Milky notes
Milky notes in perfumery.
In the world of perfumery, indulgence reigns supreme, bringing an addictive touch that seduces and intoxicates. Sometimes refined, sometimes daringly "ultra-caloric" for the nose, it comes in all forms: from realistic notes reminiscent of the soft texture of butter or the sweet warmth of vanilla, to more suggestive interpretations that evoke a barely hinted creaminess. But what exactly do we mean by "milky" notes? What are these ingredients and olfactory magic tricks that give creations a soft, creamy, enveloping, and almost edible effect?
Molecules with creamy facets
🥥 Fruity Milky (Coconut, Peach, Fig)
Lactones are essential for delivering this fruity smoothness, typical of shades of sunny coconut, velvety peach, or creamy green fig. Aldehydes C18 (gamma nonalactone) and C14 (gamma undecalactone), along with numerous other lactones (delta or gamma), recreate a juicy, milky, and subtly exotic texture reminiscent of tropical fruits.
🥛 Dairy Products (Butter, Cream, Milk)
Imagine buttered toast or a small pot of cream… In addition to the CO₂ butter extract, molecules such as acetoin (acetone methyl carbinol) and diacetyl (a ketone with a creamy profile), as well as butyl butyryl lactate, ethyl caproate, and butyric acid, are used. In small doses, they provide a soft and creamy finish, recreating the velvety sensation of milk or the creamy texture of cream. Milk lactone is also particularly useful for its ability to develop a soft, rounded note, ideal for evoking fresh milk or cream.
🧀 Note that in more pronounced dosages, butyric acid, diacetyl, methyl butyrate or isovaleric acid take us into the fermented and intense world of cheese... a bold olfactory territory which until now, seems less promising in compositions which rather favor the comforting sweetness of vanilla milk and whipped cream.
🍰 Pastries and creamy cakes - where two worlds meet!
To intensify this indulgence, vanilla absolute, vanillin, and ethyl vanillin add sweet and warm facets. Sulfurol, in a touch, adds a creamy, milky note, while isobutavan, reminiscent of white chocolate, brings a sweet, vanilla, and appetizing effect. Tonka bean, with its powdery depth, blends perfectly with floral and milky molecules like alpha-ionone, coumarin, and sweet lactones. Finally, methyl brasse intensifies the coconut notes, amplifying the fruity and creamy effect.
🧪 Velvety and creamy White Musks
Musks play an essential role in the construction of tender and creamy accords, bringing an enveloping and comforting dimension to perfumed creations. Musks such as Muscenone®, Ethylene Brassylate (Musc T®), Galaxolide®, and Helvétolide® are particularly prized for their powdery, milky, and slightly sweet facets. Exaltolide®, Muscone®, and Ambrettolide® are musks that enhance the creaminess of the world of pastry as well as that of flowers, where milky notes are expressed with a soft, silky, and velvety texture.
⚪️ Lactonic and creamy white flowers
White flowers such as tuberose, jasmine, gardenia, and ylang-ylang bring incomparable richness and sensuality to perfumery, thanks to their creamy and enveloping facets. These flowers, symbols of voluptuousness and warmth, play a central role in the creation of deep and intoxicating fragrances.
In addition to natural extracts, often available in the form of expensive absolutes, perfumers use a wide range of synthetic molecules to recreate and enhance these floral notes. Among some already mentioned, the lactones, gamma-nonalactone (C18) and gamma-undecalactone (C14), bring creamy and fruity nuances. Methyl brass reinforces these types of accords with soft milky facets, while musks such as Muscenone® and Helvetolide® add a velvety and enveloping dimension. Compounds such as cis-jasmone and methyl dihydrojasmonate (Hedione®) bring a green and airy freshness, balancing the creamy nuances of white flowers. Coumarin adds powdery and sweet facets while Cremefleur® intensifies the milky and floral texture, allowing perfumers to create rich and realistic accords.
🌳 Creamy and enveloping woods
Sandalwood, with its soft, milky facets, is emblematic of the milky wedding of the woods universe. In addition to natural extracts from Australia or New Caledonia, which develop a soft and comforting texture, synthetic molecules such as Javanol® and Ebanol® are inspired by its creamy nuances, with warm and creamy woody notes. Santoliff® and Polysantol® are also ideal materials for harmoniously combining with musks and creating a cocooning effect that is at once tender, deep, and sophisticated.
The future of the culinary universe in perfumery
While sweet and creamy notes continue to seduce, the world of perfumery is enriched with botanical accords and vegetable extracts, opening up tantalizing new perspectives. Fresh herbs, earthy beetroot, deep mushroom, or crunchy bell pepper... these new accords are expressed in creations that are more than ever reminiscent of recipes!
This trend is exemplified by collections that transform everyday vegetables into olfactory compositions inspired by the vegetable garden. Notes of tomato or freshly shelled peas whet the appetite before the delicious promises of the world of desserts.
Technological innovations now make it possible to extract previously inaccessible vegetable aromas. Volatile odorous molecules present in the steam from cooking vegetables are captured to produce extracts (Symrise) that finally make artichoke, leek, and radish available in the perfumer's palette in a market garden version.
From whipped cream to a tasty and creamy vegetable quiche, it's only a small step... History and lovers of flavor will tell us whether these vegetable-based creations respond to a desire for lightness and creativity by pushing the boundaries of a gourmet offering that risks saturating or even bordering on indigestion.
Milky notes in Superfumista perfumes
We sought to explore creamy nuances and distinct approaches for these Superfumista creations. Dolce Nissa reveals a delicious and fruity sweetness with light milky notes combined with hints of strawberries, marshmallow, and orange blossom. Lemon Delight takes a fresher approach in the opening with lemon, which then lets the whipped cream and the gourmet biscuit of the Italian dessert Delizia al Limone blossom. In a cocooning and comforting spirit. Nu Blanc evokes sweetness and purity with notes of white musk, heliotrope, iris butter and talc. As for Tuberotic , the tuberose stem is carried by jasmine and black tea in a carnal and hypnotic dance.
