Floral · Accord · Heart notes
Heliotrope
Heliotrope is a small purple flower from Heliotropium arborescens, a plant native to South America. It smells soft and sweet like powder, with hints of vanilla, almond and cherry. In perfume, heliotrope is a recreated accord, usually in the heart notes, and often links flowers to a sweet base.
· Written by the FRAG team
What does heliotrope smell like?
Heliotrope smells like sweet powder with hints of vanilla and almond. In English the plant is nicknamed cherry pie, because its scent reminds people of a freshly baked cherry pie. There is also a soft floral side, so heliotrope sits between floral and gourmand.
On skin, heliotrope feels smooth and stays close, with the powdery feel growing clearer as the perfume settles. Heliotrope is neither sharp nor fresh, so it suits perfumes meant to feel soft and comfortable.
Where does heliotrope come from?
Heliotropium arborescens is a shrub native to Bolivia, Colombia and Peru, with clusters of small purple flowers. The flowers smell like vanilla, and some white-flowered cultivars lean more towards almond. The heliotrope note in perfume is generally recreated from other materials.
The main material in a heliotrope accord is heliotropin, another name for piperonal. It smells of vanilla or cherry and perfumers have used it since the early 1880s. Heliotropin is named after the flower, although the molecule itself is not part of the flower's real scent.
Heliotrope in a perfume
Heliotrope usually sits in the heart notes, sometimes reaching into the base. It makes a perfume feel softer and more powdery, and often connects flowers in the heart with vanilla or tonka in the base. You find it in sweet florals and gentle gourmands.
Good partners for heliotrope are vanilla, tonka bean and bitter almond for sweetness, then iris and musk for a clean powdery feel. Because heliotrope stays close to the skin, its powdery feel is often still noticeable after other parts of the perfume fade, though results differ with skin and weather.
When to wear a heliotrope perfume
Heliotrope suits late afternoons and evenings, air-conditioned rooms or cooler weather. In hot weather, a light spray keeps the powdery feel soft. Heliotrope also fits relaxed evenings at home or dinner out. In the rainy season, its soft sweetness feels just right too.
