Fragrances with warm notes and gourmand accents are the best way to wrap ourselves in coziness.

Wise men say only fools rush in, but we really can’t help falling in love with perfumes that make us feel surrounded by a soft and fragrant cloud.

As soon as we feel summer is gone, maybe even before temperature actually changes, we feel the need to switch to a warmer wardrobe – be it clothes or fragrances. And, since autumn is probably the most gourmand season, we just have to say hello to pumpkin, chestnut and nuts. Not only are they typical delights during the season, but they’re also used as perfume notes to add a rich and sweet touch, without being too sugary or corny.

As soon as air gets crispier, cold autumn nights can be warmed with love and some good spirit: rum, whiskey and cognac can be ‘tasted’ (with moderation, of course) and added as notes in perfumes to give an interesting twist to the olfactive composition. While rum is sweeter, since it’s a by-product of sugar cane, whiskey note can give a more adult and masculine connotation; cognac is more complex, being a mixture of woody, ambery, sometimes spicy and fruity accents. If you are searching for something similar, but more on the fruity side, Tuscan red, red wine will reveal its beautiful complexity, built around black grapes and red fruits, dry wood notes, white flowers to give transparency, and just a touch of cinnamon, if you listen to it carefully. Needless to say, all liquor notes pair very well with woody ones, because they are already inherent in them.

By the way, we just mentioned cinnamon. Yes, cinnamon, love it or hate it, is a main character in every sweet autumnal recipe. Its smell is so warming, comforting and attractive, sweet and spicy at the same time, it just would be a shame not to use it in perfumes, wouldn’t it? Because it actually works as a booster to the other woody notes, spicing them up and giving them some gourmand warmth.

Since we’re on this subject, milk note has a very comfortable ‘pashmina effect’ even when used by itself: warm milk is probably the sweetest olfactory recollection we all can think about and, proof of this, there are dozens of fragrances utterly dedicated to it. And it must absolutely be told apart from vanilla. First of all, please don’t think of vanilla as the smell in a cupcake laboratory. Real vanilla pods have nothing to do with bakery: that’s the result of vanillin, their synthetic variant mostly used in teenagery, cheap perfumes, because vanilla is a very expensive spice, like saffron. Its best quality comes from Bourbon island, also called Réunion, in the Indian Ocean. This true vanilla is far deeper and darker and not girly at all.

Saffron, as we said, is the most precious spice in the world (so much that it’s dubbed ‘red gold’), but most of all it has a quite interesting odor profile: technically, it’s a flower, but it’s actually classified as a spice because of its soft, leathery, earthy indulgence it adds to any composition, whatever the gender. Saffron goes well with other spices such as the already mentioned cinnamon, and with oriental, woody, ambery and gourmand notes.

It’s now time to specify what ‘ambery notes’ means: in perfumery, when we think about amber we do not have in mind the hard, honey-colored resin often used for jewels. By ‘amber’ we usually mean a cocktail of vanilla, benzoin, labdanum, with an optional touch of tonka bean, styrax and other balsams. The result is a warm, sexy, pleasantly powdery ‘elixir’ that is widely used in oriental fragrances. Once again, a distinction must be made with ambergris, that has nothing to do with our beloved ambery notes, that create the perfect blanket for cold autumn nights.

It wasn’t in our intentions, really, but so be it, we are now about to solve another mystery about a beautiful note. If we asked you to describe vetiver, we would probably receive several different answers. The reason is quite simple: there are at least two main vetiver qualities, because it grows in many countries. The Haitian one is more sparkling, while the Javanese one is more powdery and dark. To get everyone to agree about it, we could describe vetiver as green, earthy, leathery, woody. Conventionally (and successfully), it’s widely used in masculine perfumes, but sometimes it can also be found in feminine ones, to give a touch of earthiness and depth, most of the times. Guaiac wood, also known as Palo santo, can be considered as its neighbour: deep and fragrant, it has some balmy, tobacco and leathery undertones. A remark about leather: this note, that can remind us of either an English library or an alluring leather leather suit, might be created using birch or juniper tar, or other synthetics, and can lead to very different compositions thanks to its versatility and evocative power. Fil rouge of it all, the feeling of a comfy, slightly smoky, enveloping scent.

More on the sweet side, but just as interesting, immortelle (Helichrysum) is a small bright yellow flower with a very particular note: if you can imagine a cup of hot chamomile with abundant honey in it, you have a quite close idea. Immortelle note is warm, aromatic and almost oily, some can detect hay and rose undertones in it; for sure, it’s very relaxing and comforting, therefore perfect during autumn – or when needed.

Another particular ingredient to look for is Star anise: not only is it the prettiest spice, but it has a powdery, floral and joyful spiciness that reminds of licorice wheels and gives a hint of freshness without being too sharp. In fact, it will wake up the child who is asleep in all of us, and that’s the sweetest way to feel hugged and loved.

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