Your Guide To Everything Gourmand
Gourmand fragrances are officially in fashion. These evocative aromas offer an appealing hit of olfactory comfort food that effectively boosts the wearer’s mood.
Curious to learn more about fragrances that smell good enough to eat? Read on for a full Joonbyrd debrief on everything gourmand - covering where they came from, what they are, and why we love them.
What Are Gourmand Fragrances?
Put simply, a gourmand fragrance is inspired by edible ingredients.The term “gourmand” is derived from the French word for greedy or gluttonous. Gourmand perfumes first rose to prominence in the late-20th century when the use of sweeter, dessert-inspired notes became desirable.
As you would imagine, a typical gourmand perfume containing these delectable aromas most often sways towards the sweet end of the spectrum, featuring sugar-reminiscent notes such as vanilla, chocolate, and caramel. However, these fragrances - like many of our favorite culinary indulgences - are often balanced with a more savory element to provide contrast and depth.
Imagine an olfactory take on a salted caramel cookie, and you’ll be close to evoking a gourmand fragrance.
Gourmand Fragrances Place In Perfumery
You may already be familiar with fragrance families, which distill the inexhaustible variety of aromas into four main categories - woody, floral, amber, and fresh.
But what does gourmand fragrance mean within perfumery? Gourmand perfumes and fragrances are unusual in that they deny distinct categorization.
Despite the common misconception that they are overwhelmingly sweet, gourmands are often considerably complex pairings of sweet, spicy, bitter and woody notes - meaning they can happily be classed within the amber, fruity or woody fragrance families.
Since gourmand scents are tricky to categorize, we’ve prepared a crib sheet for commonly found notes in these deliciously distinct fragrances, to help identify when a fragrance might be classified as foodie:
Sweet, Sugary Notes: Sweet notes are an ever-present element in gourmand fragrances that assuages your sweet-tooth - look out for vanilla, caramel, chocolate, maple syrup or honey.
Savory or Spicy Notes: As with many favorite foods, savory notes will complement the sweet - you’re likely to see elements such as coffee, cinnamon, spices, toasted nuts or popcorn.
Balancing Elements: To add balance and depth, many food-inspired fragrances will include a non-edible note - commonly an amber or musk scent, or various floral notes.
Despite common connotations that more saccharin scents are more suitable for the winter seasons, thanks to gourmand fragrances’ complex compositions, they can be worn all year around, depending on the base notes with which they are balanced.
Why We Love Gourmand Fragrances
The associations we have with gourmand fragrances are overwhelmingly positive. Designed to elicit memories of enjoyable culinary experiences and combining notes that hold comforting, nostalgic qualities, a spritz of a gourmand scent can evoke the same feelings as a spoonful of an indulgent dessert.
But the notes most commonly used within these scents hold more than just happy memories - they can also positively affect your mental state. Mood-altering, culinary ingredients to keep in mind are:
Vanilla: Promotes peace
Coconut: Creates comfort
Coffee: Enhances energy
Caramel: Prioritizes pleasure
Chocolate: Assuages anxiety
Cardamom: Creates clarity
Orange: Powers positivity
The Ultimate Gourmand Scent Shopping List
Do all these mouth-watering scents have you searching for a sweet addition to your self-care routine? We’ve secured the ultimate Joonbyrd foodie-scented shopping list:
MOON SWIM Body Wash and LITTLE LOVE Body Lotion: Start each day with an uplifting caramel latte fragrance imbued with milky vanilla, maple syrup, caramel and roasted coffee bean.
VIOLET HAZE Body Scrub and SUNDAY SOFA Body Butter: Invite calm and clarity into your self-care ritual with notes of vanilla, creamy chocolate and cardamom.
DAYDREAMER Body Serum: Sweep on a daily hit of pleasure with its sweet, musky, caramel scent.
CONFETTI SKY Hand Treatment: Create a moment of calm and comfort with its chocolate and coconut fragrance.
PALM WILD Hand Wash and WONDER•LAND Hand Lotion: Power-up your positivity thanks to spiced brown sugar and orange aromas.
Gourmand scents, notes and fragrances add a spoonful of delectable, delicious energy to your daily ritual. Dip into one today - follow the link to shop, and let our JOYful fragrances take you some place, some time, somewhere good.
