The plant behind the best vanilla fragrance

• The vanilla spice is derived from the vanilla plant – a beautiful, pale-flowered climbing orchid native to Mesoamerica.
• Ironically, the orchid bloom has no scent. Instead, the source of the plant’s intoxicating fragrance is the well-known vanilla pod (sometimes called the vanilla bean), which is actually the plant’s fruit.
• After saffron, vanilla is the second most expensive spice in the world.
• Although there are over a hundred varieties of the plant, the only two types commonly used commercially are Vanilla planifolia (vanilla Bourbon) and Vanilla tahitensis (Tahitian vanilla).

A brief history of vanilla

Native Americans

The Totonacs, native to today’s Mexico, might have been the first nation to cultivate vanilla. To them, it was a sacred plant used to adorn temples, worn in protective amulets, and even used in medicine. The Aztecs eventually conquered the Totonacs and started to use vanilla to add aroma and sweetness to food and drink, namely their traditional cocoa beverages.

After the conquest of America

In Spanish, vanilla means “little pod”. The name was coined by Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century when they arrived in Mexico and saw the vanilla pod for the first time. Eventually, they brought it with them back to Europe, and it gradually gained popularity from there.

Vanilla today

The biggest producer of vanilla today is Madagascar, while the finest quality vanilla is said to come from the Réunion island (formerly Île Bourbon – hence Bourbon vanilla). Vanilla is also cultivated in Tahiti, Indonesia, Comoro Islands, and more.

How vanilla is obtained to create the best vanilla perfume

• Cultivating vanilla is a painstakingly laborious process. Because the orchid has little natural pollinators, it needs to be pollinated by hand, one by one. This is what makes vanilla so rare and pricy.
• Fresh vanilla pods are actually green and plump. To develop their taste and aroma, vanilla pods go through boiling, “sweating” under blankets, and then multiple rounds of drying in the sun. In this process they become black and shrivelled, just like how most of us know them to look.
• The vanilla aroma comes from vanillin, a compound which forms during the processing of vanilla pods.

Synthetic vanillin in vanilla-scented perfume

Because vanilla cultivation is so costly, even some of the best vanilla cologne and perfumes today contain synthetic vanillin, which is identical to the natural vanillin molecule. Sometimes, another derivative of vanillin is used – ethylvanillin – which makes for an intensely sweet vanilla perfume with a gourmand quality to it.

Vanilla fragrance: Perfume with the best vanilla scents

In perfumery, the vanilla scent is rarely used on its own, rather it serves for layering and blending other perfume notes together. Vanillin’s unique molecular properties mean it serves as a fixative that prolongs the scent of any perfume on the skin.

Though you’ll most often find vanilla perfume for women, with the right composition, a vanilla-smelling perfume for men can work great, too.

Perfume with vanilla: Notes that work best in vanilla-based perfumes

• Woody vanilla body spray or perfume is a harmonious blend of warm, creamy vanilla notes with the deep, earthy undertones of wood.
• Rose and vanilla perfume: Rose vanilla perfume for ladies combines the romantic, floral essence of rose with the warm, comforting sweetness of vanilla, creating a luxurious, feminine scent.
• Coconut vanilla perfume: Coconut and vanilla perfume merges the tropical, creamy richness of coconut with the sweet allure of vanilla.
• Musk vanilla body mist and perfume: Deep, sensual musk and sweet vanilla make for mysterious and inviting fragrance.
• Amber vanilla perfume: Rich and resinous amber and sweet vanilla are indeed a deep, luxurious pairing.

So, have you found the best vanilla perfume? Cheap vanilla perfumes as well as luxurious vanilla fragrances are awaiting you on notino.co.uk.