Gourmand

Sugar

Note Profile

Prepared 71 perfumes

Also Known As

muscovado sugar, Powdered Sugar, Rock Sugar, sugars, sugary facets

About

Sugar in perfumery is a reconstruction of an idea rather than of a material. Refined sucrose is genuinely odourless, so the note is assembled from the smells sugar acquires when heated or handled: caramelised edges, candyfloss lightness and a faintly syrupy sweetness. It reads bright and airy rather than heavy.

Scent Profile

Sugar presents a light, syrupy sweetness with caramelised and candied facets and a faint fruity lift. It carries little depth of its own and works as a sweetening gesture rather than as a distinct aroma.

ScentWheel

Breadthfocused

EnvelopeHeart · ~4h lasting

Family Sweet & Gourmand

Read off the wheel, not a label applied to the note.

What this is made of

Sugar names no single substance

No material referent

Sucrose is odourless. The note denotes a sweet impression, usually ethyl maltol or a caramelised accord.

How the layers join

Origin

There is no sugar oil. Sucrose crystals are odourless, so this note has no natural material behind it and is realised entirely by reconstruction - ethyl maltol, furanones and caramel-type molecules standing in for the smell we associate with sweetness. What the note names is the experience of sugar rather than the substance.

Usage in Perfumery

Perfumers use sugar as a gourmand modifier rather than as a subject, lifting fruit and floral accords into confectionery territory. It sits in the heart, blends with vanilla, caramel, red berries and musks, and is easy to overdo - the effect tips quickly from appetising to synthetic.

Similar Notes

Amaretto 37

Syrup 1

Maltol 3

Apricot Kernel

Halva

Ricotta 1

White Chocolate 98

EDP

Eden Perfumes

Acquired

Browse all 71 perfumes featuring Sugar