vanilla · Olfacta

The most-used note in modern perfumery. Done badly, it's a candle. Done well, it's the warm thread that holds everything else together. Real Madagascar vanilla reads dry and slightly leathery; synthetic vanillin is sweeter, simpler. The good stuff has a faint hint of smoke.

⊛ the kinds · 2

the same material, from another place, another variety, or another way of taking its scent.

⊛ called vanilla, but not the same thing

black vanilla huskthe husk
papua new guinea vanillanot certain it is the same
vanilla caviarthe seeds
vanilla cremea cream made with it
vanillina lab molecule
whipped vanillaa cream made with it

⊛ how it wears

usually warm
less fresh than airy
turns deeper alongside woods and amber
leans full-bodied

⊛ where it tends to sit

mostly in the base, sometimes in the heart, rarely on top.

⊛ same note, six voices

⊛ ways to wear it

⊛ some scents that wear it

gourmands · amber & spice · florals · woods & leather · fresh & green · chypre

gourmands

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amber & spice

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florals

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woods & leather

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chypre

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⊛ often found with

bergamot · sandalwood · musk · jasmine · amber · patchouli · rose · cedar

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the illustrations are for illustration only. they are not botanical records, and they do not describe what is inside any bottle.