that keeps it from being flat. It is a gourmand note in the truest sense, and it smells like something you could eat.
It gives a blend real comfort and it holds well on skin. The problem is that it does not leave much room for anything else. Caramel with vanilla and cotton candy is a single sweet idea repeated three times; caramel with vetiver, coffee or sage is far more interesting, because the dryness gives the sweetness a shape.
Caramel in perfume leans on ethyl maltol, the molecule that also built the modern cotton candy note, warmed with vanilla and a suggestion of butter. No sugar is burnt. It arrived with the gourmand category in the 1990s and has been making fragrances smell edible ever since.
In a blend.
The most gourmand note on the bench. Caramel makes a blend read as dessert. Balance it with something dry or it will be one-dimensional.
Sweet. Soft sweetness without overpowering. Shop the sweet scents.
Pairs beautifully with.
Questions about caramel.
What does caramel smell like?
Burnt sugar, buttery and slightly bitter at the edge. Caramel is cooked sugar: buttery, warm and just slightly burnt, with a bitterness at the edge that keeps it from being flat. It is a gourmand note in the truest sense, and it smells like something you could eat.
Is caramel a top, heart or base note?
It is a base note, so it appears last and stays longest. The most gourmand note on the bench. Caramel makes a blend read as dessert. Balance it with something dry or it will be one-dimensional.
What does caramel pair well with?
The studio would start with coffee, vetiver, mandarin and sage. It gives a blend real comfort and it holds well on skin. The problem is that it does not leave much room for anything else. Caramel with vanilla and cotton candy is a single sweet idea repeated three times; caramel with vetiver, coffee or sage is far more interesting, because the dryness gives the sweetness a shape.
What fragrance family is caramel in?
Sweet. Soft sweetness without overpowering.
Can I use caramel in a custom blend?
Yes. It is one of the 42 notes you can choose at the Bench, where you build across the three tiers and we blend it by hand in Adelaide.
Blend with caramel.
Pick it at the bench, choose up to four notes per tier, and we blend it by hand in Adelaide.
Open the bench
