Benzoin in Perfume theme
You can order all perfumes featured in this theme as a pack of samples.
In this theme
Benzoin is a rich gum resin obtained from the bark of a group of trees called styrax that smells sweet and smooth like vanilla. An excellent fixative, including benzoin in a composition helps slow the dispersion of other aroma molecules and materials and as a result it’s used a lot in perfumery as well as in the production of incense and in medicine for its antiseptic properties.
A material with oodles of depth, benzoin has many facets. It’s a core ingredient in the construction of vegetal amber (along with patchouli and labdanum) and benzoin’s recognisably vanilla-like sweetness can sometimes smell a little smokey like whiskey. It can smell rich and ceremonial like incense does or it can be sharply gourmand and balsamic. Adding an affluent aspect to the hearts and bases of the formulae it’s included in it’s a widely celebrated ingredient for a reason: it smells fantastic.
A very good example, a perfume where 1/3 of the composition is benzoin then paired with honey in perfect harmony. The honey brings the overtly syrupy sugar tones whilst the benzoin seems to want to play the spicy notes. Balancing that interplay with the rounded, sharp spice of cardamom is the key to Indochine’s outlook.
There are a lot of very confident bit players in Ombre Indigo - by that we mean a lot of the ingredients like to shout above each other. Petitgrain, plum, tuberose, incense, papyrus, vetiver, leather.... they’re all incredibly vocal materials but the benzoin is key in helping to smooth the middle ground over.
For the purpose of this pack, it’d be perfect to note that the key to Tabac Rouge’s success is the inclusion of benzoin, wouldn’t it? Honestly it’s likely more the interplay of spice and sweet, the blend of cinnamon and ginger with the honeyed tobacco that turns the most heads but the benzoin adds to the deep and textured, powdered sweetness wonderfully.
